I am very excited to share these with you.
Possibly my favourite raw recipe yet (or maybe one of my favourites in general, actually…)
These are mini Christmas pudding Bites that taste JUST like the real thing but are made from nothing but raw, healthy and natural ingredients.
Yep, right down to the decorations on top!
You don’t have to decorate though, you can either keep them as Christmas Pudding Energy Balls or just dip them in some raw chocolate for some Raw Mini Christmas Pudding Truffles.
Make the Christmas Pudding Energy Balls
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Ground almonds – Or almond flour
- Dates – I love using pitted medjool dates but other dates will work fine
- Dried apricots – You can also try dried cranberries or mixed dried fruit
- Orange and lemon – The zest from these citrus fruits for flavour
- Spices – Cinnamon and ground mixed spice (Or “pumpkin pie” / “apple pie” spice mix)
- Vanilla
Instructions
Simply blitz the ingredients together in a food processor and roll into balls! This recipe makes approximately 12.
Full recipe at the bottom of the post.
Decorating to make Raw Mini Christmas Pudding Truffles
Ingredients for the raw chocolate:
Note: you can simply use melted shop-bought raw chocolate or just dairy-free chocolate, if you’re not concerned about it being raw.
- Cacao butter
- Cacao powder
- Liquid sweetener – I use agave nectar
- Raw white chocolate – I use my recipe here
Ingredients for the raw marzipan:
Note: you can simply use melted shop-bought raw chocolate or just dairy-free chocolate, if you’re not concerned about it being raw.
- Ground almonds – Or almond flour
- Agave nectar – or other raw sweetener
- Raw colourings – I used spirulina powder for the green and raw beetroot powder or juice for the red.
Instructions:
Full instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Mix the ingredients for the raw chocolate and coat the energy balls. Allow to set.
- Mix the ingredients for the raw white chocolate and add a dollop on top of the balls, for the christmas pudding “cream”
- Mix all the ingredients for the raw marzipan (separating batches for the colouring) and roll into shapes, to decorate.
But as I say, these just as delicious without the decorations and make a great snack too.
For the record, I spent about 15 minutes trying to make proper holly leaf shapes out of the marzipan but it was just too fiddly for me. I need a miniature holly leaf cutter… Do those exist?
But despite my struggles with the holly shapes, the marzipan is actually surprisingly easy to work with and the potential of things you could make with it is huge!
The Christmas pudding filling itself is extremely quick and easy to make.
You could be eating one in 5 minutes and enjoying a taste of pure Christmas along with the smug knowledge that what you’re eating is super healthy too!
You simply process the ingredients, roll into a ball and “Tada!”
Christmas Pudding Energy Balls
These healthy energy bites taste JUST like Christmas pudding and are the perfect treat to get you in the Christmassy mood!
Ingredients
For the Christmas pudding energy bites
- 80 g ground almonds
- 100 g pitted dates
- 130 g dried apricots
- Zest of half an orange and half a lemon
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice
- 1 tsp raw vanilla powder or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, not raw
(Optional) For the chocolate coating
- 50 g cacao butter
- 3 tbsp cacao powder
- 2 tbsp agave nectar
- Tiny pinch of sea salt
- Half a batch of my "white chocolate coating" (click here)
(Optional) For the marzipan decoration
- 150 g / 1 cup ground almonds (almond flour)
- 1 - 2 tbsp raw agave nectar
- 1 tsp spirulina powder, for green colouring
- 1 tsp beet juice or powder, for red colouring
Instructions
For the Christmas Pudding Energy Balls
- Mix all ingredients for the energy bites in a food processor and grind until the mixture starts to clump together. It should be stodgy and easy to roll into a ball.
- Take about 1 tbsp of the mixture and roll into a ball. The mixture should make about 12.
For the raw chocolate coating
- To make the dark chocolate coating, melt the cacao butter over a very low heat using a double boiler or heat proof bowl over a simmering saucepan. Once the cacao butter has melted, whisk in the cacao powder, sweetener and salt. Leave to cool down to room temperature.
