Black Sesame Bliss Balls
 
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Cuisine: raw food, raw vegan, gluten-free
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1¼ cups black sesame seeds (soaked and dehydrated)
  • 1¼ cups dates (soaked to soften if dry)
  • 1 cup coconut flakes
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (non-alcohol, Trader Joe's has one)
  • 2 pinches of salt
  • Optional: Some black sesame seeds for coating the bliss balls
  • Equipment: High speed blender (or any grinder), food processor
Instructions
  1. If the dates are dry, soak them in water for 1-2 hours until they soften.
  2. Grind the sesame seeds into flour with a high speed blender or any grinder you may have.
  3. Add all ingredients except the dates into the food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Then run the food processor as you add the dates slowly.
  4. Keep running the food processor for about 3 minutes until the mixture turns black. At first, the coconut flakes will be noticeable in the mixture and you will see white specs. As you keep running it, the sesame seeds and the coconut flakes will start to release its' oil, and the mixture will turn black and glisten with oil.
  5. Roll the mixture into spheres. If you use a table spoon to measure out each ball, you should end up with approximately 30 bliss balls. I like using my 1 tablespoon ice cream scoop to measure them out, then roll it with my hands. Because of the sesame seeds and coconut flakes releasing their oil, your hands will get quite oily while doing this.
  6. Optional: Roll the bliss balls into black sesame seeds.
  7. Refrigerate overnight in an air tight container to set. The oily surface of the black sesame bliss balls will dry out when set.
Notes
The sesame seeds need to be dry to grind them up. You can soak them for 8 hours, then dehydrate them for 6 hours until dry. If you don't have a dehydrator, skip the soaking process and go straight into grinding them.

You can make it into lumps of coal for a fun Christmas treat. Form them into coal shapes using a spatula. Roll a lumpy ball first, then slide a rubber spatula over it to make flat areas.

shaping black sesame bliss balls

Keeps for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Recipe by Mariko Sakata | Raw Food and Plant-based Recipes at https://marikosakata.com/raw-vegan-black-sesame-bliss-balls/