Almond Roca. Do you remember those sweet little nuggets of toffee, almonds and chocolate all wrapped up in the pretty gold foil…they usually make an appearance in the stores around the holidays. Growing up in our house, we always had Almond Roca candies in our Christmas stocking. Well, if you’ve been reading our blog for a while now, you will know that we love to recreate or “healthify” many of our favorite treats or recipes. These almond roca balls are no exception! We wanted to ensure that they didn’t compromise on flavor but that they are made with wholesome ingredients that are actually good for you! One of our sneaky ingredients is cacao powder. We use it often in place of cocoa powder…(note the spelling difference). So cacao powder is made from the finest variety of cocoa beans, is not genetically modified (thank you very much) and is loaded with nutritional value. It’s high in potassium, copper, zinc and magnesium. Score!! Chocolate that’s good for you!!
So, anyway, enough on the cacao high horse…let’s get down to these almond roca balls. They are actually really easy to make and don’t require many ingredients at all. You just need almonds, dates, vanilla, coconut oil, maple syrup, cacao powder (you can totally use regular cocoa powder too…the flavor is the same, just very different nutritional value) and a pinch of salt as well.
Throw the almonds into the food processor and pulse them up until nice and fine. Then remove 1/4 cup and set them aside onto a plate, leave the remaining almonds in the food processor.
Add the dates, vanilla, coconut oil, cacao powder and salt to the the food processor and start pulsing until the mixture if well combined. You will need to stop periodically to scrap the mixture off the sides so it’s all incorporated. Once it’s all good to go, start rolling into bite sized pieces. Finish them off by rolling them in the1/4 cup of ground up almonds to coat the outside.
Place the balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet and pop them in the fridge to allow them to set up. Once they are good to go, transfer them to a covered storage container and keep them in the fridge to enjoy all week!
- 1½ C raw almonds
- 1 C dates, approx 12 dates - pitted
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp cacao powder (can use cocoa powder)
- pinch of kosher salt
- Add almonds to a food processor until broken down into fine pieces. Remove ¼ C of ground almonds and set aside.
- Add dates, vanilla, coconut oil, maple syrup and cacao powder. Turn on food processor and continue until mixed - stopping frequently to scrape down the sides. Add kosher salt to taste and mix again.
- Spread ground almonds out on a small plate.
- Roll batter into small bite-size balls. Roll the ground almonds onto the outside of each ball. Place on a parchment lined sheet. Transfer sheet to the fridge to allow to set. Store in a tupperware container in the fridge.