Sacha Inchi Buckeyes

The only thing better than eating this delicious superfood treat is its name.  Sacha Inchi!!  It's a very rich and sweet dessert.  It's the kind of treat where you need to just eat one, muster up all the will power you can, and walk away.  Any more than that and the superfood benefits would probably get outweighed by the sugar intake.

This was our first time ever trying Sacha Inchi seeds and they have a very characteristic flavor that I can't describe.  Rebecca tried and ended up saying it was a cross between like 5 different things and I had no idea what she was talking about.  The flavor changes and builds up while you're chewing on them, and even more so in the form of this dessert.

The recipe is from Julie Morris' book called Superfood Kitchen.  Well, we have an older version called Superfood Cuisine, but I'm sure this is in the new edition too.

First, you gotta make the chocolate:

• ½ cup solid cacao butter, chopped into shavings
• 5 tablespoons cacao powder
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar

There is no sugar in cacao, so the agave nector adds some sweetness.  You use a double-boil method to melt the cacao butter and then whisk in the cacao powder and agave nectar.  You have to keep it liquified for the next part.

•  ½ cup Sacha Inchi Seeds
• 6 tablespoons Coconut Palm Sugar
• ⅔ cup soft Medjool Dates (about 6-7)
• 4 tablespoons almond butter
• 2 tablespoons Lacuma powder
•  ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

You mix those ingredients in a food processor, adding water as necessary to get a sticky dough.  Add only a tiny bit of water at a time, or you will end up with a ball of cement.  Trust me!  I learned that one the hard way.  Next, roll the dough into tiny balls.  After those chill in the freezer for 20-30 minutes, take them out and dip them in the chocolate.  Giving you a few treats looking like the following:

Ingredient Highlight:  Sacha Inchi!
Sacha Inchi is a seed, despite it's large size and nutty appearance.  It has been enjoyed since pre-Incan eras, from which ceramics have been recovered with evidence of Sacha Inchi.  What I didn't know is that Sacha Inchi seeds are the highest known source of healthy plant-based Omega-3s.  Surprisingly, it has more Omega-3s than salmon - 13 times more, ounce for ounce.  Although containing less than Cacao, it's a decent source of the good-mood amino acid Tryptophan, making for a potentially mood altering treat when the two are combined! It's also rich in vitamins and minerals, including Iodine, which seems to be getting some attention, as of lately. **

Enjoy!!

** Julie Morris, Superfood Kitchen