Dragon Nuts

It was a normal Friday. I did my work thing, test subject Bill did his work thing, we went out for sushi, we came home. Then it happened. SNACK ATTACK. I was just sitting at my computer Facebooking when all of a suddent I HAD to have something sweet or I was going to turn into a DRAGON.

My cat Midori may bear a striking resemblance to Toothless, but the kitties really do not dig fire-breathing in the house. So something had to be done.

As luck would have it, I’d been out and about today and picked up ingredients for these Cocoa and Coconut Balls I found over at Mark’s Daily Apple. This would be my speedy fix – nuts to keep me from turning into a dragon. A quick zip of a multitude of nuts, dates, coconutiness and cocoa. Heavenly!

I followed Mark’s recipe very closely. I used 5 dates (I noticed he likes to use dates for sweeteners. Who can blame him? I sort of have a crush on dates after the Moroccan salad.) and about 3 tablespoons of coconut oil. I used 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 1/3 cup shredded coconut and no ground coffee. After a squeeze and a taste, I added about 2 tablespoons of my favorite sweetener, Grade B maple syrup.

The recipe said to form them into balls. Yeah, right. Maybe you could do it, but it would take the patience of Job and I’m just not there yet. So I pressed the nutty, sweet mix into the bottom of a square glass pan and stuck it in the fridge while I cleaned up my mess, then cut them into 9 squares.

Despite my sub-par walnuts (they were a little old. I’m ashamed.) these little treats turned out really well. They are very crumbly, but that’s why God made forks. (Ok, God probably didn’t make forks. But he gave us brains that invented forks. And cute scarves.) The dates offer a really sophisticated sweetness that granular sugar in it’s overpowering way could never duplicate. Dates and maple syrup are Wushu. White sugar is WWE.

Anyway, I ended up not turning into a dragon so the evening is ending well. I recommend playing with this recipe and making it your own. It’s nutritious, fast, delicious and it could save your life.