Chocolate Balls

These are classic treats can be used for any occasion and are great as a gift. They are really simple, only require a few ingredients and are highly versatile. They can be great as a snack with a coffee or tea, they are absolutely delicious and can last a long time. With the perfect recipe, you will never be craving for anything chocolaty anymore.

Here's what you need:

Ingredients:

- 1 packet (250g) Marie Biscuits (or any type of sweet, dry biscuits)

- 1/3 cup (40g) cocoa powder

- 1/2 cup (45g) desiccated coconut

- 1 tin (395g) condensed milk

For the first step of how to make these chocolate bowls, you will need to crush some biscuits. This may take a while but if you'd like to speed up the process a bit, you can put them in a food processor very quickly until they resemble large crumbs.

How to Start

Step 1: Crush the biscuits in a bowl until they resemble large crumbs. Don't crush them too much because that will only make the balls not have a mixed texture.

Step 2: Sift the cocoa into the bowl, then add the coconut, and then add the condensed milk.

Step 3: Roughly mold the mixture together with your hands until the ingredients are all mixed together.

Step 4: Grab small amounts of the mixture and roll them into balls.

Step 5: There are many different types of decorations that you can use to make your chocolate balls look attractive. Here are some ideas.

Coconut: You can roll them in coconut to create a strong contrast in color.

Chocolate Sprinkles: You can roll them in chocolate sprinkles to create a nice blend of different chocolate shades.

100s & 1000s: You can roll them in colored sprinkles to mix a nice range of colors with the dense chocolaty color of the chocolate balls.

If you'd like to give your chocolate balls as a gift, you can wrap it up in some clear cellophane and tie it up with a ribbon. If you'd like, you can package them in a box and also tie it up with a ribbon. It's up to you.

Enjoy!

Apricot Delights

I fell in love with these little treats when I was younger. Everyday, my mother would pack me a few of these as a snack at school and my friends would always be picking at them because they were so good. Every time I was in the supermarket I would head straight to the Health Food section and pick out a few packets of these. I could never get enough. 

After a few years, I stopped eating them but I found these again in the supermarket and thought, these bring back so many memories. Now I want to try make them myself. So after a few experiments, I finally figured out the perfect recipe for it to taste exactly like the ones I had when I was younger, except with a few improvements.

It's really simple and anyone can pull it off. Here are the things you'll need:

Ingredients

- 400g whole dried apricots
- 100g halved dried apricots, finely chopped

- ¼ cup raw almonds, crushed

- 80g shredded coconut

- 1 tsp coconut oil or vegetable oil

- 1 tsp honey

- a few drops of vanilla extract

- ½ cup desiccated coconut

To make these delicious treats, you will need to use a processor. Not every household has one of these because they are fairly expensive but because you can use a food processor for many different recipes, it is worth buying and will definitely pay off.

To get a balance for this recipe, you will need to adjust the amount of whole apricots and halved ones to your taste because everyone prefers a different texture. If you would like a harder texture, use more halved apricots but if you'd like a lighter and juicier texture, use more whole ones. You can mess around with this recipe because it's better when it's experimented with.

How to Start

Step 1: Place the whole dried apricots (roughly chopped), oil, honey (you can use maple syrup if you'd like a less sweet taste) in a food processor and process for at least 3 minutes or until the mixture is fairly smooth and balanced.

Step 2: Add the almonds and halved apricots and switch it on for another minute until the apricots are chopped up to your liking.

Step 3: Add in the shredded coconut and give it a spin for another few seconds until the coconut is just mixed into the mixture.

Step 4: Now that you've got the doughy mixture, place it on a kneading board or a non-stick table and kneed it out for a while.
Step 5: Now that you've got your apricot dough all ready, you can make the choice of how you'd like to present your treats.

There are many different ways to present your apricot delights. There is the classic rectangular bite sized shape, there is the other classic spherical balls, or there is a not so popular, but still used, cut up log.

Rectangular Shape: To create this shape, you will need to roll our your mixture into a flat piece of dough that is at least 2cm thick. Make sure the edges are sharp and there are no curves. Now, you can slice it up into little rectangular or cubical bite sized shapes.

Spherical Balls: This is quite a simple process. All you have to do is grab a bit of the mixture and roll into a little ball of your liking. Do this until you have no more mixture left.

Cut Up Log: This is probably the quickest method as it only requires two steps. Firstly, you must roll the dough into a cylinder that has a diameter of about 5cm or however thick you'd like it. Then, you slice them into at least 1cm thick slices.

Step 6: Finally, you should chill them for around 1 hour to mold the firmness.

With the remaining desiccated coconut, you can roll your apricot delights in it to create a balance of coconut and apricot flavor. If you'd like, you can also coat them in shredded coconut or dip them in honey.

Because the apricots are preserved and you've got a bit of honey, the apricot delights will last quite a while but it is still good to keep them in an airlock container.

Now that you've got your apricot delights, you can indulge in them whenever you'd like. These treats are ideal for a child's snack and great as finger foods at parties or special occasions. These treats are highly versatile so you can use them with whatever you'd like.

Enjoy!