- Make the "white chocolate coating" by following my instructions here, halving the ingredients.
- Once the dark chocolate has cooled, use a fork or skewer to dip the energy balls into the chocolate and make sure it is fully coated. Let all the excess chocolate drip off into the bowl and then transfer to a sheet of tin foil or greaseproof paper. Leave in the freezer or fridge to set.
- After about 20 minutes, it should be fully set. Add a small amount of the white chocolate coating to the top of the chocolates and let it slightly drip down the sides to create the classic custard look. Leave in the freezer to set again.
Make the raw marzipan
- Simply blend all the ingredients in a food processor until it balls together.
- You now have raw marzipan! To add the colourings, simply mix in the colour powders separately. Create pea sized balls with the red marzipan for the berry and small leaf shapes with the green marzipan for the holly.
- Add the marzipan decorations to the top of the christmas puddings and press down to let it adhere to the top.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Yield 12Amount Per Serving Calories 85Carbohydrates 11gFiber 2gProtein 2g
Taja says
Could you fix the recipe? The ingredients womnt display:(
Aimee says
Hi Taja – thanks for letting me know. I’ve fixed the glitch!
Nim says
Supper excited to try these! They look wonderful! Do they keep well?/ freeze well?
Aimee says
I am going to be making these again next week, love them! I think they will keep for probably 4 days in the fridge and perhaps 3 months in the freezer, although I’ve not tested this. Let me know how you get on with them Nim :-)
Tamara Coleman says
What a cute idea yet healthy too! :)
http://www.prettybitchescancooktoo.com
laurasmess says
These are so gorgeous Aimee! Just found your link over at Milk & Honey and I’m loving all of your creations so far! Beautiful blog. Sending you a big hello from Australia. I’m definitely going to give these a go… skip the holly decorations and these can definitely be eaten all year round, right? Please say yes! :) xx
Sarah Elder says
Hi! These look adorable I can’t wait to make them. What raw sweetener did you use? Raw honey, maple syrup, coconut nectar…? x
Aimee says
Thanks Sarah! For this recipe, I used raw agave since I had some handy but honey or maple syrup should work great too :-) Good luck with yours – let me know how it turns out…
Tamzin says
YUM!!! Get in my belly!! these sound amazing!
Aimee says
You must try them Tamzin, I think you will love them! And so easy to make if you happen to have all the dried fruit…
Dina says
so cute and festive–and good for you!
Aimee says
They are indeed rather good for you – they give a great energy boost :-)
Kim @ What's That Smell? says
I have made the protein balls before with dates, it never occurred to me to dip them in a chocolate coating. YUM!
Aimee says
I’m afraid it occurs to me to dip almost everything in chocolate!
Kim @ What's That Smell? says
hahahaha
Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies says
These are so beautiful! Christmas is so full of heavy foods, it’s nice to have a lighter option!
Aimee says
Thank you, Kiersten! I would say these little pudding bites are actually quite filling, considering their size. I’ve made some more to have as snacks on the go and even had a couple for breakfast (christmas pudding for breakfast, oh yeah!) but they also give a great energy boost instead of leaving you sluggish :-)
Davida @ The Healthy Maven says
These look absolutely divine!!! Looks like we’re both on the raw train these days :)
Aimee says
Thank you Davida! :-) I could never eat exclusively raw but I’ve certainly been adding more raw foods & superfoods into my diet lately. I’ve been totally distracted now that I’ve seen you’ve made raw gingerbread cookies – ahhhh! Have to check those out right now…
Rika says
These mini raw chocolate pudding bites with marzipan ‘decoration’ look gorgeous, cute and delicious and they must be chewy full of spices & dried fruits. Perfect for Christmas, and also perfect for homemade special gift boxes ;) I can’t make proper holly leaf shapes, you are a legendary leaf cookie cutter! I’ve never heard or seen the Detox Your World products, but I hope I will see them when I am in Europe in two weeks. Have a great weekend!
