Don’t these look like chocolate munchkins or doughnut holes you can buy from Dunkin Donuts?
If you have never heard of them before they are little balls of doughnut cut out of a large doughnut when making a hole in it sold at many coffee shops in New England. My kids LOVE them and I try to limit how often they can have them. They may not be a lot of calories but are full of white flour and white sugar I would prefer they don’t have frequently.
Also for awhile now I’ve been wanting to come up with a no bake dessert. I’ve seen a bunch on Pinterest, but of course many contain nuts my boys can’t have. I thought about combining the two ideas and came up with this recipe using dates to sweeten them. They are much heavier in texture than doughnut holes from the coffee shop and my kids loved them AND I loved I didn’t have to bake them! Easy to whip up in a food processor in no time at all.
If you are able to have nuts they would give this a yummy crunchy inside. You could replace the chocolate chips with any nuts of your choice. You could also roll these in crushed nuts on the outside, that would be delightful!
My goal in the making of these was not low calorie or low fat but something nutritious as an alternative to doughnut holes at the coffee shop. Enjoy!
Nutrition Info
Servings: 14* Calories per ball: 134* Fat: 7g* Fiber: 3g* Carbs: 21g* Protein: 2g* Points+: 4* Old Points: 3*
This recipe is being shared at Melt In Your Mouth Monday, Makin’ You Crave Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Traditional Tuesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Women Living Well, Tidy Mom, Whipperberry, Diet,Dessert &Dogs, Feasting in Fellowship.
These would be perfect in the summer when you don’t want to heat your house! If you’re in the mood for more chocolate , you could make some fabulous Sugar-Free Brownies, or Dairy Free Sugar Free Chocolate Mousse ( no oven required for that either!)
My oldest pickiest 11 year old boy LOVED them so that is saying A LOT!
NO Bake Chocolate Coconut Balls
Ingredients
- 1 1/4cup coconut flakes, shredded, unsweetened
- 4 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips*
- 1 banana, mashed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla creme, Sweetleaf stevia in liquid form
- 9 dates, pitted, chopped
* Use grain sweetened chocolate chips, Make Homemade Chocolate Chunks for a sugar free version or Use Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips.
Directions
- Blend one cup of the coconut flakes with the banana and cocoa in a food processor.
- A small amount at a time add the chopped dates to the food processor.
- Once thoroughly combined until smooth mix in the stevia, vanilla extract and salt.
- Place mixture into a bowl and stir in the chocolate chips.
- Place the 1/4 cup of coconut flakes onto a plate.
- Make 14 small chocolate balls from the mixture then roll them into the coconut flakes. Refrigeration is not necessary, but if you are not eating them right away I would keep them in the fridge to stay firm until you are ready to eat.
how much stevia?
It’s listed there as 1 teaspoon, vanilla creme stevia.
these look fab! even I would eat them! gooey! mm mm
These look delicious! Any suggestions on a substitute for the dates? I do not like dates. Or can you not taste them? Thanks for all the wonderful recipes.
I don’t think you’ll notice the dates at all, they sweeten it nicely. The biggest flavor is the coconut so if your not a fan of coconut you may not like
them.
Ok..Thanks, I do love coconut. And I would probably add pecans. YUMMY!
I’m thinking I need new glasses! Ha!
Yum except for coconut. Hmmm – I wonder what else I could sub in place for it.
You could sub oats instead, that should work.
Perfect- I think I will give it a try. Just ordered some vanilla creme stevia today to try.
mm looks like a winner to me!
wow, these look fabulous! I think I am going to try the sub you mentioned and sub out the chocolate chips for nuts to make it a little more diabetic friendly – I’m thinking almonds? I will have to try this out and let you know how it goes. Thanks for a great looking recipe!
Wow! Please, please share these at allergy free Wednesday! http://www.realfoodallergyfree.com/2012/02/allergy-free-wednesday-229/
any thoughts on a substitute for the banana? my son is allergic to bananas in addition to gluten, dairy, and eggs. would love to try this recipe though.
Someone mentioned using pumpkin, but of course it isn’t sweet like banana, but you could add more stevia sweetener.
