Carob Nut Balls- A Healthy Vegan Alternative

When my friend Jenny and her family came over the other day they brought these Spirit Balls, and so now, for your pleasure, here is the recipe.

Here's the link to the Carob Nut Balls - they were Super Stars! http://franlife.blogspot.com/2007/12/recipe-carob-nut-balls.html

Carob Nut Balls- Spirit Balls

1/2 cup carob powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup raw honey, brown rice syrup or agave nectar (up to 1/2 cup if you like them sweeter)

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup puffed cereal*

1/2 cup chopped nuts*

COATING OPTIONS

unsweetened coconut

carob ganache (see bottom of recipe for directions)

cocoa or carob powder combined with a dash of cinnamon

Thoroughly combine the almond butter, carob powder, cinnamon, honey and vanilla. The dough will be quite stiff. Knead in the nuts and cereal. With wet hands, form into walnut-sized balls. Make sure the surface is glisteningly damp. Choose which coating you'd like to use and roll balls in either coconut, carob ganache, or cocoa/carob powder. Personally, I tried them all, just to see how pretty each variation can be. I found the coconut coating to be the nicest, and easy to coat by shaking the balls in a ziploc bag with the coconut.

Refrigerate til firm, or freeze in an air-tight container to store for a week or more.

*If you have the option, choose a tiny puffed grain like quinoa or millet. Otherwise, crisp rice will work great, or a flake cereal crushed into smaller bits. If using sweetened cereal, use smaller amount of honey.

Makes about 20 balls.

Nutritional Information per ball:

104 calories

14g carbs

 7g fat

 3g protein

 3g fibre

 9g sugar