4 ingredients Christmas Almond Honey Orange Blossom Bites
These Christmas almond honey bites are all you want: easy to make, four ingredients only ( but with 3 different options as to which goes on top) , naturally sweetened,, delicately perfumed, with a light crunch.. The perfect balance! If you only had 20 min to make one extra garnish in your christmas cookies platter,…
These Christmas almond honey bites are all you want: easy to make, four ingredients only ( but with 3 different options as to which goes on top) , naturally sweetened,, delicately perfumed, with a light crunch.. The perfect balance!
If you only had 20 min to make one extra garnish in your christmas cookies platter, or a bit more to have a few different options, these are also original!
Quick and easy!
Do you already have too many cookies? These bites are original enough, takes small space, and will please someone for sure!
If you don’t have enough, that’s an easy one to fill up the empty space on the table.
In any case, it’s a win win! And you get something small in the mouth instead of overly sweet treats that surround us during Christmas time….
4 ingredients only
The best cookies are the ones with the shortest least of ingredients. This one requires almond flour or meal, orange blossom water, honey. as cover, you can use pistachio, unsweetened coconut flakes, or dark Moscovado sugar.
Almond meal
First, you’ll almond flour or meal – I’m sure other nuts would work but almonds are cheaper and it’s so good with them I haven’t tried! So you can blend your almonds yourself with your blender ! Personally, I prefer blending with a spice or nut blender ( I own this one and it’s excellent! ) because the Vitamix is so powerful it makes nuts very pasty if you leave them too long.
Orange blossom water
If you have meal ready, what you need next is orange blossom water. This sounds very exotic, but many supermarket have this middle eastern staple that smells so heavenly. That is the ingredient that gives my little bites a their flair!
If you never tried this ingredient, you may fall in love. In fact, that awakens so many memories of home: eating middle moroccan cakes, or my mom. diffusing orange blossom water in the living room, or adding a splash of it in some in evening herbal tea, before bed. it is very pleasant and relaxing!
First go find it in your middle eastern store to support locals! if not, big grocery stores like Walmart or Meijer carry it! you may aslo find it online. in any case, Ziyad or Cortas are my usual bottles I‘ve had for years, and it really does not go bad! This one looks great too!
Raw honey
I prefer local to make sure I support local people and that my raw honey isn’t fake. I pick raw honey because heated honey damages the nutrients in this bees’ delicacy. In this nutrient lacking world, I take nutrients wherever I can get them!
Also, there is this idea floating around that food cravings are often linked to nutrient deficiencies ( like stress and magnesium), and your body will direct you to go eat more food – especially sweet feel good foods) as you are nutrient deficient! Intuitively, I am sure it’s at least partially correct. So I usually err on the side of eating nutrient dense foods, especially if you are trying to fight cravings!
Not saying that raw honey will hit the nutrition spot – as with anything, you don’t need one food only to get your nutrition! But it has earned a reputation of serious healer for a reason!
Dark Moscovado Sugar
That’s really all it takes!
This is one of these unprocessed sugar I love. it looks like this. The link will give you an idea, but you’ll have more luck finding in a health grocery store than online.
Dark Moscovado is an unprocessed or very lightly processed cane sugar – meaning like raw honey it’s nutrients aren’t removed or as damaged as other conventional sugar. It does retain some vitamins, minerals and antioxydants but of course very minimally compared to your daily needs, with same energy value as normal sugar. It is on the expensive side but has such a deep taste it’s worth trying. I use it only for these types of deserts so it does last me a very long time. If you don’t find this type of sugar, an unprocessed sugar heavy in molasses will give these bites a great flair !
I use Moscovado in this recipe as coating and final touch! you need only very little because it’s very light, so it won’t sweeten your bite much!
Pistachios
A little bag of shelled raw unsalted pistachio will give any dish a little middle eastern flair! Especially paired with orange blossom water! Just cut them in little bits with a good knife and roll your bites into it with. Yum!
Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
An easy one to use in many christmas recipes and always turns out delicious ! I love coconut flakes and often replace confectioner’s sugar with it to decorate cakes when I don’t want frosting to neutralize the real taste of a cake I made.
Equipment
These delicious bites are raw, no cooker needed ! All you will need for that and future cooking needs is a precision scale like this one (no specific preference here).
Your hands
Your fingers and the palms of your hands are really all you need : a circular motion of your hands with the balls in between the palms of your hands is really all the technique here!
Let’s get cooking! ,
Have all you need ? Now turn on Christmas music, call your kids, and let’s roll these balls!
Christmas Almond Honey Orange Blossom Bites
These christmas almond honey orange blossom bites are all you want: easy to make, four ingredients only ( but with 3 different options as to which goes on top) , naturally sweetened,, delicately perfumed, with a light crunch.. The perfect balance!
Ingredients
For the dough
- 300g Almond flour or meal
- 1.5 tbsp orange blossom water
- 3/4 cup raw honey
For decoration
- some honey, IF the dough is not sticky enough to stick to sugar/coconut/ pistachio,
- a few tbsp or raw pistachios, cut finely, to taste, as you go,
- a few tbsp of coconut flakes to roll, as you go
Instructions
- Prepare a mixing bowl and add the almond meal,
- Add the honey and orange blossom water,
- First mix as much as possible with a spoon until it forms a ball;
- Finish pressing the dough with your hands, press all together until it is a bit sticky but not too much;
- Place a plate or two next to the ball and start rolling little 1/2 inch balls with a circular motion of both the palms of your hands, and place them in the plate.
- Once all the balls are formed, get another plate for decoration. Take one of the decorating ingredients ( sugar, coconut, pistachio) and add a tablespoon of it on the plate. Add a bit of honey on the side in case of need. First try rolling simply in pistachio or coconut. If the dough is not sticky enough, roll a bit in honey before rolling it in coconut/sugar/pistachios.
- If you want all tastes represented, roll a third in coconut, one third in sugar, one third in pistachios. Place all in a nice decorative plate. You can also try with raw cocoa, for a slightly bitter flair !
- These bites can keep for a week or two in a closed container.
Nutrition Information
Yield
100Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 52Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 0mgSodium 23mgCarbohydrates 6gFiber 1gSugar 3gProtein 1g
This is for a ball or two. This is a computer generated assessment of energy. This does not reflect accurate nutritional value or the way your body will respond to it.
