Marzipan

I love marzipan...

In case you aren't familiar with what marzipan is, it is basically an almond paste primarily made from ground up almonds and sugar.  Since I avoid refined sugar, I knew there'd be a way to make these little balls of glory a little more 'healthified'.  The secret sweetening ingredient; dates.  Dates have a lot of benefits including vitamins A, B, C, E and K, along with minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and more.  Dates however, are very high glycemic, so although nutritious, should be eaten in moderation.

All you need are dates, almond flour and some pure almond extract, and you have yourself a pretty close substitute to my favorite little German balls of delicious marzipan.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 1/4 cup dates (about 9 dates)

- 1 1/4 cups almond flour

- 2 teaspoons pure almond extract

- 1 teaspoon water (more or less to help with consistency)

- optional mix-ins: sprinkling of cinnamon or 1/4 cup (more or less) of enjoy-life chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Place dates in a glass bowl, and cover with warm water.  Let sit for 1 hour to soften dates.

2.  Drain dates and place in a food processor, and add all other ingredients except for the optional mix-ins.  Blend until incorporated and sticky.  You might have to scrape the sides, and blend a handful of times to get it mixed.

3.  Remove blade, or scoop dough into a separate bowl to mix in optional chocolate chips.  

4.  Using a 1 teaspoon, scoop dough out and form into balls.  You can eat them right away, or chill in the fridge.  They are also delicious with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top.  

5.  Store covered in the fridge, and enjoy one when you need a little treat.

Makes approximately 30 teaspoon-sized balls.

(Adapted recipe from here)