Chocolate Hazelnut Balls

Chocolate-hazelnut-balls

Something exciting happened last week: I went viral for the first time. No, that doesn’t mean I need to be put on antibiotics. My post on Raw/Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Cake got picked up on StumbleUpon and things got a little crazy. In 3 days it obliterated almost every page view record my tiny little site had. Last I checked it had 26,000 views; I guess people like cake? I posted How To Use StumbleUpon To Promote Blog Content last February and had a little success since then but this was ridiculous.

chocolate-hazelnut-balls-serving

Because of that, I’ve had this cake on my mind pretty much non-stop since. Even though it’s raw and vegan, cake isn’t really a “health food”. I wanted something like it that I could eat any time, any place. These chewy little balls are just that. They’re flavorful, portable, and incredibly delicious. It’s almost like having the real dessert but much more socially acceptable for a mid-afternoon snack… or at 10am when you still haven’t put on clothes for the day.

Make sure when you’re forming the balls that there are no date pits in the final product. Even though store-bought dates are usually pit-free, it’s very likely that one or two slipped by, and those are not nice to bite in to.

Chocolate Hazelnut Balls

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(makes 14 balls):

  • 1 1/4 cup hazelnuts, raw
  • 2 cups pitted dates
  • 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
  • ~2 Tablespoons water

chocolate-hazelnut-balls-bowl

Method:

  1. Blend the hazelnuts into a fine powder in a food processor
  2. Add in the dates and continue blending until the dates have broken up into smaller pieces
  3. Add the cocoa powder and continue blending
  4. Slowly add water into the processor while blending until the flour starts sticking to itself and becoming a dough. Stop adding water and turn off the food processor as soon as the ingredients hold together and form a giant ball.
  5. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

These make a perfectly healthy snack…

chocolate-hazelnut-balls-cake

…until you remember you still have leftover frosting and decide to make 2 balls into a cake. Still pretty healthy and incredibly delicious.

 

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19 Responses to Chocolate Hazelnut Balls
  1. Alayna @ Thyme Bombe
    August 26, 2011 | 9:11 am

    That is awesome! I’m trying to figure out how to use StumbleUpon for my own blog but I don’t really get it yet. That was a fantastic cake recipe, definitely worthy of all the attention, and these look incredible too!

  2. The Delicate Place
    August 26, 2011 | 9:18 am

    whoa congrats! pretty soon you’ll be a meme 😉 mmmm bites of nutella but not full of sugar? when are you moving in as personal chef? ^_^

  3. Danielle @weightsandmeasures
    August 26, 2011 | 9:29 am

    That is quite viral. Have you seen your readership increase since then? These sound amazing. Hazelnuts are so underrated!

  4. Liz @ Tip Top Shape
    August 26, 2011 | 9:49 am

    These look fantastic!! So many great things that you can do with dates!

  5. Victoria (District Chocoholic)
    August 26, 2011 | 11:18 am

    Six. That is the number of times I giggled reading this post. Because that is how many times the word “balls” is used.

  6. Michelle @ Crazy*Running*Legs
    August 26, 2011 | 11:32 am

    First time commenting here — but you had me at balls. And hazelnut. But really, balls.

    And I think I was one of those readers who read the chocolate cake post. I can’t even imagine 2600 views (in a day)– let alone 26,000! Amazing!

  7. Lindsay @ Lindsay's List
    August 26, 2011 | 4:33 pm

    That last pic make me go eat another one of the cupcakes I have here in the house! But it had teeth marks in it, Evan! Tisk tisk! 😉

  8. Gina @ Running to the Kitchen
    August 26, 2011 | 4:36 pm

    Congrats on the stumbleupon success! That cake had me drooling when I read the post, I’m sure that’s what it did to all the others who “stumbled” it 🙂
    I’m still completely baffled by SU though, it just doesn’t make sense to me and personally, I think the whole “stumbling” thing to find new content is annoying and time consuming, but I’m probably using it wrong or something!

  9. Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga
    August 26, 2011 | 4:36 pm

    The last pic…mmm, that’s perfect.

    I do the same thing you did with raw chocolate balls but use cashews instead of hazelnuts since i always have cashews on hand. And oh, water? Are you kidding? Why use water when you can use agave or maple and make it all even sweeter 🙂

  10. Casey @ Pocket Full of Sunshine
    August 26, 2011 | 6:35 pm

    Mmm..smushing them together and then frosting them looks like a fantastic idea 🙂

  11. bhavani@ameanderingmango
    August 27, 2011 | 3:50 am

    These little treats look simply delicious – and even healthy! I will definitely hold onto this recipe – thanks!

  12. Amanda
    August 27, 2011 | 11:07 am

    These pictures have me wishing I could reach through my computer screen right about now!:) And congrats on your success! That is seriously awesome!

  13. Erin @ Big Girl Feats
    August 27, 2011 | 2:31 pm

    Delish!!! StumbleUpon is really cool. I was addicted for a while back in the day (aka 2010, ha) but haven’t been in a while. Just another internet thing to get sucked into…

  14. Ela
    August 27, 2011 | 8:22 pm

    Congrats on ‘going viral’ (isn’t that a funny phrase?) That’s awesome, though–and I’d never perceived your blog as a small one before that either.

    Balls. Way to go! And now you can call them nuts ‘filberts!’

  15. The Candid RD
    August 27, 2011 | 9:30 pm

    Oh I LOVE your balls!! Especially when they are flattened and coated with chocolate 😉

    So I sent you a tweet about Stumble Upon. I just don’t understand it at all. I looked at your post (which, by the way, your link did not send me to, just an FYI) and I still don’t get it. How do I submit my blog so it can be stumbled? I’m such a technology loser!

    • Wannabe Chef
      August 27, 2011 | 9:34 pm

      The easiest way is to install a plugin that adds a button to each post. I recommend Share and Follow.
      You can also do it by logging into stumbleupon, clicking on favorites and choosing the submit a favorite button and manually copying each link into the system. After it’s in there you have to share it with people through twitter, facebook, or email or it won’t get seen.

  16. Megan@eatmybeets
    August 28, 2011 | 8:28 am

    Mouth. Is. Watering.

  17. Russell van Kraayenburg
    August 28, 2011 | 10:53 am

    Wow I love how simple this recipe is! Yum. And congrats on your viral post. That’s a nice number of peeps. I think I get that many in a year.

  18. The Chocolate Priestess
    August 30, 2011 | 10:06 am

    I stumble my posts, too, but I never get anywhere near that number of unique visitors.