Saturdays in Utrecht were my favourite. Saturday was market day, and, in our five years living in the Netherlands, we would spend most Saturday mornings cycling into the city center to enjoy the bustling, busy markets. The flower market, held in an old, cobblestone square surrounded by buildings hundreds of years old, was an almost magical place for me. I could spend hours walking up and down the rows of brightly coloured flowers and plants. I loved how the changing seasons were reflected in the flowers on display. Tulips and irises in the Spring; peonies and roses in the Summer; artichokes, dahlias and bulbs in the Fall and mistletoe, holly and amaryllis in the Winter. Of course there were many others. And I lost myself in the beauty of each individual bloom.
The
farmer’s market on Vredenburg plein was equally as magical. It was where you
felt the cultures of the city converge. It was the place to buy the best farmer’s
cheese and the freshest local fish. I can still picture the lady at the
fishmonger’s, her voice booming; ‘de lekkerste kibbeling op de markt’ –
meaning: the best fish goujons at the market. Kibbeling is the Dutch version of
fish goujons: pieces of cod, battered and deep fried and seasoned with a spiced
salt. Our family would typically huddle around a big paper bag of the steaming
fish, picking and nibbling on the pieces as we tried to stay warm, or dry. We
would then visit the cheese stand and the olive bar, stocking up on all our favourites.
And, any
trip to the market would include a stop at Will’s Notenbar. Our weekly visits saw
us walking away with many bags of various nuts and dried fruit, and a few jars
of different nut butters. We would always take time to talk with Marco, the
owner, swapping stories about our latest travels, or a new recipe, or our
children. It was at Marco’s that I first tried a chocolate-covered,
cinnamon-dusted almond. I know that seems like a mouthful, but they were
delicious. I kept telling people that they were my favourite of all Dutch
treats, until a Dutch friend informed me that they were not even Dutch, but
Italian in origin.
Those little chocolate almonds were the inspiration for this recipe. I wanted to create a healthy treat that captured all the flavours of my favourite confection – chocolate; almond; cinnamon – and that would capture the special memories I have of those amazing Saturdays. Inspired by my love of Utrecht, its people, and its markets, I think these treats are a great nod to those original chocolate-covered, cinnamon-dusted almonds.
A super easy, healthy, raw, vegan treat that is both refined sugar free and gluten free. The perfect snack for school lunchboxes or afternoon tea. Enjoy this pick-me-up any time of the day.
Ingredients
Scale
200g medjool dates (fresh, pitted)
100g raw cashew nuts
50g raw almonds
2 tbs cocoa powder (Dutch processed, if in the USA)
50g rolled oats
2 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup almond butter
1 tbs coconut oil
Instructions
1. Add the dates to a food processor and roughly chop them up.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor.
3. Process well. Depending on the strength of your food processor, this step should take around 2 minutes. the processing time is really important to get right, but you can feel when the mixture is ready. Stop the machine, take a small handful of the mixture and firmly squeeze it together. It should hold its shape. If it is too crumbly, keep processing. But don’t over-process, as the mixture can become too oily (as the nuts break down more and more).
4. Turn out the mixture into a bowl, and roll small, bite-size balls between the palms of your hands.
5. Store in an air-tight container on the counter top for a day or two, otherwise store in the refrigerator for as long as they last (which in our house is not very long!).
