Macadamia-Pistachio-Cherry Raw Balls

Apologies to the nut-allergic. These are not for you. Come back next week for a nut-free recipe? For those of you who can have nuts, these are for you.

I rely on a few travel snacks to get me through times when emergency rations are necessary. Lärabars are one of those snacks, and I usually have one in my bag (as well as a few at the office). But because they are “emergency” food that I eat several times a month, I frankly get a bit bored of the few flavors I like. I wanted to see if I could make something along the same lines, using things I had in the house, and have some snacks for this week at work. Dried fruit and nut things have a good combination of sugar, protein and fat that, for me, at least, makes for a good snack that knocks down hunger for an appropriate amount of time. You know, until your next snack. I eat on the hobbit schedule.

Between occasional trips to Trader Joe’s and our local natural foods store, I have a great selection of seeds, nuts, and dried fruits. Sometimes they get used for cookies or oatmeal toppings or an attempt at trail mix (which I always think I’m going to like more than I actually do), but mostly, buying them sounds like a good idea. I pulled everything out of the cabinet for taste-testing before deciding on this combo of macadamia nuts, pistachios, and cherries, with some dates and cacao nibs thrown in. The macadamias and pistachios are pretty creamy, and the cherries are tart, and the combination works out well.

My version might not be fully raw — I don’t know how the cherries or dates were dried — but if that’s important for you, find raw versions.

Macadamia-Pistachio-Cherry Raw Balls 

makes 16

• 1/4 cup raw pistachios, shelled
• 1/2 cup raw macadamia nuts
• 2 pitted Medjool dates
• 1/4 cup dried Montmorency cherries (pretty sure any dried cherries will work, but I like the tartness of these)
• 2 Tablespoons raw cacao nibs

Rough chop the pistachios in the food processor, and set aside.

Add the macadamia nuts and the Medjool dates to the food processor, and process until you’ve made a nut butter. Add the cherries, and pulse them into the mixture. Add the pistachios back in, and the cacao nibs. Pulse to mix.

Dump the mixture out onto a sheet of parchment paper and knead it together. Chill at least 10 -15 minutes in the fridge, wrapped tightly in the parchment. Roll into balls, about 1/2 a Tablespoon each. Store tightly covered in the fridge.