Merry Christmas! We’re all surrounded by the shimmering ornaments, glittery garlands and bright, twinkly lights! ‘Tis the Season! …My Favorite Season!
…For some reason I can officially say that out of all the holidays in the world Christmas is definitely my favorite!
Like a kid I’ll never stop being mesmerized as I look at all that beautiful, joyful Christmas decor! And as I stare at those beautiful ornaments, those reindeers and the Christmas Trees I begin to smile… 🙂
…Or maybe I know why this is my favorite season out of the whole year after all! …When I was a kid every year I couldn’t wait for the Christmas and New Year to come!
Growing up in the colder (and darker) climate where the sun only appears for a few hours during a winter’s day, the fall and the beginning of the winter weren’t that very exciting. They were filled with school and homework, with the cold winds and the snow…
But… because we all knew that there was something wonderful that awaits us each winter…
This anticipation, the contrast between our boring, wearing routines and the brightness of the Holidays that awaits us…
That contrast was the best thing that you can ever experience! 🙂 My parents always tried to make this season extra special for me! I remember going to the store to buy one new ornament for our tree each year. I remember waiting for the presents, barely able to anticipate seeing and opening them! 🙂
Like I said, it’s my most FAVORITE season of all!
The Healthy Chocolate Chestnut Cake Balls
Inspired by my beautiful Christmas ornaments I decided to make some Christmas treats that look… yes, like an ornament!
And let me tell you, they are SUPER-Christmassy! Because not only they are so bright and colorful… They’re also made with the CHESTNUTS! Because we can’t imagine our Christmas without the chestnuts, right? 🙂
But… aside from all that beautiful goodness, these cake balls are also good for you! 🙂
Yes! You guessed it right! They are SUPER-HEALTHY!
And also… they’re…
- Paleo
- Vegan
- Gluten-Free
- Refined Sugar-Free (to make sure that my cake balls are as sweet as a Christmas treat is supposed to be 🙂 I used this Healthy Caramel instead of the processed sugar.
- Low-Calorie
- Low-Fat
- All-Natural
- and Super-Easy to make!
Now can you refuse trying these nice (no naughtiness whatsoever!) Christmas treats?!
A small note about the coating: yes, it IS all-natural! For the red coating I used some ground Freeze-Dried Strawberries. For the twinkly-white coating I used these all-natural White Nonpareils and for the gold coatings I used these Gold Nonpareils. 🙂
Merry Upcoming Christmas, my friends! 🙂
The Chocolate Chestnut Cake Balls are festive, yummy, and super-healthy! Paleo, Low-Fat, Low-Calorie, Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free and super-easy to make... eat them for dessert, a snack or... even as your Christmas Morning Breakfast!
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup coconut flour adjust according to your taste
- 2/3 cup Healthy Caramel* see the link below for the recipe!
- 10 roasted and peeled chestnuts
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 tbsp ground freeze-dried strawberries optional
- 3-4 tbsp nonpareils optional
- In a food processor blend the chestnuts, Healthy Caramel and vanilla extract together until the mixture is very smooth.
- Scrape the chestnut mixture into a bowl and first add the cocoa powder. Stir well until the cocoa is fully incorporated.
- Add about 2/3 cup of coconut flour to the mixture and stir it well until it incorporates. If you like the stickier, gooey-er treats, this amount of coconut flour may just be enough for you. If you'd like them to be denser and chewy-er, keep adding the coconut flour until the batter reaches the desired consistency. I used about 1 cup of flour to make my cake balls really chewy, just how I like them.
- To make the shaping of the cake balls easier put the prepared mixture in the fridge and let it sit there for about an hour. This may be especially necessary if you decided to go with less coconut flour.
- Roll the batter into a log and cut it into 20 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
- Roll your cake balls in some ground freeze-dry strawberries or/and in colorful nonpareils. Enjoy!:)
*Here's the link to the Healthy Caramel Recipe.
Please, comment!