Aimee says
Thank you Rika my dear :-) My holly leaves are atrocious! But I’ll be practicing for my next batch…
Irina @ wandercrush says
Aimee, these are adorable! The photos are absolutely festive and beautiful, too… I can’t wait to get my hands on the food processor when I get home for the holidays. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving :)
Aimee says
Aw, thanks Irina! Us Brits are completely oblivious to Thanksgiving, which is a shame because all the Thanksgiving recipes I see online look so amazing… anyway, I hope you enjoyed yours – I’m in full-time Christmas mode now :-)
Medha says
Aimee, These are gorgeous little flavor bomb! So beautiful as gift and super healthy! I am surely going to try this- great job:)
Aimee says
Thanks Medha! I never thought about giving them as gifts but that’s a great idea – especially if you know someone who is on a raw or vegan diet. Hope you get to try them out – let me know if you do :-)
Caz says
Christmas pudding in five minutes sounds pretty good to me! I love this idea and the ingredients are so healthy too. I’m definitely going to be adding these to my Christmas treats this year. :)
Aimee says
I think you will love them Caz! Hope you get to try em :-)
Samina | The Cupcake Confession says
These are just sooooo perfect for Christmas! and healthy too!!! They look sooooooo pretty!!!!! Lovingggggg it!!! :)
Aimee says
Your comments always make me smile :D Thank you Samina!
Sarah & Arkadi says
great recipe and photos! These look delish!
Aimee says
Thank you! :-) They most certainly are, I hope you get to try some too!
Consuelo @ Honey & Figs says
These are amazing!! So cute, healthy and christmas-y, what’s not to love?! They make me wish it was Christmas more than I already am (((a lot))). I’m sure they’d make a lovely addition to our cookie tray ;) x
Aimee says
Thank you lovely :-) When you bite into them – oh, it’s just so Christmassy! The spices and the citrus zest will just make you feel SO in the Christmas spirit… x
Vicky and Ruth / May I Have That Recipe? says
I am so excited to try this recipe. i love all the ingredients and flavors and i specially like how healthy it is. Trying Really hard to stay away from refined sugars.
Aimee says
Good for you! It seems like quite a daunting thing to do but actually it can be really easy once you realise that there are some pretty amazing recipes out there that call for only natural sugars. I tried some date-sweetened cookies recently which were *so good* and muffins sweetened only with bananas are another favourite of mine. Who needs refined sugars, really!
Aysegul - Ice says
Looks healthy and delicious!
Aimee says
Thanks Aysegul. I actually had the last one for breakfast this morning! I felt very indulgent :-)
Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl says
You have me pretty excited to try these as I love pudding bites. Since you made them healthy I can totally eat a few more. :)
Aimee says
Totally! Thanks Pamela :-)
Monica says
These look so sensational! The decorations make them look so festive and perfect for Christmas season. I’ve never tried raw desserts like this but I bet it’s so chewy and delicious. Great job!
Aimee says
Thanks Monica :-) If you ever eat those raw fruit energy bars, the texture is just like that – except these ones are more delicious because of the Christmas spices and zest!
Kate says
Aaaahhhhh………………. Sweet! These sound much nicer than traditional Christmas pudding. Sound pretty simple too!
Aimee says
Thanks Kate :-) They are very simple, especially just to make the energy bites themselves. And SO Christmassy to taste!
Rosa says
Hello Aimee :) Thanks again for stopping by my blog! I am so glad you did, so I got the chance to discover your lovely blog! Wonderful pictures, mixed with recipes I need to add to my cooking/baking to-do list and beautiful crafty ideas! I am looking forward to see and read more about your upcoming projects :)
Aimee says
And the same to you Rosa! I’m following your blog and look forward to seeing what other yummy things you post :-)
Amy Alt says
Love these- they are so cute! We usually makes little mini christmas pudding chocolate truffles every year but these look just as festive and are definitely a lot better for you. Perhaps I will make one batch of each this year so I can alternate between being good and naughty :) X
Aimee says
Haha, good idea! Or maybe have both and let the goodness of these cancel out the naughtiness of the others… thats how things work, right!?