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Raise your hand if you like all gingerbread things!!!
Now, raise your hand if you don’t feel like baking or decorating!!!!
Then these gingerbread balls are perfect for you!
You bite into a crunchy chocolate shell followed by a soft and sticky, sweet and slightly spicy gingerbread filling. Yes, I think you want these in your life this Holiday season.
Also, let’s just ignore the fact that I have made a lot of ball recipes for the Holidays. Two this year, my rum balls, now these gingerbread balls. Last year I made dark chocolate peppermint truffles. Okay, those didn’t have “balls” in the title, but they are balls all the same. And all three recipes make use of dates.
Yes! I am obsessed, okay?!
And for good reason. Dates are sticky, sweet, and loaded with fiber and nutrients. They make the perfect thing to bind balls such as these gingerbread balls, and to naturally sweeten them. Can’t stop. Won’t stop!
I had a hard time naming these gingerbread balls. They’re not exactly the same texture of a cake ball. There isn’t any chocolate inside the batter, only on the outside, so I don’t think they count as a truffle. They’re just gingerbread balls. Pure and simple. Pure and tasty!
This post was supposed to be an update to an old recipe…way back in the dark ages, before I knew how to take pictures – literally, because there wasn’t much light in my photos those days LOL. Anyways, I had made some raw gingerbread cookie bites that also included dates, among some other things. I was going to update the recipe because I remembered that I liked them when I wanted a gingerbread fix in a healthier way. Then I ended up changing the recipe so much that I thought it deserved a brand new post.
Aaaannnndddd now you get to look back at some of my really old photos. Lucky you.
As usual, when I make desserts these gingerbread balls have a healthier spin to them. As I said before they are entirely sweetened with dates. Well, and a little molasses, because what’s gingerbread without molasses? They are packed with cinnamon which is great for balancing blood sugar levels, and ginger which is good for digestion.
See? Healthier gingerbread balls FTW!
They are also grain free, gluten free, and adaptable to be vegan and dairy free. All you have to do is use vegan/dairy free chocolate. Simple as that.
Here’s all you need to make gingerbread balls:
- medjool dates – hey old pal. I love you.
- blanched almond flour – for binding and body
- salt – balance is needed in life, and in baking (only, this is not baking. You know what I mean).
- ground ginger – because what’s gingerbread without ginger?
- cinnamon – gotta have that warming spice
- ground cloves – more warming spices
- allspice – a classic gingerbread flavor, too
- molasses – for that one-of-a-kind gingerbread taste we all love
- dark chocolate – for the chocolate shell
- coconut oil – to make the chocolate shell a little softer when eating
- Optional toppings, for decoration – cinnamon, or festive Holiday sprinkles
That’s it. Simple, clean ingredients to satisfy that gingerbread craving. I mean, yes it’s sugar, it’s dessert….but as far as desserts go these gingerbread balls rank on the healthier side. The best part, they don’t actually taste that healthy. Love it when that happens.
These gingerbread balls only take 25 minutes of active hands on time to make. Yes, there is some time required to freeze the dough so that you can actually work with it, but you can do some dishes, or maybe wrap some Christmas gifts while you’re waiting.
Last minute holiday dessert anyone? Yes, I think so.
Share these at a Christmas party, or as part of your dessert tray on Christmas Eve. Pass them around on Christmas morning while you’re opening gifts to encourage a little extra Holiday cheer. Because nothing other than the classic flavor of gingerbread makes me feel more festive.
If you’re still going to participate in a cookie swap these gingerbread balls would be the perfect fun addition. Will someone please do a cookie exchange with me?! I have so many recipes to share ha!
Here are more gingerbread recipes you will love:
Here are more easy no bake Christmas recipes (my theme this year lol):
- 3 edible cookie dough flavors
- 5 ingredient vanilla cashew butter cups
- date sweetened rum balls
- dark chocolate peppermint truffles
- dark chocolate bark with candied oranges
- vegan chocolate turtles
Happy Christmas treat making!
