Pop 2 cups of rolled oats into your food processor.

Give the oats a good zap in the processor to turn them into a powder. I usually turn my processor on for about 10 seconds.

Add the shredded coconut, vanilla extract, water and the chopped dark chocolate. Be sure the chocolate is chopped up enough so that it doesn’t get caught in your blade and lock up your processor. You can go for milk chocolate but your cookie dough balls will be softer in texture and might not form up as well.

You want to mix these ingredients together well before adding the dates so turn on your food processor for about 15-20 seconds to really blend this up.

Next, you need to pit your dates and chop them up. If they are very soft, you can get away without chopping but I usually chop to be sure the dates don’t catch on my blades and lock them up. I can hear all the thermomix people laughing because their blades would never get locked up! One day I will invest in a thermomix, I promise!!

Now you need to find a helper, preferably a tiny human who loves helping in the kitchen. This little guy loves to press buttons so this is the ideal job for him. You’re going to need to run your food processor for ~30 seconds which will seem like forever but you want the blades to do the work for you. Keep watching the bowl until you start to see the “dough” catching on the sides and being pulled around the bowl in a clump. When you see this, you’ll know what I mean! Be patient – give it at least 30 seconds on the process button!!

This is what your dough should look like. You can roll balls using a tablespoon scoop but I have to tell you, using this cookie scoop is SO MUCH EASIER! I usually get about 40 balls using this scoop and I don’t have to roll them after – they stay well-formed.

Assuming you have some left after your kids attack the batch, you can store these in an air-tight container for up to 7 days. Trust me, they won’t last that long! I use a glass container and separate the layers using parchment paper.