These nutritious fruit balls with raisins and rolled oats are perfect for people with a sweet tooth. They don’t contain any sugar and are also quite healthy.
For the fruit balls
Soak the raisins in warm tap water (at least 15 minutes) until soft.
Pour off the soaking water, but keep it as you might need to use it later, if the dough for the fruit balls is too firm.
Shred the raisins together with the apple in a shredder or food processor.
Crush the nuts or grind them in a food processor.
The original recipe simply calls for nuts. You can decide which type of nuts you prefer.
Knead the raisin and apple mixture together with the rolled oats and ¾ of the ground nuts and then shape into small balls the size of mirabelle plums.
If the mixture is too firm, you can either add more apple or the water you used to soak the raisins. If, on the other hand, the mixture is too wet, simply add more nuts or rolled oats.
Before serving
Roll the fruit balls in the remaining grated nuts and let them air-dry a bit before serving.
Detailed Nutritional Information per Person for this Recipe
The majority of the nutritional information comes from the USDA (US Department of Agriculture). This means that the information for natural products is often incomplete or only given within broader categories, whereas in most cases products made from these have more complete information displayed.
If we take flaxseed, for example, the important essential amino acid ALA (omega-3) is only included in an overarching category whereas for flaxseed oil ALA is listed specifically. In time, we will be able to change this, but it will require a lot of work. An “i” appears behind ingredients that have been adjusted and an explanation appears when you hover over this symbol.
For Erb Muesli, the original calculations resulted in 48 % of the daily requirement of ALA — but with the correction, we see that the muesli actually covers >100 % of the necessary recommendation for the omega-3 fatty acid ALA. Our goal is to eventually be able to compare the nutritional value of our recipes with those that are used in conventional western lifestyles.
These nutritious fruit balls with raisins and rolled oats are perfect for people with a sweet tooth. They don’t contain any sugar and are also quite healthy.
Cup measurement: This recipe uses the "cup" unit of measurement, which is normally used in Anglo-American countries. The author Lisa Pfleger uses large cups that have a volume of 250 ml. For those who prefer to use the metric system, we have provided the corresponding measurement in grams in the parentheses to the right of the ingredient.
Rolled oats: Rolled oats contain high levels of protein and many essential amino acids. And they are also rich in vitamins and minerals. Since conventional rolled oats go through heat and steam processing and are therefore not truly raw, you can also sprout oats to make rolled oats. The sprouting process makes the rolled oats easier to digest and at the same time increases the bioavailability of their valuable ingredients.
Raisins: Honey-yellow to brown raisins are grapes that have been harvested ripe and then dried. The moisture of the grapes is only about 15 to 18 % after drying, which results in a sugar concentration of about 33 %. Given the high sugar content, raisins are popular both in the preparation of desserts and as a snack. Note that aisins may be treated with sulfur dioxide to extend their shelf life. Manufacturers are only required to list this information on the packaging if more than 10 mg of sulfur dioxide is added per kilogram of raisins.
Tips
Consistency of the fruit balls: The fruit balls should not be too dry, but also not too wet. If the mixture is more firm than you would like, you can either add more apple or the soaking water you used for the raisins. If, on the other hand, the mixture is too wet, you can fix this by simply adding either more nuts or rolled oats.
Alternate preparation
Alternative ingredients: You can leave out the apple if your food processor can blend the dried fruit without it. And you can, of course, also use other types of dried fruit you like. The author suggests rolling the balls in poppy or dried mint. Feel free to be creative.
Cinnamon and/or vanilla: If you want to add extra flavor to the fruit balls, you can add cinnamon and/or vanilla to the raisin and apple mixture before kneading with the nuts and rolled oats.
