Paleo Balls of Joy

With the holidays quickly approaching, I decided it would be appropriate to make a little Christmas treat.  Cookies tend to be a go-to dessert around this time, so I chose a chocolatey cookie-like recipe and made it all my own.  These round little delights have a slightly salty bite to them from one of my favorite secret ingredients (ahem...bacon) that goes wonderfully with the chocolatey-ness making it a super decadent and almost guiltless treat (and yes, bacon can be guiltless!). 
The name for this recipe stems from both the festive holiday season and the sheer enjoyment experienced after eating one of these little morsels.  Anyone who knows me well knows my food dance, and I guarantee that these will make you dance, too (as long as you are as quirky as me, of course...but I digress).

Balls of Joy

Ingredients:

• ½ cup raw unsalted almond butter
• 3 dates, pitted
• 3 strips of bacon, cooked and roughly chopped
• 2 tsp bacon drippings
• ⅛ cup flaxseed meal
• ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 scoop protein powder (chocolate or vanilla)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• pinch of cinnamon
• ½ tsp honey
• ½ cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients except for the chocolate chips in a food processor, and blend until combined. (You may need to add a Tablespoon or so of water to get the mixture to come together.)
2. Using a spoon, mix in the chocolate chips.  Then, roll the mixture into balls measuring roughly ¾- to 1- inch in diameter.
3. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.

-Recipe adapted from PaleOMG.
-Recipe name credit: Amanda Balesteri