Chocolate Adzuki Bites (Vegan, Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Soy Free)
Creamy vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free and soy-free bites made from cooked adzuki beans, pecans and dates. Makes about 24 bites.
Ingredients
| 1/2 cup | 120 ml | dried adzuki beans |
| 3/4 cup | 180 ml | pecans |
| 6 | pitted medjool dates (about 1/2 cup) | |
| 1/4 cup | 60 ml | cocoa |
| 1/4 tsp | 1.3 ml | vanilla extract |
| 1/4 tsp | 1.3 ml | salt |
| 1 tsp | 5 ml | agave nectar (optional) |
| 1-2 tsp | 5–10 ml | rice milk (optional) |
| 1 cup | 240 ml | selected topping (shredded coconut, chopped pecans or chopped cashews) |
| 1/4 tsp | 1.3 ml | sea salt (the larger flakey kind if possible) |
Instructions
Makes about 24 bites.
- Put the adzuki beans in a small pot and cover with a couple inches of water. Boil for about an hour, making sure you don't let them dry out, until they are soft. Drain and set aside.
- In a food processor or blender, blend the nuts for your topping (if using) and set aside.
- Add 3/4 cup cooked adzuki beans (they will have swollen up so your 1/2 cup should have turned into at least 3/4 cup), 3/4 cup pecans, dates, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary. If it is too dry to blend well, you can add rice or almond milk a teaspoon at a time to make it a bit more moist. You can also add a teaspoon of agave nectar to make it a little more sweet (if you use the agave nectar you probably won't need the rice milk).
- Scoop out the dough a tablespoon or so at a time and roll into balls. Sprinkle them with just a bit of the sea salt and then roll the balls in the topping until they are coated, then put them in the fridge for about an hour to firm up.
For the topping: Choose either shredded coconut, chopped pecans or chopped cashews — you'll need about a cup of whichever one you choose. For the nuts, blend them in the food processor before you make the balls so you don't have to clean it out.