Goo Balls

I first discovered goo balls while travelling in Ecuador. I was hiking near Vilcabamba with my new "travel family" - a Dutch Moroccan, a Spaniard, a Venezuelan, a Basque, a Canadian and myself. It was the Canadian who shared the secrets of Goo Balls with me. I don't remember the exact ingredients but it was instant oaty, cocoa powdery, sugary and peanut butterish, and at the time very yummy.

Since then I have come across the Goo Ball in various forms, The Power Ball, The Energy Ball, The Nut Ball, etc. Being influence by these various forms, the Goo Ball became more sophisticated and at times even fancy. It was only by coincidence that recently I ran into it twice in one week. One friend had made a wonderful date nut version and another made little child sized ones. So today I made some that combined the old with my recent encounters.

The recipe is pretty simple and has room for creativity and flexibility. What I list here is just the basics, add whatever you happen to have in the cupboard or whatever favorites you enjoy.

- something sweet and sticky (my favorite are sweeteners are date puree, honey, maple syrup, and agave nectar)

- nut or seed butter (peanut, almond, tahini (sesame butter), sunflower seed, cashew are all yummy butters)

- nuts and seeds (almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, are my favorite choices)

- optional yummy additions include ground flax, sesame seeds, coconut, chopped dried fruit (apricots are good), raisin, rolled oats, cocoa powder (this makes them chocolate fudgy, carob powder.

Mix it all together until you have a nice gooey consistency. Form into balls and roll balls in coconut, ground flax, rolled oats or sesame seeds. Refridgerate.

Today I started with a date puree (soak pitted dates over night or if you don't have time simmer until soft, puree in food processor until smooth with a little of the soaking water). Then added unsweetened sunflower seed butter (not the terrible stuff I tried to make, see sunflower seed butter post), tahini. In the past I would have then simply added whatever nuts and seeds whole or chopped, but since my daughter is only 21 months and doesn't chew her food very well I ground the nuts and seeds (cashews, pumpkin seeds and almonds) before mixing them in. I also added some shredded coconut and ground flax into the mix. I then formed into balls and rolled them in coconut.

These turned out very gooey and very yummy.