I know you love this type of recipes! Besides, no matter how many recipes you have for quick and easy homemade snacks; they are never enough. You always want to find new combinations and new flavors to try. Alas if we were staying in the mainstream without trying anything new. These very easy and healthy energy bites with dates, pistachios and mastic are made with only these three materials. The sweetness of dates, the beloved flavor of pistachios and the unsurpassed mastic aroma combined in a quick snack you’ll definetely love!
In the previous post we talked about the valuable beneficial and therapeutic properties of Chios mastic. But, how to add it to your diet? In Greece we are usually add mastic in traditional recipes for samali, or kaymak ice-cream, various oriental sweets and more rarely in savory recipes. But I was looking for a recipe with few ingredients and most importantly a healthy one. It was then that I thought about mersu, a traditional Iraqi recipe. Mersu are balls of dates made with various nuts, sesame seeds and, in modern times, coconut. I had found the perfect combination! 😉
Traditionally, dates for mersu become a paste by pounding and rolling them by hand. We no longer need to do that, so it’s best to use a small food processor. So, you can prepare yourself a healthy and delicious snack in 10 minutes time. I suggest you read the properties of dates, if you have not already done so. You will be impressed!
- • 1 cup (110 g.) pistachios, finely chopped in a food processor
- • 1 cup (150 g.) pitted dates
- • ¼ teaspoon mastic tears, crushed in the mortar into powder *
- • ¼ cup (30 g.) pistachios, finely chooped in a food processor, for rolling the bites
- Soak the dates in a bowl with some water for about 20 minutes. Drain them, but do not throw away the water. Puree the dates in a food processor adding 2-3 teaspoons of the water.
- Transfer the pureed dates in a bowl and add pistachios (1 cup) and powdered mastic. Knead until blend and form into 12 balls.
- I would recommend you put the balls in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, before rolling them in the grated pistachios, but if the weather is cold this is not necessary.
- Roll the balls in grated pistachios and enjoy! 😉
- If the weather is hot you better store them in the fridge.
- * To crush chios mastic tears into powder, place the tears in the freezer for 30 minutes, then crush them in a mortar. If you add a little bit of sugar or salt (depending on how you’ ll use it) in the mortar mastic will crush even easier.
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