Vanilla Matcha Bliss Balls

Matcha has skyrocketed in global popularity the last few years. While famed on menus for its colour, unique flavour and health benefits, this finely ground tea leaf is no newcomer to the block – it has been enjoyed in East Asia for centuries.

It’s often sipped in a tea form, but matcha isn’t a one-trick pony in the kitchen. It can be used in lattes and smoothies, as well as desserts, baking or no-bake easy snack recipes, like these vanilla matcha bliss balls!

These make for an epic mid-morning snack or nutritious sweet treat – and might even bridge the gap as an (unconventional) speedy and light brekkie on days you’re stuck.

Ingredients Needed

You’ll need just seven ingredients and 10 minutes to whip up a batch:

• Matcha powder. Powders are graded broadly as ‘ceremonial’, ‘latte’ or ‘culinary’, which relate to quality, texture, colour and usage. Flavour-wise, ‘ceremonial’ is light and sweet, ‘latte’ is bittersweet and ‘culinary’ is bolder. These balls work with each grade, but with subtle flavour and colour differences – choose your adventure!
• Medjool dates. These have a caramel-like sweetness, and are soft and sticky which helps bind the mix. They’re sold dried, but not dehydrated – find them in the chilled produce section of the supermarket.
• Cashews. A kidney-shaped nut rich in heart healthy fats, fibre and plant protein. You could totally sub for another nut – almond would work well.
• Long-thread or shredded dried coconut. A type of long and thin grated coconut. While dry, it retains more moisture than desiccated coconut, which is a much finer blend.
• Coconut oil. This type of oil solidifies when cold, giving these energy balls an incredible fudge-like texture fresh out of the fridge.
• Vanilla extract. Found in the baking section of most supermarkets, this brings vanilla flavour to the tastebud par-tay, which compliments matcha so well.
• Salt. Just a pinch to oomph all the flavours.

Nutrition Q+A

Will these matcha bliss balls give me a caffeine energy boost? Caffeine is a natural stimulant found in coffee, cacao and some tea plants, including green tea (like matcha!).

Thanks to its caffeine content, matcha can boost our energy – but portion matters.  A serving of matcha tea, typically made with ½ – 1 teaspoon of powder, could have a caffeine content between 38–176 mg of caffeine/serve (it varies based on type, freshness, and brewing time) (1). For context, a standard cup of coffee contains 70-180mg caffeine, depending on strength and how you make it (2). With this in mind, and back to bliss balls, a tablespoon of matcha across a whole batch won’t provide as much caffeine per ball than if you were drinking a standard matcha tea.

But caffeine aside, energy balls are called energy balls for a reason. The synergistic blend of ingredients – like dried fruit and nuts – provides a variety of nutrients, like protein, carbs, fibre and heart healthy fats, offering a concentrated source of energy in snack form.

Serving & Storage

Store in an air tight container in the fridge or freezer. They’ll keep in the fridge for a few weeks and the freezer for a few months.

Enjoy as a snack or tasty sweet treat. They’re great for taking on-the-go, just add a few to a container and pop in your bag.

Looking for more tasty ways to use matcha in the kitchen? Try these matcha white chocolate dipped strawberries🍓🍵