{"id":18397,"date":"2026-04-15T12:54:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T10:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/?p=18397"},"modified":"2026-04-15T12:58:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T10:58:29","slug":"speculaas-nut-balls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/2026\/04\/15\/speculaas-nut-balls\/","title":{"rendered":"Speculaas nut balls"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Yoga Kitchen &#8211; Simple, healthy, and plant-based<\/em><\/p>\n<h1>Quick, healthy and tasty: speculaas nut balls<\/h1>\n<blockquote><p>Choosing to eat more plant-based foods is one of the most powerful actions you can take as an individual to reduce your carbon footprint.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>A healthy treat that provides a good amount of <strong>healthy fats and plant-based proteins<\/strong>! That\u2019s this simple recipe, which you can whip up in no time. It has the typical flavour of <strong>speculaas or speculoos<\/strong>, in English speaking countries otherwise known as <strong>Biscoff<\/strong>. Texturewise, the result is somewhat similar to marzipan, but in a much healthier version. Because traditional marzipan is a real sugar bomb, made from ground almonds and (usually) refined white sugar, typically in a fifty-fifty ratio, depending on the quality.<br \/>\nThis version is completely <strong>free from added sugar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t have exactly the same nuts as described below, you can use any other nuts instead. The proportions given aren\u2019t set in stone either. Instead of speculaas spices, you could use other spices. Experiment and enjoy!<\/p>\n<h2>What you need for about twenty balls:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>70 g walnuts<\/li>\n<li>50 g Brazil nuts<\/li>\n<li>30 g oat flakes<\/li>\n<li>around 6 soft dates, pitted, chopped, soaked<\/li>\n<li>A pinch of sea salt or herbal salt<\/li>\n<li>half to one teaspoon of speculaas spices, to taste<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/20260405_SpecubIngred_1200_439.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/20260405_SpecubIngred_1200_439.jpg\" alt=\"The ingredients for speculaas nut balls\" width=\"1200\" height=\"439\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18398\" srcset=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/20260405_SpecubIngred_1200_439.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/20260405_SpecubIngred_1200_439-300x110.jpg 300w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/20260405_SpecubIngred_1200_439-1024x375.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/20260405_SpecubIngred_1200_439-768x281.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Method<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Soak the walnuts in water for a few hours to remove the bitter taste, then rinse and pat dry.<\/li>\n<li>Remove the stones from the dates and chop them into pieces.<\/li>\n<li>Place all the ingredients in a food processor fitted with an S-shaped blade.<\/li>\n<li>Chop the mixture finely until you notice the crumbs becoming sticky and clumping together.<\/li>\n<li>Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions and roll each portion into 5 balls between your fingers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>It\u2019s that easy.<br \/>\nA few more tips:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dates are generally sold dried. In that case, soak them in water for about three hours. Make sure the dates are just barely covered. You can use the syrupy soaking water afterwards as a sweetener for another recipe.<\/li>\n<li>Like most nuts, it\u2019s best to soak the <strong>walnuts<\/strong> in advance by placing them in a small bowl of water the night before or a few hours before you start. Drain off the brown, bitter soaking liquid and rinse briefly under the tap.<\/li>\n<li>Brazil nuts do not need to be soaked beforehand.<\/li>\n<li>These balls keep easily for 10 to 14 days in the fridge in a sealed container<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Enjoy!<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/IMGP9440Speculaasb_1200_530.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/IMGP9440Speculaasb_1200_530.jpg\" alt=\"Grey plate with speculaas nut balls\" width=\"1200\" height=\"530\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/IMGP9440Speculaasb_1200_530.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/IMGP9440Speculaasb_1200_530-300x133.jpg 300w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/IMGP9440Speculaasb_1200_530-1024x452.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/IMGP9440Speculaasb_1200_530-768x339.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"yk-hoebetalen\">\n<h2>Dates as a healthy sweetener<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Dates<\/strong> offer us a relatively inexpensive way to sweeten dishes. Most dates found in shops are dried dates from North Africa or Turkey of the <strong>Deglet Nour<\/strong> variety. In North African shops, they are often sold \u2018on the branch\u2019, i.e. still attached to the branches of the date palm. These dates are quite tough and dry and are best soaked in water beforehand. Dates of the <strong>Medjoul<\/strong> variety are thicker and juicier, though also considerably more expensive. Soaking is often not necessary.<br \/>\nAnd finally, in organic shops you can sometimes also find the delicious, almost fresh <strong>Mazafati<\/strong> dates from Iran. Soaking is not necessary here either.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, avoid those high-gloss dates from the supermarkets! Because they are coated in a layer of glucose syrup and are therefore sweetened. <strong>Glucose syrup<\/strong> is an ultra-fast form of sugar that really has no place in a healthy kitchen. <\/p>\n<h2>Nuts: an underrated source of protein<\/h2>\n<p>Nuts are among the plant-based foods with the highest levels of plant protein. Just like pulses, they currently account for only a small proportion of the average Westerner\u2019s total protein intake. All the more reason, then, to reduce our consumption of animal protein and, above all, to start eating more pulses and nuts.<br \/>\nNuts are best bought in bulk from organic shops. The small, pre-packaged portions in traditional supermarkets are often disproportionately expensive.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Speculaas nut balls, per 100 g of product<\/h3>\n<p>The values are approximate.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr bgcolor=\"#O5C2DE\">\n<th scope=\"col\">Energy<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\">Carbohydrates<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\">Sugars<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\">Fat<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\">Sat. Fat<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\"><strong>Protein<\/strong><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\"><strong>Fibre<\/strong><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\">Salt<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2065 kJ\/494 kcal<\/td>\n<td>42,33 g<\/td>\n<td>26,29 g<\/td>\n<td>35,12 g<\/td>\n<td>5,25 g<\/td>\n<td><strong>9,58 g<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>6,88 g<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>0,12 g<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Participate in our cooking classes:<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"yk-green_btn\" title=\"Our cooking classes\" href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/healthy-vegan\/\">Cooking Workshops<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Read more about plant-based nutrition and health:<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"yk-green_btn\" title=\"More about plant-based food\" href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/blog\/\">Read more about plant-based food<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Find out about yoga and yoga classes in Schaerbeek:<\/h2>\n<p>Check out our yoga classes here:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"yk-blue_btn\" title=\"Yoga classes\" href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/yoga-classes\/\">View our full range of yoga classes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yoga Kitchen &#8211; Simple, healthy, and plant-based Quick, healthy and tasty: speculaas nut balls Choosing to eat more plant-based foods is one of the most powerful actions you can take as an individual to reduce your carbon footprint. A healthy treat that provides a good amount of healthy fats and plant-based proteins! That\u2019s this simple &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/2026\/04\/15\/speculaas-nut-balls\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Speculaas nut balls<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18400,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18397"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18403,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18397\/revisions\/18403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}