A natural sugar snack that's healthy!

The last 2 weeks have been a powerhouse of workouts, trying to cut out sugar and generally getting back to health after the copious amounts of food I ingested whilst at Ballymaloe. The jeans are still a little tight (insert sad face).....I need a big change in my eating habits.

So as much as possible I'm trying to cut out sugar for the foreseeable future. All sugar which means fruit, juice, things like ketchup, carrots, tomatoes…the list goes on! Sometimes it's easy, sometimes I have sugar cravings so bad that I reach for anything sweet. These, are a healthy option.

Most people (like here, here and here) who make traditional sugar free treats use dates as a base but, these have a super duper amount of natural sugar (60% sugar content to be exact!) which is not so great if like me, you're trying to cut out sugar. Apricots on the other hand have an overall lower sugar content so I decided to give it a go and see what happens.

I used pre-soaked dried apricots but this is an easy step you can do yourself by putting them in a little water overnight. Do you know about the goodness of apricots? Well, basically they are little bundles of orange coloured flavourful goodness!

The nectar was the preferred drink of the Greek and Roman Gods. These beautiful 'Moon of the Faithful' fruit are highly concentrated in betacarotene which has been shown to be successful in thwarting certain cancers. Dry apricots have an even higher lever although do contain more calories if you're counting. Tree ripened fruits are one of the best sources of copper, cobalt and organic iron, great for building red corpuscles in your blood stream!

These made about 13 and were best kept in the fridge or freezer.

I used 11 almonds
1 good tbsp of chia seeds
2 tbps of a blended mix of pumpkin, sesame, sunflower seeds and goji berries

Pulse of all these together to the consistency you want. I like a bit of a bite so I kept them fairly chunky.

Next pulse 6 apricots in a blender till mush.
Add the nut/seed mix and pulse together.

Roll one and test to see if the mixture is nutty and solid enough. If not, add more seeds/nuts etc. I found that if I didn't put enough solids in, the balls where very mushy when it came to eating and not great texturally. You'll probably think you've put too much solids in but that's improbable. As long as it still comes together you're fine.

Wet your hands a little and then roll into balls, pop on some baking paper and freeze or fridge…Eat at your hearts content! without feeling guilty!

This recipe is so adaptable for your mood it's wonderful. Roll in desiccated coconut, add cinnamon, different nuts, or drizzle some homemade chocolate over. Have some fun and experiment!