P.S. I just wanted to take a second to wish everyone the happiest of Holidays!!! It’s going to be a good one! Especially if these gingerbread balls are involved.
P.P.S I will be taking some time off after Christmas to spend time with family. I will be back with a new recipe the second week of January, to help you kick start your healthy eating goals (so excited to talk about something other than desserts ha!).
I also wanted to let you know that starting in January I will be reducing my posting schedule from 2 times a week, to 1 time a week (I will be posting on Mondays). I am taking the time off from creating new recipes twice a week so that I can have more time to work on behind the scenes projects. There are so many ways I want to improve this website and they always seem to get pushed to the back burner. I am excited to make this blog a better user experience for you. A place that you can come to to easily find recipes. I don’t know when I will go back to posting twice a week yet. It depends on how long all the other projects take me to get done. It was a hard decision to make because I truly love developing, and sharing new recipes with you; but it feels right, it feels necessary. Anyways, thanks for understanding. Hope you have a great Holiday season and I will be back in January with some healthy goodies.
Did you make this recipe? Do me a favor and leave a comment below along with a star rating. This helps my blog to rank higher in google and makes me smile. Thanks friends!
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Easy Gingerbread Balls (No Bake)
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 22 to 24 balls 1x
- Category: dessert, chocolate, easy
- Method: blending, assembly
- Cuisine: gluten free, vegan, dairy free, vegetarian
Description
Gingerbread balls are perfect for when you want that classic gingerbread taste without any baking required. Soft, sticky gingerbread center with a crunchy dark chocolate shell. A favorite treat during the Holidays.
Ingredients
for the batter
- 1 cup packed medjool dates, pitted
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons blanched almond flour
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1 to 1 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 3 tablespoons molasses
chocolate shell
- 8 ounces dark baking chocolate
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil
optional toppings
- ground cinnamon
- festive Christmas sprinkles
Instructions
- Soak the dates: Soak the dates in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Prepare: Line a medium sized rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat. Set aside.
- Make the gingerbread batter: To a food processor add the drained dates and pulse until a paste or ball forms. Add the remaining gingerbread batter ingredients: the almond flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon cloves, allspice, and molasses. Pulse until everything is well combined. Taste and adjust flavors at this time.
- Freeze dough: Transfer the dough to a bowl to make scooping it into balls easier. Freeze the dough for 10 minutes.
- Roll into balls: Measure out 1 tablespoon of dough (I like to use a spring loaded cookie scoop to make things faster), place on the prepared cookie sheet. Once you have worked through all the dough (you should have 22 to 24 balls) use your hands to roll them into balls, place back on the baking sheet.
- Freeze gingerbread balls: Place the baking sheet of gingerbread balls in the freezer. Freeze for 15 minutes.
- Melt the chocolate: In a microwave safe bowl add the chocolate, broken up, along with the coconut oil. Melt in the microwave on high for 30 second increments, stirring each time – until the chocolate is melted.
- Coat the gingerbread balls in the chocolate: Add a ball to the bowl of melted chocolate, use a fork to roll it around and coat it in the chocolate – use the fork to lift it out of the chocolate and tap it a few times on the side of the bowl to allow any excess chocolate to drip off. Place the ball on the baking sheet. Decorate with a sprinkle of cinnamon or festive Christmas sprinkles (if desired). Repeat until you have coated and decorated all of the gingerbread balls
- Freeze: Freeze the balls for 5 to 10 minutes, just enough to harden the chocolate shell.
- Eat/store: You can either serve these gingerbread balls immediately or store them in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
You may have some melted chocolate leftover. You can easily coat some nuts in the chocolate to make your own homemade candy.
Vegan/dairy free: to make these vegan/dairy free simply use vegan/dairy free chocolate for the chocolate shell.
Prep time does not include the inactive time required for freezer time and soaking the dates.
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