We have not hosted a retreat yet without a raw ball of some description making an appearance. Raw balls have been a treat mainstay since day dot. After Colette’s first yoga classes back in the day, the raw balls would always come out. We rolled eighty raw balls for our first retreat in the Peak District in England where we had 20 beautiful yogis. It’s now at the point where we feel there’d be some form of retreat mutiny if a raw ball didn’t show up. They’re so yummy.

We’ve made orange-y ones, chilli-ish ones, peanut-y ones and all-sorts. Our favourite have been the naughty brandy-soaked, Christmas-cake-spiced and orange peel raw balls we offered our guests at our Winter Warmer Retreat in Barnard Castle, near County Durham in Northern England back in Winter 2016. Fell free to experiment with your balls.

The recipe here is for some fresh ginger raw balls. Play around with your balls. The more you make, the better you get at making them and the more flexible you can be with the flavours.

For Balls:
The same amount of cashews as pitted medjool dates  (lets say two handfuls of each)
6 heaped teaspoons of raw cacao
3 teaspoons of coconut oil
2 x dice-sized pieces of raw ginger peeled
2 teaspoons spirulina

For Rolling:
desiccated coconut  (you can use desskated if preferred)
chia seeds

Method:

Blend the cashews in quick bursts until they are at the size you want.

Add the rest of the ingredients and blend away.  The best tip is to not add too much oil at first.  The mix may be more dusty than you want but you can always add more oil you can’t take it away.  You’ll spot when the mixture is ready in the blender because the mixture starts clinging to itself and folding downwards and inwards.

Roll your balls in your hand. Ooo errr!

Whilst your balls are warm and sweaty, roll your balls in desiccated coconut and chia seeds.  After you’ve rolled your sweaty balls in coconut and chia then wangle them into the freezer for 30 minutes.  Et voila!  Your balls should now be hard and ready for popping into your mouth or someone else’s.

If you prefer putting softer balls into your mouth the you can leave your balls on the kitchen surface at room temperature for a few minutes to relax.

Thank you for reading and please share with us your attempts at making raw balls and any new flavours you discover. Today, we’ve just eaten some lovely raw balls. We swapped the cashews for peanuts, no ginger and we salted the mix for extra naughty more-isa-ness. Go forward with a raw ball in your palm.

Enjoy.

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