Healthy Almond Coconut Joy Nuggets

Healthy Almond Coconut Joy Nuggets, vegan ~ These sweet little morsels are really tasty & perfect with a cup of tea, a mug of coffee or as a lunch box surprise!  I tweaked the original raw food dessert recipe, from over at the Fat Free Vegan blog.  The recipe calls for dried plums (prunes), shredded coconut & cocoa powder to give the treat the traditional chocolate flavor/texture of the original Almond Joy candy bar.  ((OK, we all know I'm talking about prunes, but it just sounds so much more appetizing if I call them dried plums))   The combo really works together, you can even enhance the flavor by using flavored dried plums.  I think the orange or cherry flavors would give this recipe an interesting spin & would add an intriguing note to the mix ~ but I would steer clear of the lemon flavor for this recipe.  Who knew dried plums/prunes were so versatile?  

The original Fat Free Vegan recipe also calls for raw almonds, but I think roasted almonds give it a better flavor ~ but then it wouldn't be a raw food.  It's a trade-off, but if you don't care about it being a raw food, I'd go with roasted almonds.  I also doubled the amount of cocoa powder called for, I just love the deep flavor of cocoa. Try it, either my adapted recipe or the original one.  Either way, you'll love them.  Enjoy!

Healthy Almond Coconut Joy Nuggets

• 1 cup dried plums (aka prunes), chopped (about 16 dried prunes/plums)  ~  plain or flavored (except for lemon flavor)
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
• 1 tblsp cocoa powder (unsweetened, Penzeys in my favorite kind)
• 24 whole roasted almonds
• 1 tblsp powdered sugar
• 1 tblsp cocoa powder (additional cocoa for rolling the nuggets in when done)
• powdered sugar for dusting, optional

Put the chopped dried plums (prunes), coconut, and 1 tablespoon cocoa powder into the food processor and blend until thoroughly combined & completely mixed.

Place mixture on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and flatten it until it’s about 1-inch thick. Keep it covered & refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Mix the powered sugar and the remaining tablespoon of cocoa powder in a small bowl.  Roll a heaping teaspoon of the mixture into an oval shape & press an almond into the middle ~ make sure to completely enclose the nut with the coconut mixture. Roll each nugget in the cocoa/powdered sugar blend.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving, optional.  Serve at room temperature or chilled.  Store in the refrigerator.

Makes approx. 18-24 nuggets