No-Bake Licorice Balls and a Dog Sled Ride (Lake Louise, Alberta)

If you're a black licorice lover, you'll go gaga over these healthy little homemade balls of licorice love! (And if not, you might love seeing the photos of a dog sled ride in the Rocky Mountains of Canada!) ❤️🐕 The licorice balls are no-bake, very quick, and easy to make in a food processor - a great snack!

Black licorice and road trips are deliciously intertwined in my mind. Since we first started dating (a few decades ago!), Raymond would always bring me one of those dark black licorice cigars with the little candy bead 'embers' on the end whenever we stopped for gas. They were kept in a box on practically every gas station's counter, costing a dime and tempting you when you went in to pay for the gas. Now we stay in our vehicles and pay for our gas with a card at the pumps. Sadly, those licorice cigars seem to be a sweet treat relegated to memory. But I still love anything black licorice.

As kids, my four sisters and I always fought over the black jelly beans or jujubes in the bag (nowadays the black ones are blackberry flavoured, not licorice anymore). In the interests of keeping the love of black licorice alive for all you licorice lovers out there, I've been working on a licorice ball recipe with a wicked touch of deeply dark licorice and a satisfying sweetness to its creamy, crunchy bite. In my mind, this is the best treat to take on a road trip. Nostalgia included.

A couple weeks ago we went on a fantastic trip to the Rocky Mountains, a late winter getaway here in the snowy north. And, of course, a tin of these Black Licorice Balls came along as our road trip treat. Nibbling on them as we drove through the rural prairie landscape towards the magestic mountains took me right back to those early licorice cigar road trips.

We spent three nights in Lake Louise, a wonderful winter adventure to recharge our souls just a little bit. We were lucky to arrive just after a glorious dump of fresh snow the week before. The mountains were resplendent in all their snowy beauty.

We stayed at the beautiful Post Hotel with some dear friends, took long walks in the snow, ate many amazing meals, drank fantastic wines, and had some wonderful adventures.

Yes! We went dog sledding! This was a first for us, and what an absolute blast! Kingmik Dog Sled Tours gave us a most memorable experience. We got to spend time with the huge team of friendly and affectionate dogs - they were so excited to get hitched up to the sleds and just raring to go! These Alaskan huskies are the ones used for the famous Iditarod Race in the north and are lean, strong, and full of amazing energy. They are so well cared for and absolutley love the work and all the attention and cuddles.

We traveled by dog sled to the Great Divide, a 45-minute trip each way (this is the continental divide, where the rivers and waters flow on one side to the Pacific Ocean and on the other side all the way to the Atlantic Ocean).

I just loved those dogs!

We brought our snowshoes along to the mountains and had some scenic exercise tromping through the deep snow in the forests around the hotel.

Us girls had so much fun making snow angels. We found out that doing it with snowshoes on is a little more tricky. We have never laughed so hard in our lives. We looked like flat Gumby dolls in the snow!

It was an amazing and much needed winter break!

We spent time in the hotel pool and hot tub, played cards by the crackling fire in the evenings, spent hours lingering over fantastic meals in the dining room, drank a lot of great wine, and enjoyed the magical mountain scenery of Lake Louise. The Post Hotel boasts one of the largest wine cellars in the country (with over 22,000 bottles of premium wines). We were lucky enough to get a private tour with the sommelier.

The morning we left the mountains to go home, the porter at the hotel told us it was a 'Bluebird Day'. There couldn't be a more fitting label for the perfect mountain day it was.

And of course, we still had some tasty Black Licorice Balls left to nibble on the road home.

Quick & Easy No-Bake Licorice Balls

What you'll need:

Just dump everything into the food processor, give it a whiz, and your dough is done.

Then squeeze the mixture into balls and roll it in seasoned coconut sugar.

Licorice lovers unite! That unique flavour comes through to satisfy your cravings. These licorice balls are just like the black licorice of your childhood, but made healthier with walnuts, dates, prunes, oats, and unrefined sugars. The sweet licorice flavour comes from ground anise seeds, ground star anise, and deeply dark molasses. A hit of chocolate adds complexity, and you'll get some great crunch from cacao nibs (or use chopped walnuts). Not only loaded with nutrients and fiber, these little balls provide a fantastic flavour punch.

Balls, Balls, Balls

Here are some other energy balls and tasty snack balls you might like:

• Apricot Orange Energy Balls
• Banana Oat Breakfast Balls
• Chocolate Walnut Cookie Dough Balls
• Easy No-Bake Protein Balls, Vanilla or Chocolate
• Gingerbread Cookie Dough Balls
• Maple Walnut Energy Balls
• Green Goobers (Matcha Green Tea Energy Balls)
• Decadent Little Truffles

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Guten Appetit!