Now, anyone who really knows me, knows I am a massive fan of all things Christmas. I spent most of the year compiling my gift lists and all my festive baking and cooking. It is the best celebration of food and I love it, complete with all its indulgences. The ramp up to Christmas, for me, starts right at September. This is when I start thinking about what ingredients I need to start adding to the grocery list, to ease the December spending. I wouldn’t want to come up short and have to sacrifice something.

So, I have been making rum balls and Malibu Snowballs for years, but as my focus has changed to more nutritious foods and less refined sugar, I have been desperate to come up with something worthy of the festive season and yet still make me feel like I am being good to myself. Ultimately, I wanted something that I would turn to just as much as the usual suspects – okay, more often would be ideal.

It took a lot of tweaking, and a surprising amount of spices. Seriously, I did actually wonder how much was going to go into the final product. I also had to keep playing about with ratios of nuts and dates and raisins, only to find adding the orange zest made everything a little oily! It was a bit scary, but it is okay, I promise you. Once they are in the fridge and firm up you won’t even notice. Alternatively, you could always roll them in some finely ground nuts before they go into the fridge/freezer.

18-20 Energy Balls

• 1/2 cup Cashews
• 1/2 cup Pecans
• 1 1/2 cup Medjool Dates
• 1/2 cup Raisins
• 1 1/2 tsp Mixed Spice
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• Zest of 1 Orange

Place the nuts into the food processor and process into a fine pieces. Remove the stone from the dates and add these along with the remaining ingredients into the food processor and pulse until well blended. It should be a sticky but somewhat loose mixture, which will hold its shape when you press it together. 

Use a Tbsp to remove some mixture from the blender and roll into a ball between your palms. Continue until all the mixture is used up. Although these taste great right away, I recommend placing them in the fridge to firm up.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. Allow to warm up for a few minutes before serving. They are perfect with a cup of tea in the afternoon, for that slump between lunch and dinner.