Dark Chocolate Cake Batter Balls

Brownie batter balls? 

It seems a lot of cake batter recipes are popping up everywhere. Everyone's putting their own twist to it. Sadly, I'm no big fan of yellow cake, and we never have any ready cake mixes in the house, so I haven't been too inspired to try most recipes even if I liked the ideas.

And that's where my inner chocoholic comes in. She's sneaky. Eating chocolate in some form every day isn't enough, no, sometimes she puts naughty ideas in my head and then forces me to go through with them. Not that I'm complaining, though. So for a couple of days she's been whispering to me about brownie batter balls.

And sprinkles.

It's been years since I last had sprinkles, and now I was reminded why. They are sweet and blehh, but even I have to admit that they were pretty and fun to mess around with (and a lot of my experimenting in the kitchen is just to have fun anyway).

So, first I tried to base my recipe on an old recipe for chocolate balls (a Scandinavian Christmas treat), but the recipe called for a sh?tload of sugar and I wasn't exactly happy with the result. Take two turned out way better though.

They are chewy and buttery, rich but not too sweet. Definitely thicker than brownie batter, but just as good in my opinion.

Chocolate Cake Batter Balls

Makes about 12 balls

70 g (about 3 big tablespoons) canned coconut milk

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla sugar (or substitute sugar and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract)

1 pinch baking soda

2 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup instant oats

1-2 tbsp water or nondairy milk

Combine the coconut milk and sugar until smooth (it's easier if the coconut milk is at room temperature). Add vanilla sugar, baking soda and cocoa powder and mix, then add the oats and milk or water. Let stand for a few minutes so the oats soften, then roll into balls. Coat with sprinkles or coconut flakes or dip into melted chocolate (I can only vouch for that if you're patient!).

I got 12 balls, but you can probably get at least one more if you can control yourself and not eat the batter. I also don't know how to store leftovers because these disappeared within 2 hours (but I think they might survive at least a couple of days in the fridge).

You can probably use virgin coconut oil, but the balls may be harder, especially if you store them in the fridge. You can also add more sugar if you wish (I cut the sugar in more than half from the original recipe!) I made mine using 1 tablespoon water because I'm trying to make the milk last (they don't sell almond milk anywhere near me, the nearest shop I know that carries it is about 140 km away. :D) The baking soda is only for flavor and can be omitted. I can only vouch for the results if you follow the recipe above, but feel free to play around and make the recipe your own. :)

I'm always nervous about what others are going to think of my creations, but M and dad happily devoured their shares. I think that means it's not just good for a healthy recipe.