Pumpkin Pie Bites

I love Fall and anything to do with it. The smells, tastes, sights, it's all delicious and beautiful to me. I've subscribed to Lesley's blog for about a year or more now. She's doing the Whole 30 challenge/diet which basically means eat whole foods, nothing processed for 30 days. Donald and I try to eat healthfully throughout the year, but we do indulge on occasion.  I'm more of a believer in this, but agree there are times when you've got to get it together.  

Lesley recently shared this recipe for what she calls Raw Pumpkin Pie Bites.

Raw Pumpkin Pie Bites

Makes approximately 36 inch rounds

• 11/2 cups pitted Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut*, plus more for garnishing optional
• 1 cup pecans pieces
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree*
• demara sugar* – optional for serving

Combine the dates, almonds, coconut, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt in the bowl of a food processor or high powered blender, pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Add the pumpkin puree and pulse 8 to 10 additional times. Check the mixture – it should hold together when squeezed. Pulse an additional 3 to 4 times until the mixture will hold when pressed. 

Scoop the mixture into tablespoon sized portions (I like a small scoop for this) and roll into rounds. Roll the rounds in additional shredded coconut or demara sugar. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

*I ended up using sweetened coconut because I already had it on hand. I also don't know what demara sugar is, but I have raw or turbinado sugar (I'm thinking it's the same thing) so I used that to roll the majority of the balls in. I rolled the remainder in coconut.   I also used more than 1/2 cup on the pumpkin puree. When I just used what the recipe called for, it looked a bit too crumbly, so I added more until it held together better. 

I put the dates in the processor and whirled them around for a bit to chop them up. Then I combined everything else. I used a small ice cream scoop to form the balls.  Using this tool gave me bigger bites and obviously less than the 36 mentioned above.  I ended up with 25 I believe. Which was perfect because a mini muffin tin holds 24, which leaves me one for tasting.

Donald said immediately that they tasted like Sweet Potato Pie. I enjoy both sweet potato and pumpkin pie and honestly, it would probably be pretty hard for me to tell them apart.  If you have leftover baked sweet potatoes, this would be an easy substitute.   

As you can see I presented mine in mini muffin liners inside of the pan.  These were quite tasty and love that this can be a quick, healthy and no fuss way to get the taste of the Fall season any time of year.