Amber's Blog at Healing Thyme

I had a great time handing these balls out at the Blackberry Fair and was really happy with the response from people, especially the kids who were happy to have them as a sweet treat. Believe me I know that kids are my toughest customer when it comes to sugar free food. I am really passionate about trying to challenge the mainstream sugar filled treats that are aimed at children and these balls are a great alternative.

We experiment with these a lot and you can be really creative. My 15 month old son, Kin, loves these balls in all their variations but my almost 4 year old daughter Ostara will only eat the chocolate variety. I always soak the almonds for at least 8 hrs. before I make this recipe to make them more digestible (I either put them in first thing in the morning or overnight) I’d love to hear some feedback about any variations you come up with.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of almonds soaked in filtered water for at least 8 hours
• 1 cup of desiccated coconut
• 6 medjool dates or ¾ cup of other variety dates
• 3 tbs coconut oil

Preparation

1. Tip away almond soak water and give a good rinse.
2. Place all ingredients except coconut oil in a food processor and give a good blend for about 1 min.
3. Gently melt coconut oil. I do this bain marie style by putting a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. If this sounds too difficult gently heat oil in a saucepan until only hand hot to retain all its amazing properties. Add to food processor and blend mixture again for 30 secs.
4. Take a teaspoon of mixture at a time and roll into balls ready for eating.

Other variations we have tried

• Add raw cacao or some Green and Blacks cocoa powder
• Add spirulina to give kids a good dose of their greens
• Swap desiccated coconut for gluten free oats or quinoa flakes
• Use walnuts with almonds
• Use a mixture of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds in place of almonds
• Add a vanilla pod or essence
• Add raw macca or lacuma powder
• Swap dessicated coconut for gluten free oats, grate in an apple and add some spirulina

Serves 4-6

Dairy and refined sugar free

We love ice cream in our house, so I went on a mission to create a dairy, sugar and gluten free recipe that in my opinion beats the supermarket versions hands down. It’s really versatile and I cram all sorts of nutritious food into it and the kids wolf it down because they think it’s a treat. Read More…

I love nature, and wandering around Brown Moss with my kids picking wild blackberries I couldn’t help but marvel at how much Mother Nature loves us back. So much so she provides us with a bountiful array of berries to choose from at this time of year, full of lovely juicy combinations of vitamins and nutrients to see us through the flu season. Read More…

My family loves a day trip to the Cheshire Hills and our favourite time of all is when the Bilberries are in season during August/September. Read More…

I am a proud full time mum, originally from Australia but now residing in sunny Whitchurch, Shropshire. I am drawn to all things natural and wild including my husband Ed and our two little wildlings Ostara 3 and Kin 1.

Although I’m not a trained chef or nutritionist I have always been interested in health and cooking. After my son Kin was born I realised quite early that he was intolerant to some of the foods I was eating, most obviously dairy and gluten, so I realised I was going to have to change the way I cooked.

So here it is, a blog of my adventures as a dairy free, gluten free, sugar free mum.

Hope you enjoy x