Nut-Free Bliss Balls

Yes, I know, it is another ball recipe!  This one is with a difference as to-date all my bliss ball recipes have contained nuts.  However many children have nut allergies, and this means that many daycares, kindergartens and schools have nut-free policies (including my own girl’s kindy).

Nut allergies can be amongst the most serious of allergic reactions, and because of the oil in nuts it is very easy to leave residue everywhere that is enough to set off an allergic reaction.  For those that don’t have children with severe food allergies it can be hard to understand why their children’s diet has to  be restricted (even though only for a few hours each day) because of that one child, but I promise if the situation was reversed you would be so grateful to people who took the allergy seriously.

We are all aware that we can get a cold or flu by being in close contact with some one with it, being sneezed on etc.  It only takes a small viral particle to set off a total immune response in your body, resulting in your illness.  Very simply put, an allergic reaction to food is also an immune response, where the body mistakes the food as harmful and sets up an environment to fight it.  Likewise it only takes a very small particle of that food to set off a total response.

My own son had a severe milk-protein allergy, and his first major systemic reaction was from putting his hand in a yoghurt tub, not even ingesting any.  He also had reactions from eating his safe food from a highchair that hadn’t been properly wiped down.  I remember when I was teaching having a child with a nut-allergy needing treatment for a severe reaction after playing before school with a child who had had peanut butter toast for breakfast.

Thankfully I haven’t had any personal experience with nut allergies, and having dairy and gluten issues in our house means that we use nuts regularly in our diet.  However I also have a variety of nut-free lunchbox food for kindy days.  This includes making a batch of sunflower seed butter to use for apple sandwiches, celery and seed butter, to spread on rice cakes…

If your daycare, kindergarten or school has a nut-free policy it is for good reason for the safety of these children.  I make a batch of these nut-free balls up most weeks, in loads of different variations and keep them in the freezer to pop in the kindy lunchboxes.

Nut-Free Bliss Balls

Ingredients

• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 Tbsp linseeds
• 3/4 cup of combined dried apricots, dates and raisins
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup rice or millet puffs, or a gluten-free cereal
• 2 Tbsp goji berries
• 1 Tbsp honey (optional – we don’t use this)
• juice of half an orange or up to 1/4 cup water (I use the water that I soak the dates and apricots in).
• coconut, cacao powder or nibs, or chia seeds for rolling in

Method

1. Soak the apricots and dates in a little hot water for 5 minutes or so to soften
2. Place the sunflower seeds and linseeds in your food processor and pulse until ground
3. Drain the apricots and dates, reserving the soak water
4. Add apricots, dates and raisins to the seeds and process until it starts coming together.  Add the honey (if using) and goji berries, then while the motor is running add enough water to create a consistency that holds together but isn’t too wet.
5. Turn off the machine and stir though the rice or millet puffs.
6. Take walnut-size amounts, roll into small balls and roll in coconut, cacao nibs or chia seeds or dust with cocoa powder
7. Keep in the fridge or in the freezer, ready to pop into lunchboxes (can be eaten straight from the freezer).

You might enjoy reading these related posts:

Energy Bliss Balls Walnut and Cacao Brain Balls Sunflower Seed Butter Super Slice