Black Sesame Coconut Bites

Affectionately known as “goth balls” — here’s another spooky Halloween snack. I don’t love energy bites that are date-based, and they all seem to be, so I whipped up my own batch with the jar of black sesame paste I still have yet to finish.

These are not going to be super sweet, as you’ll get the bitterness from the black tahini and the black cocoa, but if you love sesame flavor I think you’ll enjoy them! Plus, bitterness is good for revving up digestion 🙂

Black cocoa isn’t the same as raw cacao powder, meaning it won’t have all the same benefits as the raw version. It’s “dutched”, which is a type of processing (and is the same type of dark brown powder used in Oreos). I’m using it here simply for the color (this is the one I purchased), and you can swap out with regular cacao powder if that’s what you have and you want more of the benefits, or do a mix of both.

I prefer to use things like black cocoa powder and black sesame paste for “food coloring” instead of something like activated charcoal, which has the power to neutralize your medications—not good!

The rest of the main ingredients:

• Oats: Oats are packed with minerals that provide antioxidant properties, aid in tissue strength and collagen production to keep your skin glowing, and assist in energy production as well. They also contain vanadium, which helps keep your blood sugar balanced so you don’t experience an energy crash.
• Coconut: Coconut contains medium-chain triglycerides, which are metabolized differently than other fats, so you can use them for energy more quickly.
• Nut butter: I used cashew butter, but you can use any nut or peanut butter as long as it’s a bit runny.
• Honey: Ideally you’ll want to use raw honey to get all of its beneficial enzymes (especially if we’re missing out on ones from raw cacao).  Alternatively, if you’re vegan you can use maple syrup.

You can have them naked if you want to, but if you prefer them to be more aesthetically pleasing (my sister kindly told me the naked ones look like 💩), you can roll them in extra coconut flakes like in the first photo.

Black Sesame Coconut Bites

 

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Author: Kristen Ciccolini

Serves: 18

Ingredients

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• ¼ black cocoa powder
• ¼ cup black sesame paste
• ¼ cup nut butter
• ¼ cup honey or maple syrup
• ½-3/4 tsp vanilla extract (start with ½ then add more if you want to)
• ¼ tsp salt
• Optional: ¼ cup extra coconut for rolling.

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until combined. The texture should be just sticky enough that it forms a ball when squeezed together.
2. Use a 1-tbsp scoop or a spoon to scoop out portions of the mixture and with wet hands, roll into a ball. Roll balls in extra coconut flakes, if using.
3. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.

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