FESTIVE GINGERBREAD BITES
These Festive Gingerbread Bites are simple to make, no cooking required, let your blender do the hard work! These are the perfect treat to get you in the Christmassy mood. They are naturally sweetened with Medjool dates, chewy and soft. Take these balls to another level by drizzling in melted dark chocolate.
Enjoy with a glass of mulled wine (it’s all about balance, right?!?) or wrap them up in a box as the perfect homemade gift.
Time to create: 15 minutes (plus 30 minutes in the fridge)
Serves: Makes approximately 9 evenly sized balls (depending on how large you like them)
Ingredients
120g Medjool dates
50g ground almonds
50 oats
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground clove
½ tbsp fresh ginger grated
30g ground hazelnuts
To decorate: melted dark chocolate, cranberries and sunflower seeds
Place all the ingredients, minus the hazelnuts, into a blender. Blitz until the mixture forms a dough.
Place the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Take small handfuls of the mixture in between you palms and firmly press and roll into balls. Roll each ball in the ground hazelnuts so that they are evenly coated.
Option to drizzle each ball in melted dark chocolate. Top with one cranberry and two sunflower seeds (pushing slightly into each ball).
Enjoy XXX
Top tip: If you don’t have fresh ginger you could substitute with 1 tsp of ground ginger (it just won’t pack as much punch!) The Medjool dates make these balls a little more indulgent and sweeter, however if you don’t have Medjool dates you could use everyday dried dates. If they are a little hard soak in a bowl of boiling water for 10 minutes before draining.
