When you’re a parent, you need to make good food choices.

My wife and I love to eat delicious food, but we realized soon enough that our 16-month-old daughter loves to copy us. This can be funny, for example, when she takes her toy phone and mumble-jumbles around the living room.

But it’s a different story when she only wants to eat the “delicious” (but not nutritious) food that mommy and daddy eat.

So in order for us to teach her how to eat better food, we realized we first had to learn how to make better food.

We looked around and found many great options for our family, and this is one of our favorites. These balls are made delicious with honey, oats, almonds, two types of seeds and coconut. My daughter loves them (one in each hand and another in the mouth) and so do we.

Healthy, guilt-free and delicious. Bon appetit!

Ingredients:

1 cup of instant oats (1 to 4 minute cooking time)
22 dates
30 g sesame seeds
30 g sunflower seeds
30 g shredded unsweetened coconut
20 g raisins
30 g flaked almond
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1.5 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon warm water

Preparation:

1. If using dried dates, soak dates and raisins in boiling water for roughly five minutes.

2. In a medium pan over low heat, add the oats, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, shredded coconut, and flaked almond. Slowly fry until the mixture is lightly golden and aromatic. Do not burn.

3. In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt the coconut oil, then add the honey and lemon juice. Cook until the mixture boils and starts to yellow. Remove from heat, add the dry oat mixture and then leave the mixture in the saucepan to cool.

4. Now you’ll need to drain the dates and raisins and blend them into a paste. Add the paste to the saucepan (if you find the mixture is too dry, add a little water).

5. You can add cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg and other aromatic spices for a more well-rounded flavor.

6. To shape the balls, wet your hands and remove small pieces from the mixture. Roll them into round shapes until all the mixture is finished. You can add shredded coconut on top or roll the balls in the coconut.

7. Place the balls in the fridge for at least an hour. Then, happily devour!

Makes 22 to 26 balls.

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Author: Bernard Meyer

Image: Author’s Own

Editor: Catherine Monkman