These Cacao Chocolate Bliss Balls (no added sugar) are a delicious, healthier alternative to store-bought snacks. You’ll love them as a sweet treat – their delicious chocolate flavor satisfies a sweet tooth without the refined sugar! With just six ingredients found in the pantry, these cacao bliss balls are a quick and easy recipe to make. Perfect to pop into lunchboxes, you can store them in the fridge or your freezer stash so that you always have a healthy snack on hand!
An earlier version of this cacao bliss balls recipe is one of the first thermo cooker recipes I made, long before I had a Thermomix. My sister passed on the ingredient list about nine years ago, and I made them in a food processor. My appreciation of these chocolate energy balls has only grown over time 😁. There are plenty of bliss ball recipes out there, but I love this one because:
- My kids do!
- It’s a healthier sweet treat
- It’s simple ingredients are always in my pantry
- It’s a quick and easy no-bake snack to make
- And it’s freezer friendly
Ingredients in Chocolate Bliss Balls
This bliss ball recipe uses these basic ingredients:
Almonds – Natural/raw almonds or dry roasted will work; choose your preferred taste.
Rolled oats – Oats are such a nutritious whole grain, and their mildly nutty flavour pairs beautifully with almonds. They’re are a great ingredient to fill out bliss balls for kids.
Dates – Using dates as a natural sweetener in this recipe means there’s no need for other sweeteners like maple syrup. I use pitted dates, rather than Medjool dates, purely because I keep a stockpile in my pantry and they’re much more affordable here in Australia. You can substitute if you like. Be sure to soak pitted dates for 15 minutes in hot water before using them – this rehydrates them, and really improves the texture of the bliss balls.
Coconut – Desiccated coconut is easiest, because the balls are rolled in it to finish. You could use shredded coconut/coconut flakes and chop it in your Thermomix or food processor beforehand.
Cacao – Considered a superfood! Cacao has a delicious chocolate flavor and is a rich source of antioxidants [1], along with other important vitamins and minerals. It’s always my personal preference to use raw cacao powder instead of cocoa or unsweetened cocoa powder but you can substitute in equal measure. Be mindful of introducing toddlers to cacao or cocoa products [1].
Vanilla paste – For this recipe I use vanilla paste, which has a slightly stronger taste than extract, but you can substitute in equal measure if you like.
Nut-free version! Perfect for school lunchboxes!
My boy PK loves these chocolate date balls as a lunchbox treat, but his school is nut-free. An easy solution to make nut-free bliss balls is to substitute the almonds for more oats (so 200g oats in total), and increase the water to 100g in total.
How to make this chocolate bliss ball recipe
The most time consuming part of this easy snack recipe is soaking the dates! Pitted dates are much harder than Medjool dates, and so soaking really helps to rehydrate and soften them.
Thermomixer? Blitz the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and blitz some more. You’re then ready to roll. You get faster at rolling over time, trust me 😁.
Conventional cook? The method is exactly the same, though you may need longer chopping/blitzing time depending on how powerful the appliance you’re using is. The Thermomix is capable of milling nuts, so if using a food processor you may find your bliss balls are a little more textured. They’re still delicious!
Everyone! When rolling, the mixture sticks to your hands. Having a little water next to you and using damp hands to roll the bliss balls will help to lessen this. When first made, the bliss bliss will be a little soft and warm from blitzing the ingredients. Chill for at least an hour to firm.
See the recipe card below for ingredient amounts and detailed steps for both thermo cooker and conventional cooking methods.
Bliss balls for toddlers
Bliss balls are a fantastic on-the-go snack for toddlers, but there are just a couple of things to be mindful of. Firstly, although this recipe has no refined sugar, it does contain dried fruit (dates) as a main ingredient. Dates are full of essential vitamins and minerals [2] including B-vitamins and calcium. They’re a natural source of fibre too, aiding digestion and a feeling of fullness. Dates are considered healthy in moderation, but remember they do have a high sugar content, in the form of natural sugars. That makes these bliss balls a treat and best for children over 18 months old [2].
When serving to toddlers, consider the size you roll the balls and how best to give them to your child. Mine likes to shove whole bliss balls into his mouth 😁. To avoid a potential choking hazard, I either chop them into small pieces or make them extra large and encourage biting and chewing (under supervision of course!). If going large, make them at least 2 inch/ 5cm in diameter (a little larger than the size of a golf ball). Using an ice cream or medium cookie scoop to size them out is handy.
How to store bliss balls
Best serve chilled! These Cacao Chocolate Bliss Balls can be stored in the fridge or freezer. In the fridge, they’ll keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days – in my house, they get eaten before then though! In the freezer, keep up to 3 months.
I LOVE freezing foods. If I’m making a great snack like this, I’ll do a double batch and freeze one. My future self thanks me when I can raid the freezer stash to pop food straight into lunchboxes. They defrost in about half an hour so are very handy to have pre-made! That’s great for me when I get a snack attack and need a little bit of a pick me up mid-afternoon 😂.
Love protein balls? Next time, try these Peanut Caramel Bliss Balls. They’re made with just 5 ingredients including roasted peanuts in place of peanut butter, and no refined sugar. Check out these Lemon and Coconut Bliss Balls (no added sugar) too – nut-free, and similarly easy to make and great to store.
If you try these Cacao Chocolate Bliss Balls, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest too for more healthy sweets recipes.
Happy snacking!
Chloe x
Cacao Chocolate Bliss Balls
Category: SweetsTap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 200 g / 1 1/4 cups pitted dates soaked (Note 1)
- 125 g / 1/2 cup water
- 80 g / 1/2 cup almonds
- 120 g / 1 cup rolled oats
- 20 g / 1/4 cup cacao or cocoa
- 60 g / 2/3 cup desiccated coconut for dry mixture
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 30 g / 1/3 cup desiccated coconut for rolling
Thermo Cooker Instructions
- In a small bowl, soak the dates in the boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving the water.
- Put almonds, rolled oats, cacao and desiccated coconut for dry mixture into the mixing bowl. Chop for 5 seconds, speed 9, MC on.
- Add dates, vanilla paste and 80g / 1/3 cup of the reserved water. Chop for 30 seconds, speed 9, MC on. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
- Return mixing bowl to the base. Put a medium bowl on top of the lid, and weigh coconut for rolling.
- Scoop out bliss ball mixture and roll into balls, and then roll in the coconut. These are best when chilled for at least an hour.
Conventional Instructions
- In a small bowl, soak the dates in the boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving the water.
- Using a food processor, blitz the almonds, rolled oats, cacao and desiccated coconut for dry mixture until they are breadcrumb-like.
- Add dates, vanilla paste and 80g / 1/3 cup of the reserved water. Blitz again until dates are finely chopped and mixture comes together. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
- Measure out coconut for rolling into a medium sized bowl.
- Scoop out bliss ball mixture and roll into balls, and then roll in the coconut. These are best when chilled for at least an hour.
5 Responses
I have had these many times and they are delicious! So easy to make and so so tasty!
Thank you Leyla!
My daughter and I made these today. I don’t have a thermomix or food processor but still found them easy to make as the recipe was simple to follow. They turned out exactly how they should, doubled the recipe so plenty to freeze. Very yummy!
That’s awesome, thanks for the feedback Leanne!
It’s so good to see that little ones can be introduced to adult fare without the side effects of too much sugar and preservatives. Well done, Chloe.