Carrot cake energy balls take the idea of layer cake into an energy ball sweetened only with honey and California Dried Golden Figs. Carrot coconut energy balls with figs are the kind of healthy snack that can lean into a healthier single serving dessert too.
Snack on This
Sometimes, your sweet tooth is louder than your resolve to not eat a refined sugary sweet in the afternoon. To that, we are glad to bring you the nutritional goodness of figs that especially when paired with healthy fats in nuts makes a naturally sweet snack that satisfies your sweet tooth and contributes health benefits too like the carrot cake bites below. For chocolate lovers, try our fudgy bliss balls.
Go Golden
With their nutty delicate sweetness, Orchard Choice and Sun-Maid California Dried Golden Figs are our pick for the flavors in carrot coconut energy balls. Orchard Choice and Sun-Maid Mission Dried Figs could work here too and would contribute their familiar full sweetness and darker color.
Natural Sweeteners
The figs impart sweetness and nutrition to the energy balls and the carrots bring a bit of sweetness (and beta carotene) too. If you want to swing the energy balls into something more decadent, (and why not?) plan on making the cream cheese frosting to dip them into with honey as the sweetener.
Toasty Temptations
Pecans and unsweetened coconut add texture and additional nutrition to the carrot coconut energy balls. The simple step of toasting the nuts and coconut ramps up the flavor exponentially—and gives that particular element along with ground spices necessary for evoking carrot cake.
Ready to Roll: Energy Ball Tips
Infusing the Golden Figs in warmed juice and water not only rehydrates them but allows the citrus flavor to penetrate the fruit, softening them for a jammy energy ball. We pulse the figs and nuts first to coarsely grind them, then pulsing them again just until the mixture becomes clumpy, so that the carrot strands are worked into the energy ball meal but still evident and not completely broken down. Finally, melted coconut oil gives the carrot cake energy balls a luscious mouthfeel too.
Chilling the energy balls the first hour firms them up so they are easy to dip into the honey cream cheese frosting. If you opt not to use cream cheese frosting, that first hour is all the chilling time you need. If you do decide to make the cream cheese frosting, plan on chilling them for 2 or more hours once dipped so the frosting can firm up.
So, are you ready to roll?
Golden Fig Carrot Cake Energy Balls
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Energy Balls
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 6 ounces Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Golden Dried Figs , stems removed (plus reserve 1 whole fig to use as garnish, optional)
- 1 ounce unsweetened coconut flakes
- 3 ounces pecans (plus 1/2 ounce for garnish, optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Dash ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 ounces grated carrot (about 1/3 cup)
- 1/4 cup refined coconut oil , melted
Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces room temperature cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Simmer orange juice and water. Pour the juice off-heat over the golden figs in a bowl, rehydrating them for 10 minutes. Drain and discard the juice.
- Meanwhile, toast the coconut flakes and pecans until fragrant. Transfer them with the figs to the bowl of a food processor outfitted with a steel blade. Process them to fine crumbs. Add in the carrot, coconut oil and kosher salt. Pulse until clumpy. Using a tablespoon, roll out 15 energy balls. Place them on a parchment-paper lined rimmed baking sheet. Set aside. Chill for 1 hour.
- Beat the cream cheese on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the honey, milk, and vanilla for another 2 minutes.
- Finely chop 1/2 ounce of pecans and 1 Golden Fig to use as garnishes.
- Dip each energy ball into the cream cheese frosting and place back on the parchment. Sprinkle the tops with the chopped pecans and fig. Chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
