Healthy Peanut Butter-Stuffed Chocolate Date Balls (Vegan; GF and Raw Option)

Don’t forget to enter the Cuppow giveaway via our Eat Clean Challenge at the end of this post!

Dreams do come true.

I know because yesterday I shook hands with a Disneyland Imagineer for the first time. A real, living, breathing, down-to-earth Imagineer!

Okay, so maybe the “real living breathing” part isn’t that impressive–even I’m capable of those–but an Imagineer. Ohmygosh. Somebody get me my paper bag because I take back what I just said and I suck at breathing right now.

My brain gets crazy addled every time I talk to someone for whom I have the highest respect. Same thing happened when I ate popsicles once with Gail Carson Levine at my literary agent’s annual party, i.e. I died from sheer joy and shredded through about ten paper bags in a two-hour period.

As it happened, K the Imagineer was incredibly illuminating (hah appropriate, considering he is responsible for designing and producing the fixture lights in all the Disney parks around the world!) and really inspired me to keep pushing towards my dream of show writing or envisioning creative concepts for Disney. It was kind of an amazing and extremely humbling (in the best way) experience.

Now here’s the problem. Of course, there has to be a problem.

The single thing I learned and retained from 8th grade geometry is this: the transitive property states that if a=b and b=c, then a=c. In my English major head, that property translates in real life to something like:

If Ala=breathingacertaincubicfootofair and

breathingacertaincubicfootofair=celebrity(isalso),

then Ala=celebrity.

DONE. THANK YOU EIGHTH GRADE MATH.

Eighth grade math also taught me important fundamental life skills such as counting. For example, yes, the really quite delightful recipe I’m featuring today for our final Eat Clean Challenge does indeed have five selling points.

And yes, it also only takes five minutes from start to finish to make!

And yes, if the thought flashed through your mind that basic counting may not exactly be an eighth grade level skill, please sit your butt back down in my English major world because you are not original for thinking it. Sorry. But A for effort 😉

How many halves do I have here? Do I have to halve a halve to have half of what I had?

Math is confusing,

as is meeting celebrities who aren’t really celebrities at all but whom you really admire and strive to emulate, and

as is that text you get from your friend in the middle of the night that Autocorrected itself halfway through so that the two of you end up having two completely different conversations because you read “Do you want to he don’t good?” when what she thinks she said is, “Do you want to get some food?” And you’re like, Woman, I don’t EVEN. 

Vegan and no-bake chocolate date balls stuffed with peanut butter….are decidedly not confusing.

Also, less confusing if you just eat all the halves. Best way I’ve found for coping with my life problems, math or otherwise. And no more fractions–hooray!

Let’s be real: that’s the real reason I cut these up in the first place. So I could give half to me…

….and then share the other half with me again.

I love math: it makes me feel like I’m one with myself, if you know what I mean.

What I love best about these easy-to-make chocolate date balls stuffed with peanut butter banana filling is that they taste like nothing I’ve tasted before–crushed Ritz (or your choice of raw vegan buttery) crackers add an awesome texture that just can’t be beat.

Paired with the naturally sweet, smokey chocolatey taste of the date ball exterior, this clean eating recipe is no wimpy pixie! If you want to nix on the confusion or just mull over awesome ‘celebrated people’ encounters, there’s no better way than to chomp down on a few PB-stuffed chocolate balls.

So what are you waiting for? Bite me–er, the chocolate ball, I mean.

 

Yours in mathematical solidarity,

Healthy Peanut Butter-Stuffed Chocolate Date Balls (Vegan; GF and Raw Option)

Say YES to healthy this year! Kickstart your new lifestyle with these easy Healthy Peanut Butter-Stufffed Chocolate Date Balls.

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Ingredients

For the peanut butter filling:

• 1/2 ripe medium banana
• 5 Ritz crackers (or a raw, vegan buttery cracker to keep this recipe raw)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter

For the chocolate date ball:

• 15 dates
• 1/3 cup almonds
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter

Instructions

For the peanut butter filling:

1. In a food processor, grind all ingredients until smooth. Scrape into a separate bowl and set aside.

For the chocolate date ball:

1. In the same food processor, grind dates and almonds until the mixture begins to stick together. Add cocoa powder and peanut butter; continue grinding until mixture is sticky and holds together when pressed lightly. (If your mixture does not stick together well, simply add some more dates or peanut butter as needed.)

To assemble:

1. Roll a tablespoon of chocolate date ball mix into a ball. Flatten the ball gently into a round disc, then place a teaspoon of peanut butter filling in the center. Wrap chocolate mix around peanut butter and seal to create a ball. Note: If you find your chocolate mix too sticky to work with, feel free to powder your hands with cocoa powder before rolling.
2. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Love this recipe? Check out what my fellow bloggers are up to during this week’s Eat Clean Challenge!

Watermelon Juice – Rick•a•bam•boo

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burger – Clarks Condensed

Raw Almond & Arugula Pesto – Project Domestication

Roasted Broccoli and Red Peppers – Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks

Healthy Peanut Butter-Stuffed Chocolate Date Balls (Vegan; GF and Raw Option) – Wallflour Girl

Baked Sweet Potato Chips – Keep It Simple Sweetie

Lemon Cookies – Cooking with Curls

Rosemary Citrus Water – Delightful E Made

One Pot Pasta – Bite of Delight

Kalua Pork Tacos with Pineapple Salsa – Everyday Southwest

Miso Soup – Je suis alimentageuse

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