Meet my new favorite adventure trail snack: citrus cashew bliss balls. I was inspired to recreate the life-changing bliss balls I had at my favorite hometown cafe, Happy Girl Kitchen Co., and my kitchen experiments yielded unbelievably easy and delicious results. The citrus makes these energy balls feel light and refreshing, but they’re packed with lots of good fats and proteins to fill you up and keep you energized. Did I mention they’re gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and free of refined sugars, too? I don’t leave for an adventure day-trip without a few of these healthy homemade bliss balls in my backpack (along with a bag of Skittles, obviously)!
Emily’s Citrus Cashew Bliss Balls
You’ll need a food processor and access to a refrigerator or freezer in addition to the ingredients listed below. Prep time is about 10 minutes, plus however long you let them chill in the fridge. Recipe makes about 10-12 1.5-inch bliss balls.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup whole raw cashews
- 5 medjool dates, pitted
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened, + more for dusting
- 3 tbsp coconut butter, melted
- Juice from 1 lemon
- Hella lemon zest
- Orange zest (optional)
Read More: Easy Tips for Preventing Finger Injuries while Climbing
Instructions (it’s super easy, promise):
- Add cashews to the food processor and pulse until chopped.
- Add the dates, chia seeds, and shredded coconut and pulse again.
- Now add the coconut butter, lemon juice, and all your zest and pulse it out one more time.
- Spread some extra shredded coconut on a plate, get your hands a little damp, and roll your sticky dough into balls.
- Roll the balls in the shredded coconut and stick them in the fridge for at least 1 hour to set. You can keep these in tupperware in the fridge or freezer for a while, but mine never last more than a few days!
Check out: Outdoor EDC: The Ten Adventure Essentials You Should Always Carry
Notes:
- Hiking in the heat: If you’re going out for a long hike or hiking in the heat, I’d recommend freezing these before you bring them with you on the trail so they don’t get too melty.
- Coconut butter vs. coconut oil: Coconut butter is expensive but also really delicious. Coconut oil will work too but I’d recommend adding a pinch of salt for this substitution!
- If you want your healthy homemade bliss balls to taste more strongly like dates, you can use more dates and less coconut butter/oil.
