Thursday, April 29, 2010

Yum, someone should make this

Chocolate Balls – Basic Recipe: I think we should call them Chocolate Stoppers.

8 oz baking chocolate (unsweetened)
1 c nuts (I usually use walnuts)
1 c peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1 c honey
1 c raisins (or dates)

Directions:

* Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave (stir every 30 seconds to avoid burning it)
* Mix everything together – I use a food processor. You can be strategic about this, depending on how “chunky” you want the raisins and nuts. I process everything quite a bit to make the balls fudge-like, but they are also good if the raisins and nuts are left chunkier. (Some people like to know specifically what they are biting into). Whatever you do, it is a pretty thick, almost doughy consistency, and if you use a food processor, it goes around the processor in a big revolving blob. If you choose to just stir, it will build your upper body strength. For the cherry ones (below), I add the cherries toward the end so that they remain somewhat whole.
* Press into pan and refrigerate for a little while
* Cut into bars, or roll into balls… your choice. I grind up some almonds into almond meal and mix with cocoa powder, then roll the balls in the almond/cocoa mixture to give them a truffle-like appearance. If you do this, roll all the balls first, then dust them with the powder… otherwise it becomes a very messy ordeal. AND, if you do it this way, I find that rolling the balls is a good thing to do while watching your favorite show or a movie.
* I say they taste best refrigerated, but they don’t NEED to be refrigerated. If you like them fudgey, they are better when cold. They chunkier ones work better if you want to tote them with you while hiking or something.

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