One of our favorite Christmas Cookies! Raw vegan snowballs!

MAKES 40 Cookies

Melt the cacao butter and coconut butter in the dehydrator at 118 degrees. This can take an hour so plan accordingly.
Stir in maple syrup, peppermint essential oil OR peppermint extract.
Set aside while you are making the cookie balls.

1 medium beet, peeled and quartered
2 cups almonds
2 cups dried, unsweetened coconut
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/4 cup cacao powder
1/4 to 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
15 drops food grade peppermint essential oil or 1 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Place almonds in food processor and process until finely ground. You should have a very fine almond meal. Be careful not to go too far or you will start to make almond butter! Place in bowl and set aside.
Place dried coconut in high-speed blender or food processor. Blend or process until a fine powder is achieved. Add to almond flour in bowl and stir to combine.
Add chia seeds and cacao powder. Stir to combine.
Place beets in food processor and pulse until very finely chopped.
Add beets, maple syrup and peppermint to the dry mixture. Stir to combine.
Form into 1- inch balls. Roll well to compact the dough.
Place balls in freezer for about 15 minutes to chill.
While the balls are in the freezer, you can put the cacao butter mixture in the refrigerator for 1-10 minutes to start to thicken it up. Make sure you keep a close eye on it and whisk often. If it gets too cold, soften it in the dehydrator.

Insert a toothpick into the cookie ball. Dip in cacao butter mixture 2-3 times to get the thickness of coating that you want.
Sprinkle with coconut.
Remove to cookie sheet to set. You can use the tine of the fork to cover over the little hole.

These should be refrigerated because of the beets. But can easily served at room temperature. They will hold their shape.

Thursday, December 29, 2016