Green Tomato Brownie Balls (and Week 2 of #12WksXmasTreats)

It's Thursday - and that means it's time for another round of 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats at Meal Planning Magic! Last week's offerings were amazing, all perfectly frugal ways to share the holiday joy with those you care about. The Pinterest board is going strong too, and everything I see makes me hungry (and eager to start giving out the stashes!). This week I'm going an even more frugal route than my last Treat, since this time I didn't have to buy anything and it uses up leftovers that would otherwise go stale or bad!

Cake / cookie / brownie balls are nothing new. Books and blog posts (including one of mine) have been written, there's a Wikipedia entry, specialized tools, even a whole company devoted to making these truffle-like spheres of compressed cake and frosting (or a similar "glue"). To me, making them was akin to making rum balls with my grandma at holiday time, crumbling just-stale cake, muffins, and even cookies into a bowl with a splash of milk or coffee with the prerequisite booze and a couple spoonfuls of cocoa, then rolling into balls and stashing away in the fridge until needed. Pretty much anything can go into one, and in these economic times it's a great way to keep the party going for another round.

Since I did have some leftover muffins and frosting, I figured why not give them the same treatment and make something for the holiday season? I know few people who will pass up a "truffle" of any kind, and when they're healthy, nutty, and chocolate? Come on! The awesome thing with these is that they freeze incredibly well either coated in chocolate or au naturale (just roll them in cocoa or icing sugar after thawing them) and are perfectly portable for dessert tables all over. You can make as many or as few as you want (or have ingredients for) and anyone from kids to seniors can whip them up in a jiffy!

Have you been planning or preparing any gifts / desserts / treats for the holidays yet? Have you even begun thinking about the holidays yet? (I know I'm still working on Canadian Thanksgiving!)

Also linked to Foodie Friday on Rattlebridge Farm and Foodie Friends Friday on Cindy's Recipes and Writings

Green Tomato Brownie Balls
Makes 20 truffle-sized balls
6 Green Tomato Brownie Muffins
3 tbsp Chickpea Almond Frosting
2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
cocoa, icing sugar or melted chocolate, to coat

1. Crumble muffins into a bowl and add the frosting and almond milk.
2. Mix well with a spatula or fork until a doughy mass forms (add more almond milk as necessary).
3. Roll into small balls.
4. Roll in cocoa or icing sugar and store in the fridge up to 2 days or freeze (un-coated) up to 3 months.
5. Alternatively, refrigerate until cold, then dip in melted bittersweet chocolate for longer storage in the fridge or freezer (about 5 months frozen).

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 55.9
Total Fat: 2.7 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 10.0 mg
Total Carbs: 7.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.8 g
Protein: 1.0 g