Boozy Iron Rum balls/log! Approx 600cal the lot. VEGAN - GLUTEN FREE - HIGH FIBRE - HIGH IRON - LOW SATURATED FAT

This recipe came into being when i needed to find a way to down black strap molasses. I just hate the stuff. Ordinarily i'm against liquid sweeteners as they are concentrated- but as Dr Greger, pretty much gave his tick of approval on date syrup and black strap molasses, i thought it would be a lovely way to increase my iron consumption since i'm anemic. I also needed a recipe low in saturated fat, seeing as i could be pre-diabetic. So this recipe was born! It doesn't taste like traditional Rum Balls, but it is reminiscent of it, keep in mind it does have a strong licorice like flavour (which i'm not fond of) but i can still manage to consume these in 24 hours.

The ingredients make this recipe good for anaemic and potential prediabetics, like myself

Makes 15 Small rum balls or 10 Medium. 600 cal the lot.

INGREDIENTS:
1c rice bran cereal - meal down to “crumbles” no more than .5mm long biggest pieces.
1/4 dried fruit= dates, sultanas, cherries, cranberries
*2 TB defatted or desiccated coconut flour or oat flour/bran +3TB if dates are soaked
4 TB cocoa
1/2-1t coffee granules or omit
2 TB black strap molasses (Or any liquid sweetener)
1 1/2TB rum/coconut/vanilla essence a mix
1/2TB Frangellico (warning, this is boozy! Use to taste) Optional

*depending on using coconut or oats and the moisture of the dried fruit you may need more flour to make a better consistency. Go by feel.

Additional spices ideas to taste:

cinnamon - good for lowering the sugar spike of the Molasses. 

ginger

Coating ideas: (You will need about 2 TB) 
Cocoa 
ground orange zest
coconut flour
cinnamon
fruit powders (strawberry, raspberry)This is a low coconut recipe to keep the saturated fat down. Make your own choices if you want it to taste more traditional you can coat them in coconut.

If you soak the dates you can mash it with a fork...no machine required if you use a bag to mash the rice bran cereal.

METHOD:
1- Crush the rice bran cereal to a crumb (not all like a flour, but not too lumpy either, granules should not look long, but a round "crumb") and make sure the sultanas also get pulverized so they become sticky, or else it wont hold together if you just mix it. Crushing the rice bran cereal will scratch the inside of your blender/food processor so you might want to do that in a zip lock bag and hit it with a rolling pin!

Once the rice bran is crushed and the sultanas are pulverised you can simply stir the ingredients together, or blend it all in the food processor in one go if you don't mind the scratches.

2- If it is too sticky simply add additional coconut/oat flour a teaspoon at a time, if it is too dry -add more liquid!

3- Form into balls (or a log in glad wrap), and roll in cocoa- you can roll in coconut or anything you like though, i suggest cocoa, however, for maximum nutrition.

"Rum Christmas Log"

I suggest serving it with something light (since these are rich!) and high in vitamin C, like strawberries- to get full potential of the iron content of these treats

Taste- Like a licorice style rum ball, without coconut. Pretty much, what it is! Sweet, boozy, rich! Sweet and licoricey. Boozy! Rich and chocolatey!

Texture- Still has a crunchy bite, but smooth consistency. You do sense the fibrous nature but it isn't off putting and they are quite light and airy because of this, but just dense enough to hold shape. Almost a cross between a cake and a cookie.

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