Healthy Vegan Hedgehogs

For my Birthday, my lovely boyfriend made me a veganized, healthier version of this one of his favorite desserts: Hedgehogs. Supposedly they are of German origin, but I can't seem to confirm either way. If anyone knows, drop me a line.
Here is the recipe for these bite-sized treats. They are the perfect dessert because they are filled with heart-healthy walnuts and medicinal dates, a great energy booster. Plus, you can eat more than one of these without feeling sugar sick since dates are already quite sweet, it only requires a minimal amount of extra sugar.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups crushed walnuts
1 cup dates
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with 2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 unsweetened shredded coconut

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking pan with non-stick parchment paper
2. Place shredded coconut in a small bowl.
3. Make sure walnuts are crushed are finely crushed, but not powdery. Mix walnuts, dates, brown sugar, cornstarch mixture, and vanilla in large bowl together. The resulting mixture will be quite sticky so mixing with your heads is best. (I put a small bit of water on my hands to keep mixture from sticking).
4. Take about a tablespoon of the mixture and roll it out into a 3 inch long log. (Feel free to choose any shape you like however, round balls or shorter logs works as well).
5. Roll log in shredded coconut and place on baking sheet. Repeat until all the mixture is used up. You can space logs relatively close together since they do not expand in baking.
6. Please baking sheet in oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until the coconut is just beginning to brown. Enjoy!

Peace&Love