Flax Glowballs

A little chocolatey, a little coconut, and little almond combined with ground flax and oatmeal to make a truffle like energy snack that's both healthy and, I believe, vegan.  (Please let me know if I'm mistaken, and which ingredients make it not vegan.  I'm not well versed in vegan cooking.)  Unfortunately, I didn't actually taste these treats.  See, I meant to make them before giving up chocolate for Lent, but unfortunately I ran out of time and ended up making them on Ash Wednesday, so no taste-testing for me.  But them smelled amazing and I think the combination of cocoa, coconut and almost, with the added nuttiness of the oatmeal and the flax, would be quite decadent.  I don't believe the banana adds too much flavor, but I imagine you could swap that for applesauce if you think banana would be too much.  Dave wouldn't try these (I think he's afraid of flax), but I really do think I'll make these again for myself.

So why did I make a vegan chocolate treat I couldn't enjoy?  To share with my Foodie Pen Pal!  It's that time again, and Melanie, the mother of four I had the honor of treating to some fun foodie gifts this month, eats vegan and low fat, but I threw in some extras for her family.  On the other hand, I received an a-maze-ing box from Mitzi packed full of delicious goodies from Louisiana, where Mitzi is from.  Seriously, this was a never-ending box I kept reaching into and pulling out more and more wonderful snacks and meal-starters (and then some Mardi Gras beads!!).  Every month I look forward to Foodie Pen Pals, a concept thought up by Lindsay over at the Lean Green Bean.  Go visit her blog to learn how to join--bloggers and non-bloggers are welcome!  Each month you'll have a chance to send a box full of goodies to on foodie while receiving a box from another foodie.  It's a great way to try new things and meet new people.

When Melanie told me she was vegan, I still wanted to include a homemade treat that she could enjoy, as well as share with her family.  But, since this isn't a cooking method I use often, so I wanted to make something with standard pantry ingredients.  Plus it had something I could ship.  These no-bake treats from Angela at Oh She Glows fit the bill.  I used a sugar substitute and sliced almonds and the mixture came together well.  The coconut didn't stick as readily as I'd hoped it would, but otherwise, I thought these turned out well.  I haven't heard from Melanie yet, but I hope they were great!  (Feel free to chime in and leave a comment letting us know the result, Melanie!)

Flax Glowballs

Ingredients

1 cup flax seeds or ground flax
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup sugar substitute
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup mashed bananas (2 medium bananas)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut, toasted or otherwise

Add flax seeds and oats to a blender and blend until ground to a flour-like consistency.

Place the flax and oats in a medium bowl and add sugar substitute and cocoa powder and whisk to combine.  Add banana and stir, creating a soft dough.  Stir in almonds.

Roll mixture into large balls.  Note: I used a medium cookie scoop to portion the mixture, then rolled with my hands.  Roll balls in shredded coconut to coat and arrange on a parchment lined pan.

 

Freeze balls for about an hour, then enjoy.

Makes a dozen truffles.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess

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