One of my favorite things about fall is the return of chai. When the weather cools down a bit, I turn to a sweet and spicy chai tea to warm me up. A dirty chai latte (chai latte plus espresso) is a delicious way to change-up a usual coffee drink. The chai spice combination usually is composed of a handful of the following: green cardamom, fennel seed, ginger, peppercorns, cloves, coriander seeds and star anise. I love using some of these spices individually in holiday baking and was brainstorming how to be able to combine them into one dessert. Then I tasted Revival Food Co.’s Chai Time almond butter.

Crunchy almond butter and chai spices – all I could think about was how delicious this would be as a compliment a holiday dessert. As I mentioned in my last post in collaboration with Revival, I am new to the almond butter-lovers crew since I have been a loyal peanut butter fan for life. Once I tried the almond butter, I couldn’t stop imagining making little almond butter, chai and white chocolate balls for the holiday season. The recipe turned out exactly like I was hoping! I could pop these little bites into my mouth like popcorn. They are chewy, sweet and just a little bit spicy. The dessert has crunch from the textured Revival almond butter (the almonds are stone-ground) and sprinkling of chia seeds, but is also perfectly sweetened by the agave and white chocolate.

If you did not specifically have Revival’s Chai Time almond butter with you since they are mostly sold in the Midwest, you could use an almond butter you have and add a 1/4 teaspoon of few of the spices listed above (ground ginger, allspice, cardamom, plus the cinnamon and nutmeg). I added a little extra cinnamon and nutmeg to the dessert because I love those flavors and wanted to be sure you could really taste the punch of chai.

As you can see in the recipe, I used all natural ingredients and basically no refined sugar – just agave for a touch of sweetness and the white chocolate as a drizzle! The recipe feels like it could double as a healthy snack (sans chocolate), but is indulgent enough to double as a beautiful dessert for the holidays. Swap the sprinkle of cinnamon with red, green, silver or blue sprinkles and these almond chai balls would make a gorgeous celebratory dessert for upcoming festivities.

I am so excited about the holiday season and ready to get baking! When my aunts and cousins and I gather to bake our usual cookies and bars at our annual baking day, I may have to bring a batch of these almond butter chai balls to snack on. With a cup of coffee, they are a delicious late morning snack and feel healthy enough to eat during breakfast – thanks to the natural, high quality ingredients! I hope you enjoy. I can’t wait to hear what you think.

Love food. Love self. Love life.
Gabriela

This post is sponsored by Revival Food Co., but all opinions are my own. Thank you for helping support brands that support Gourmet Gab!

Almond Butter Chai Balls

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by Gabriela Rodiles Difficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Total time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup almond butter, like Revival Chai Time almond butter

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats

• 2 tablespoons agave

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, plus extra for garnish

• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1 tablespoon chia seeds

• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Directions

• Put the oats in a blender and pulverize until smooth like sand.
• In a bowl, mix together almond butter, oats, agave, cinnamon, nutmeg and chia seeds. Form mix into about 8 small balls.
• In a microwave safe container, melt white chocolate chips with vegetable oil in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until smooth.
• Place the almond chai balls on a sheet of wax paper or a plate and drizzle with melted white chocolate. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
• Let chocolate dry and then serve.