a pot of cacao powder

Veganuary Recipes - Energy Balls & Avocado Chocolate Mousse

11 January 2023

Whether you’re a fully dedicated vegan, dabbling in a plant-based diet or simply love vegan food, we’ve discovered a couple of super healthy and delicious vegan sweet treats for you. 

 

Vegan Energy Balls

Recipe number one is these delicious little Energy Balls, filled with good-for-you fats and natural, unrefined ingredients. You can make a big batch of these energy balls and store them in the freezer, so they are ready to grab whenever you’re blood sugar levels are low and you’re trying to steer clear of the biscuit tin. By pre-preparing healthy snacks, when you get those inevitable sugar cravings you can rid them without having to give into packaged food that tends to include a high number of refined ingredients and sugar.

Ingredients

• 40g gluten-free oats

• 30g vanilla protein

• 25g cacao

• 100g natural peanut butter

• 2tbsp coconut oil

• 2tbsp maple syrup

• 1tbsp chia or flax seeds

To coat

• Desiccated coconut

• Freeze dried raspberries

• Matcha powder

Method

  • Blend all of the ingredients, apart from the coatings, in a food processor until a dough like consistency forms
  • Take 1tbsp portion of the mix and roll into balls using your hands until all the mixture is used up.
  • Roll each ball in a coating of your choice.
  • Store in the fridge or freezer, or, if you’re feeling peckish, you can eat them immediately.

Avocado Chocolate Mousse

Recipe number two is perfect if you’re looking for healthy, vegan alternatives to serve up this Christmas. It includes two of your five a day but still manages to hit that sweet spot. Avocados are an excellent source of mono unsaturated fat and vitamin E, as well as containing a number of useful minerals such as iron, copper and potassium and are a good source of the B vitamin, folate.

The cacao powder used in this recipe, which is formulated once you’ve extracted the cacao butter out of chocolate and has the lowest percentage of fat than any other part of the cacao bean.

Ingredients

  • 1 large banana, frozen
  • 3 tbsp cacao powder
  • 1 avocado
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • Pinch of sea salt

Method

  • Measure all of the ingredients and place them into a blender or food processor. Make sure your avocado is ripe or there can be some lumps in the chocolate pudding.
  • Blend all ingredients until your mixture has a smooth and glossy texture
  • Divide the mixture between four ramekins and chill in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
  • Decorate with some lime zest and chocolate shavings, if you like.