I’m not much of a baker. In fact, I never bake. The last time I did was for Christmas last year when I made these gluten-free gingerbread cookies using a recipe from The Banana Diaries. But I had such an enjoyable time with the family, and nothing said Christmas like the aroma of freshly baked goodies emanating from the kitchen! So, this year, I’m stretching myself even more with five different gluten-free recipes – all seem delicious and easy-to-make but let’s see how it goes! My first is an adaptation of the Coconut & Rum Snowballs recipe from The Green Loot. My twist? Instead, of the rum extract I used Amarula which is a cream liqueur from South Africa made with sugar, cream and the fruit of the African morula tree (Sclerocarya birrea). As 70% of Botswana is desert, I’m calling these my Coconut & Amarula Desert Balls!  

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 5-6 tbsp canned full-fat coconut milk (the creamy part)
• 5-6 tbsp honey (agave syrup if using the original recipe)
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp Amarula (1,5 tsp rum extract if using the original recipe)
• 1/3 cup chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut (for rolling)

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a bowl, making sure there are no clumps
• Put the dough in the fridge for 1-2 hour(s) to chill so all the ingredients can come together. This step should not be skipped as right after combining the ingredients, the dough is quite runny, and you can’t make balls out of it.
• Make the balls, then roll them into shredded coconut.
• Put the balls in the fridge for another hour before eating (optional, but ideal).
• Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Preparation time was only 15 minutes and once the dough was out of the fridge, my son loved rolling the balls together, so this is a fun activity if you have kids! The balls were fluffy and tasty, though a lot more filling than we expected! So, this is definitely not just a treat for the holiday season – they would be ideal for a pre- or post-run/hike energy snack. While we were doing this, we had a delicious apple crumble in the oven – so stay tuned for my next Bake with Me blog!

A special thank you to Kate from The Green Loot for this awesome recipe.

Are you baking this Christmas Season? What are your favourite Christmas treats? Let me know if you try this recipe!