TGIF with a mile-long repeat of exclamation marks! It’s been one of those weeks (more on that later), but knowing that tomorrow will be an alarm-less morning has already put a sweet spin on my morning. It’s hard to believe that just last week was Bozic, Christmas for Orthodox Christians, and a few last cookies that I’ll pack in lunches are a pleasant reminder of the warm day my family shared in celebrating of Jesus’s birth, despite the zero temperature and sub zero wind chill. Some new found delights mixed in with longtime family favorites graced my dessert table this year, including these dark chocolate covered fruit and nut balls. The mixture of ground fruit and pecans coated in a generous layer of dark chocolate are bites of indulgence.
As I may have mentioned, a 40-day fasting period precedes Christmas and these fruit and nut balls are covered in my favorite brand of vegan dark chocolate – Trader Joe’s. I used a mixture of dried apricots, dried mixed berries and dried cherries with ground pecans. It was delicious but next time I’m going to try using pistachios. Any combination of dried fruit would work so experiment away!
- 1 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup dried apricots
- 1 cup dried mixed berries
- ½ cup dried cherries
- ½ water
- 2 tablespoons honey
- In a saucepan, combine dried fruit and water. Heat to boiling.
- Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, place fruit in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of honey and pulse until a paste forms.
- If mixture is too thick, add some of the cooking liquid one tablespoon at a time.
- Stir in chopped pecans.
- Form into balls of desired size and place on wax paper-lined pan.
- Coating:
- In a small saucepan, melt ½ lb. dark chocolate with 2 teaspoons of canola oil.
- Dip balls into chocolate and place on pan to dry.
- Store in airtight container.
Next year, these dark chocolate covered fruit and nut balls will make an encore appearance on my cookie tray though it’s unlikely I’ll wait until then to make them again. Lesson learned this time around: it doesn’t take long to roast pecans. I had painfully toss a batch and learned that sometimes it’s not good to multi-multi-task.
Happy Friday!
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