You can thank my sister for these Lemon Bliss Balls
“Be the person you needed when you needed help.” ― Rain Cooper
I’m lucky to have my sister living pretty close to me in Sydney. We usually catch up for a chat on a Saturday morning – after me and mine have finished at the farmers market and eaten breakfast, and she and hers have been to their gymnastics class followed by brunch. More often than not it’s at my place (because she has a really flash car that she likes to drive fast).
Becky gets me in a way that few do. She also gets my health stuff. And, despite the fact that her dog is crazy (a bit like her), I love our Saturday sessions together.
Lately, her lemon trees have been overflowing with the most beautiful fat and juicy lemons. So, we’ve been playing with things citrus…
I made her some very un-AIP lemon curd. She made me some absolutely scrummy lemon bliss balls.
Small interruption as a I slip in my favourite pic’ of Becky and me taken a while back when she still lived in London and I had not yet given in to the inevitability of my grey hair. She still looks the same. I don’t.
…the thing is, while Becky’s lemon bliss balls were really scrummy, they also had nuts as a central ingredient. And, nuts of any description are not part of the elimination phase of an AIP approach.
So I set about making them into more accessible AIP-friendly Lemon Bliss Balls
The lovely thing about these babies is that they are easily thrown together in less than 20-minutes with ingredients that you can generally find in your pantry and – in the case of the lemon – fridge.
They are the perfect little treat to whip up when you have last minute notice of guests coming for morning tea (or your sister for a Saturday morning catch up…). Unless it’s important to them, your guests will never know that they are eating a wee treat free of gluten, dairy or nuts, either.
Of course, you don’t have to wait for company to make these lemon bliss balls. They’re a doddle to make if you need a wee pick-me-up, too…
makes 12 balls
- ½ cup raisins (or sultanas or dried cranberries)
- ½ cup Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
- 1½ cups desiccated coconut + extra for rollling
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Pop the 'S' blade into your food processor.
- Throw in all the ingredients and whizz until the mixture starts to form lumps that stick together. This may involve stopping the machine and scraping any loose runaway coconut.
- Remove the blade from your food processor.
- Pop a generous spoonful or two of desiccated coconut into a bowl for rolling.
- With clean hands and using a tablespoon as a measure, roll a spoonful of the mixture into ball and carefully roll in coconut to cover.
- Repeat until all the mixture has been rolled.
- Place balls into a sealed container in the fridge until needed.