You might try sweetened or unsweetened applesauce
Wow. If I swap out the choco chips for nuts, I could eat these during Lent and be eating something healthy. Can’t wait to try them.
Oh boy do these looks amazing.
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Just made these and wow!! They taste great, and they remind me of cake balls, only healthier. Thanks for a great recipe!
In my pantry, I have honey, agave nectar and coconut crystals. Think any of those would work as a substitute for the stevia? If so, how much?
I have not experimented with other sweeteners in this particular recipe and I am not sure if those would change the texture and make them mushy. Sorry you will have to experiment with it and let me know
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These look wonderful. I have no allergies but I like leading a healthy lifestyle and these look like they would be right up my alley. Thank you for sharing. Pinned!
I have substituted agave nectar for the stevia in multiple other recipes. I just use the same amount as suggested for the stevia
These look amazing & thank you for posting the nutrition info! Quick question: is the 134 cals, 7g fat, etc. per ball, or for the entire batch?
yes for one.
These are all over the web, but I like the banana addition here.
Also, MOST of the other recipes use some kind of nut or nut flour which we can’t have since my boys are allergic. I didn’t find any or only a few recipes that were without them when I was looking around the web.
This might be a stupid question but if I don’t like stevia what can I substitute for that. Just regular sugar? I don’t know what it is but stevia tastes super super sweet to me and it drives me nuts lol but all the other ingredients sound delicious.
Honey would be my choice, maybe about 1/4 cup.
can it substitue truvia powder sweetner for the liquid stevia? If so, how much would be appropriate?
I don’t use truvia but the dates alone make this pretty sweet so maybe one packet is all you need.
My daughter is dairy/casein, gluten free… for the chocolate chips, what is grain sweetened?
I found them at Whole Foods and the brand is Sunspire, sweetened with barely malt is what it says on the package.
You just have to be careful. Barley malt is not gluten gree. Enjoy life brand chips are allergen free, but sweetened with evaporated cane juice.
Wow! When I read the title of this recipe I thought, well sheesh what could possibly be IN this snack!? But reading it over I thought, wow, yum, and perfect!! Thanks!!
Going to try these but maybe skip the coconut as my little one doesn’t like coconut. Might try with the oats but if I roll them in oats or nuts, she’s not going to eat them. She is so picky. But I think they’d be just as good without rolling them in anything, do you think so?
they are good but a bit sticky. you could roll them in cocoa powder instead.
Thanks, these sound wonderful! I just found out that my thyroid is extremely hypo active (barely functioning), so in addition to taking essential supplements, I want to change over to a healthy way of eating. I won’t say what I’ve been eating for more than five decades, but I’m a really good cook and baker…Ahem! That says it all right there
Will try these very soon–I love dates, so am glad they’re part of this recipe.
Can I freeze them if I’m not going to be eating them within the next 3-4 weeks?
Yes absolutely!
Wow, this recipe just made my day! I love coconut + chocolate, and the fact that these are egg and nut free (I’m allergic) make them that much better!
I love how easy they are to make. JOY!
can you substitute apple sauce (unsweetened) for the banana?
you really can’t taste banana in this but as opposed to applesauce mashed banana is much thicker in texture. Not sure how it would work.
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How big are these? 4pp sounds like a lot for just one small ball.
Made these today and they weren’t as sweet (not that I were expecting them to taste like milk chocolate) as I thought and salt is listed in the ingredients but not in the directions. Also my mixture came out gooey and not “brownie” like as in the photos. I yielded more than 14 balls so I had to use more coconut.
Did you change any ingredients and what kind of chocolate chips did you use?
No I didn’t change a thing. I used every ingredient as listed even down to the Enjoy Life Mini Choco Chips. Not sure what I did wrong. I don’t have a food processor, so everything was done by hand. Would that make a difference?
I definitely think the food processor makes the ingredient so fine that they hold together extremely well. I’ve never tried it by hand. Sorry that happened.
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Hi Brenda, I love your site! I made these yesterday and they were a huge hit. My oldest hates bananas and anything with bananas. He saw me make these and knew they were in their but he couldn’t resist! I ran out of coconut and so I rolled them in ground flax seed. Definitely one to make again, along with my new addiction your oven fried broccoli and cauliflower. I make these every
week now, a new staple!