Ghost Pops (or Sunbutter Drops)

Naming these bad boys was a greater challenge than making them. My sister gave me a hand, with her customary hilarity:

“Sunbutter balls does not sound good. Any other ideas?”

“…All I am thinking of are not helpful names….Spooky balls. Holding in my laughter” (Which for her is a considerable feat).

“Balls in general is just not working for me”

“Seriously if I was with you right now it would be 5 minutes [of laughing]”

“It works with pb, but anything else is just weird”

“Drops? Idk…”

“Ghost drops?”

“I’ve gotta drop one” (A running joke between us about some purported French-Canadian slang that means I need to make a call)

“…That makes me think of ghost droppings”

“My face hurts from smiling. Ew”

…

“Everything else just sounds lame.”

“Not your average butter balls. This is too funny. Ghost pops”

“Oh my god I am writing all of this in the blog”

We had a fantastic, if incomplete, sibling reunion when my brother visited Japan. And one of the treats from the after-school days that I have been wanting to recreate is Peanut Butter Balls. We used to make them with my mom, particularly for the coveted snack time provider role at Montessori kindergarten. I do remember one Halloween potluck where I decorated the orbs with raisins for irises and then took coconut shreds, applied a smattering of red food coloring, and created “bloody eyeballs” as a grisly treat. 3rd grade Kate was never so proud.

Rapidly-approaching-30-Kate is still enamored with peanut butter, but given the state of my digestion and health we are taking a break. I’ve found that I can tolerate a wee amount of sunflower butter here and there, though, but if I eat too much it causes a total breakout. Sometimes I want to say it is worth it, but I have been showing notable restraint as I experiment with my omega 3 and omega 6 intake.

Both my brother and sister insisted, to my surprise, that raisins were essential in cutting the richness of the sunflower butter. I can do without them, but I ate only one or two, where Joe went after the whole plate in a sort of childhood ecstasy. He was chugging water the rest of the night, too, so be warned. You may end up like that internet meme of the dog constantly licking the air! Joe preferred the raisins without honey, but Mary and I both agree that honey is essential. I made myself a few unsweetened versions, but I will admit to sneaking licks of the batter bowl with the honey-version.

If you have trouble with a runny consistency or especially-liquid sunflower butter, just refrigerate the batter for an hour or two and it will firm up nicely in order to shape into small bite-size pops!

Ghost Pops

3/4 unsweetened sunflower butter

2 T honey

1/3 c unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 c coconut flour (you may need a few tablespoons more, depending on the consistency of your sunflower butter)

unsweetened shredded coconut, for rolling

raisins, optional

1. Mix sunflower butter, honey, shredded coconut, and coconut flour in a small bowl.

2. Chill the mixture for one or two hours. Prepare a large, flat plate and pour shredded coconut on as a base.

3. Take a teaspoon of batter and roll into a small ball with your hands. Slide the sunbutter ball into the shredded coconut and roll to cover in coconut, if desired.

4. Repeat until all the batter has been used. Makes about 12 small pops.

For extra Halloween decoration, you could pipe some homemade chocolate sauce onto the drops in a Jack o’Lantern face like I did last year with 4 Ingredient Pumpkin Soft Cream:

Shared at Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Real Food Wednesdays