In our house, we love bliss balls and salted caramel is probably my favourite flavour. These were made in haste so that we’d have a yummy treat to take out with us on one of the rare nice days we’ve had this school holiday and the kids loved them too – well, all except one of the two s who was more into the crackers! This makes about 20 – 22. The recipe below is best taken as a guide than absolutely- to-be-followed-to-the-letter instructions. Adjust the salt to your preferred level and feel free to add more water (in tiny amounts at a time) or more ground almonds or coconut as required to get the right consistency. As usual, the cup measurements below are based on a 250 ml mug as equal to 1 cup.

What you need:

1 cup of dates

1/2 cup boiling water

2 cups of ground almonds

1 cup of desiccated coconut

1 dessertspoon of vanilla essence

1 tablespoon of smooth peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon of salt (or adjust to taste)

What to do:

1. Soak the dates in the boiling water for at least an hour, then thoroughly blitz the dates and water to a smooth paste.

2. Add the ground almonds, coconut, vanilla essence, peanut butter and salt to the date paste and mix together thoroughly.

3. Adjust the mixture as required if it isn’t a good consistency for scooping out spoonfuls and rolling them into balls. If the mixture is too dry, add water (room temperature water is fine), thoroughly mixing in a little bit at a time until the right consistency is reached. If the mixture is too wet or sticky, add either more ground almonds or coconut (or a bit of both), again thoroughly mixing in a little bit at a time until the right consistency is reached.

4. These can be eaten as soon as they are rolled, or can be left out for about an hour to air dry a little on the outside, before being stored in an airtight container.