These lovely, luxurious bite-sized balls of salted tahini caramel are so satisfying after a meal. They are covered in a simple, sweet maple glaze with equal amounts of maple syrup and coconut oil. When the cold balls are dipped into the glaze, it instantly hardens, creating magic!

VIOLAS in the garden, add them to salads, desserts, or fruit. They happily self-sow, and despite their delicate appearance, violas are fairly robust.  Sow early spring, then again in late summer, to ensure violas throughout the winter.

salted tahini caramel balls

inspired by this recipe.

makes 15 small balls

dough ingredients

⅔ cup/60g dried shredded coconut

⅔ cup/130g Medjool dates (approx 7 dates)

⅓ cup/80g tahini

⅛ tsp fine rock salt

⅓ cup/50g TOASTED pistachio or almonds

glaze ingredients

2 Tbsp/30g coconut oil

2 Tbsp/35g maple syrup

½ tsp vanilla extract

prepare the dough

  1. Place the coconut, dates, tahini, and salt in a food processor or high-speed blender for 1 minute, scraping the sides halfway through. Add the toasted nuts and blitz 3 – 4 times until well incorporated. If the dough is still too crumbly to form into balls, add one tablespoon of water, depending on the consistency of your tahini.
  2. Roll into balls, approximately 20g each; you should have 15 balls—place in the freezer for 1 hour.

prepare the glaze

  1. Melt the coconut oil on low heat, turn off the heat, and then whisk in the syrup and vanilla. It will combine into a thin caramel consistency. Set aside for 30 minutes.
  2. Once frozen, remove the balls from the freezer. They must be icy to help the glaze harden. Place a toothpick in each ball and dip it into the glaze; place it on a cardboard box until the glaze hardens. Whisk the glaze each time before dipping the balls. Once set, re-dip them until the glaze is used up. Towards the end, you may need to place the glazed balls back in the freezer for 15 minutes and heat the glaze slightly again, then continue re-dipping.
  3. The balls can be kept in the fridge for 10 days or up to 1 month in the freezer.