Chocolate Almond Date Bites

I made these on a whim several months ago.  I had some dates that had been hanging out in my pantry for a while and I wanted to finally use them up.  This chocolate almond date bite recipe looked appealing so I figured I'd give it a try.  And we really liked them! They made for a perfect midafternoon snack.  They're sweet but since they are only sweetened by the dates, they're not a dessert-disguised-as-a-snack-sweet. The almonds also give some staying power, which I definitely appreciate around 3 pm.  Oh, and now it happens to be a great way to use my homemade almond meal.  And if you have a food processor, they're incredibly simple to make -- just throw 4 ingredients in the processor, turn it on for a few minutes and then form the bites.  Done from start to finish in under 10 minutes.

I liked this recipe so much that I went out and bought more dates so I could make it again.  Only this time, I have a feeling those dates won't sit in the pantry for very long.
Chocolate Almond Date Bites
Taken from: Yes I Want Cake
I think this made around 12 or so bites

• 1/2 cup almonds (if you happen to have 1/2 cup almond meal from making homemade almond milk, I highly suggest using that!)
• 1 cup dates, pitted
• 2 tablespoons coconut, unsweetened (you could also use sweetened)
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds, for rolling (optional; you could also roll them in sprinkles or cinnamon sugar or leave them plain)

1. Combine all ingredients (except for chopped almonds) into a food processor and process until a ball of dough forms (this will take about 5 minutes).
2. Form balls using a tablespoon, then roll in almonds, if using.