Ingredients

10 Deglet Noor dates (soaked in hot water, see directions)
2/3 cup raw almonds
1 cup vanilla protein powder (we use the Orgain available at Costco or here on Amazon)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons vegan chocolate chips (we get the large bag from Costco; be careful because the white bag is vegan, but the red bag is not)

Directions

Pour very hot water (boiling hot is best) over the dates, and let them soak for at least two hours; longer is even better.

Drain the dates, and put them in your food processor, and process the dates into a smooth paste.

Now add the almonds (nothing else yet) and process again, stopping to scrape the sides down once in a while, until it just won’t process any further. Depending on the composition of your dates and your almonds this can happen quite quickly, but it also may take as long as 10 minutes. It may look like a paste at this point, but it also may not be quite there, and that’s ok.

Add the vanilla extract and the protein powder. Continue processing until the mixture turns into a ball of dough in your processor, at which point turn the food processor off.

Put the dough in a bowl and mix in the chocolate chips by hand, mixing only enough to get the chocolate chips fairly evenly distributed. While you can use a spoon for this, you’re about to play with the dough in your hands anyways, so we just literally mix it with our hands. :~)

Now roll the dough into 1″ to 2″ balls, and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. To eat, pop one into your mouth!

OR

For that wonderful ‘best of both worlds’ experience, put one in a preheated air fryer at 350° for 5 minutes, or put one on a microwave safe plate and microwave for a few seconds. Mmmmm….it’s so good!

Heaven in Your Mouth