Which ingredients make a healthy snack truly healthy?
How I went from selling nuts to making things myself — and what I learned about pure ingredients.
I started with nuts. Plain nuts in bags: almonds, cashews, walnuts. Fresh, honest, from a good source. But somehow it felt incomplete. You sell something that already exists — you add nothing. No idea, no craft, no story.
The market taught me more. Every Saturday at the Almere market I saw the difference. When I sold a bag of almonds, it was a transaction. But when someone tasted a power ball — a ball of dates, almonds and coconut, made by my own hands — that was something else. They came back. They brought friends. They asked: what's actually in this?
That question is the basis of everything I make now.
My answer to “what's in this?”
At ADA bakes I ask three questions about every ingredient:
- Can I explain what it is without a label?
- Does it give real, lasting energy — not a sugar spike?
- Does it really taste good, even without additives?
If the answer to all three is yes, it goes in. If not, it doesn't.
That sounds simple, but it rules out an enormous amount. No refined sugar, because it gives a spike and a crash. No flavour enhancers, because then you hide the taste of the ingredient. No preservatives, because fresh stays fresh.
Why dates?
Dates are my favourite example. They're sweet — really sweet — but the sugar comes packaged in fibre and nutrients that slow its absorption. Your body gets energy, but in a controlled way. No spikes. No crash afterwards.
What's more, dates are a natural binder. In my power balls and filled dates I don't need sugar, syrup or any outside binding. The date does everything itself. That's pure strength from nature.
Why almonds and cashews?
Nuts provide protein, healthy fats and a satisfied feeling. But not all nuts are equal, and not all nuts suit every product. Almonds are mild and versatile — they work in granola, in balls, as a base. Cashews are creamier and softer — they form the base of my vegan cheesecakes without you missing anything from dairy.
I never choose nuts because they sound “healthy”. I choose them because they add something to flavour, texture or nutrition that nothing else can.
Why coconut?
Desiccated coconut and coconut fat are among the few plant-based ingredients that give a product richness without needing dairy. My cheesecakes are 100% vegan, but they taste as if they aren't — that's largely thanks to the way coconut behaves when chilled.
Besides: coconut is an ingredient everyone understands. No nonsense, no tricks.
From selling nuts to making it myself
I still sell nuts — in my products. But the step from packing loose nuts to baking myself was the best decision I've made.
Not because it's easier — it's harder work. But because I now make something that wouldn't exist without me. Every granola, every ball, every cheesecake begins with the same question: is every ingredient here for a reason?
If that answer is yes, it's an ADA bakes product.
Kadir makes all ADA bakes products himself, every week, in small batches. No preservatives, no additives. Order fresh via the webshop or taste them every Saturday at the market in Almere.