#RooibosRecipe: Espresso Date Balls by Carmen Niehaus

I can hardly think of anyone who does not like a good old date ball from time to time. Nowadays I often see them in farm stalls and I am always tempted to buy some. But now I have taken that recipe and given it a bit of a facelift, no more margarine and sugar and with oats added to replace the Marie biscuits. But the best part of these zhuzhed-up balls is the rooibos espresso (can be either natural or even the chai one) that adds interesting new flavour profile notes to the date balls. So good to enjoy with a nice cuppa rooibos or chai espresso.

Makes 40 balls

Preparation time: 20 min

• 400 g pitted dates
• 1,25 ml (¼ t) bicarbonate of soda
• 125 ml (½ c) boiling water
• 375 ml (1½ c) oats or 1 packet (200 g) sugar-free bran biscuits
• 125 ml (½ c) cacao
• 250 ml (1 c) desiccated coconut
• 80 ml (⅓ c) coconut oil, melted
• 45—60 ml (3—4 T) Carmién Rooibos Espresso (Natural or Chai)
• Desiccated coconut for rolling

• Place the dates in a glass bowl and sprinkle over the bicarbonate of soda. Pour over the boiling water and microwave for 1 minutes. Let cool.
• Place dates with rest of the ingredients except the coconut needed to roll the balls in, in the bowl of the food processor and process till a smooth paste is formed.
• Scoop out 12,5 ml (1 dessert spoon) of the mixture and roll in balls, then roll in coconut. Refrigerate till needed.

Hint: Add some honey if you prefer a sweeter date ball.