Overthinking a plate of balls
March 24, 2017 10:11 AM   Subscribe

Do you have a favorite recipe or ingredient recommendation for no-bake energy balls/energy bites? Please share! Dietary restrictions/preferences inside.

I have tried something close to this energy bite recipe (cherries instead of raisins, peanut butter instead of almond, etc.) and they are delicious. This has been my breakfast/snack food this week and I am looking for variation so I don't get tired of them!

Dietary restrictions: I am lactose intolerant and have unpleasant gut reactions to soy milk. Please keep these in mind if you recommend protein powders, though I am open to suggestions for any that might work for me. I have Bob's Red Mill Chai protein powder - suggestions for making energy balls with this would be great!

I am not on a restricted diet otherwise, so grains and carbs are okay (though I prefer high fiber when possible, like flax seed and steel cut oats).

Some ingredients I have on hand:
Rolled oats, steel cut oats, oat bran
Ground flax seed
Chia seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Peanut butter
Dried cherries
Honey, brown sugar, etc.
Various spices and seasonings

I am okay with buying additional ingredients if there is something tasty I'm missing! I prefer sweet or sweet/salty flavors for these, rather than savory recipes.

A lot of recipes call for coconut flakes, which I don't have. Do these add enough nutritional value that I should get some?
posted by cp311 to Food & Drink (12 answers total) 31 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: Popping back in to mention that (1) I do own a dehydrator, if that's helpful, and (2) I will probably buy more dried fruits because some of them do not dry well at home, like berries.
posted by cp311 at 10:16 AM on March 24, 2017


I used to make these in Peace Corps:
1/2 cup honey
1 C powdered milk (but you could a protien powder in here)
1/2 C peanut butter
1 C uncooked oatmeal
(Powdered) sugar to coat.

I can't really say anything about the nutrition value, they were just yummy.


Muslim women in village also made these peanut butter power balls which were peanut butter, ginger and I don't know what else in it (maybe cornflour?)
posted by raccoon409 at 10:18 AM on March 24, 2017 [2 favorites]


Do you have a food processor? If you do, pick up some good quality medjool dates, a big pack of them, and use that as your base.

I use this recipe from ohsheglows and adapt it based on what I have on hand.

Dates and cashews and cinnamon is a really satisfying and simple recipe.
posted by lafemma at 10:40 AM on March 24, 2017 [1 favorite]


The main reason I add coconut flakes to anything is for flavor. It makes the snack taste more interesting.

When people want to know what my recipe is so they can replicate my trail mixes, it usually turns out that coconut flakes was the missing ingredient.
posted by aniola at 10:44 AM on March 24, 2017


I'm crazy for these 5-ingredient granola bars that could easily be cut into smaller bites. This website has lots of other vegan options if you want to mix it up a little, but I think these are perfect as is.
posted by galvanized unicorn at 1:14 PM on March 24, 2017


Seconding a date base, which is what Larabars are. You can mix in practically anything. I will eat a whole batch of date-and-whatever bites in one sitting.
posted by Metroid Baby at 1:55 PM on March 24, 2017


Almond butter, cocoa, and honey. The cocoa thickens the other two. Start with almond butter and honey to get it as sweet as you like, then add cocoa. These are good. You can add stuff like dried, chopped cherries to this, you can roll them in toasted almond flour. This treat is heart healthy and delicious.
posted by Oyéah at 6:21 PM on March 24, 2017


I make a bar that's equal parts dried dates, dried cherries, and toasted pecans, though the toasting is optional, and you could also use almonds or walnuts. Soak the fruits for five or ten minutes in warm water, grind up the nuts , then add the fruits to the food processor and process until things get blended and clumpy. press it into a lined tray, cut into pieces, dust with cornstarch so they're less sticky. I can eat these in embarrassingly huge quantities.
posted by mishafletch at 6:37 PM on March 24, 2017


I've made variations of these hemp protein bars many times. Absolutely delicious. You can sub in your preferred protein powder, or omit the hemp ingredients entirely in favour of almonds, goji berries, etc.
posted by nagemi at 7:37 PM on March 24, 2017


I use this recipe and roll it into balls.

My favourites are the gingerbread flavour, and the lemon one.

To save reading the link, I'll reproduce the ingredients here. (Basically, the instructions are to soak the dates first, and then blitz everything in a food processer, then roll into balls or press into bars, and refrigerate).

Gingerbread: 1/4 cups packed, pitted, soft whole dates, 1/2 cup raw almonds, 1/2 cup raw pecans (I never have pecans on hand so I substitute some other nut or just use all almonds), 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Lemon: 1/4 cups packed, pitted, soft whole dates, 1 cup warm water, 1/2 cup raw almonds, 1/2 cup raw cashews, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (preferably organic), and 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt (optional)

The apple pie one is nice too, but I never have dried apple randomly in the cupboard, so it always requires a trip to the grocery shop, which is annoying:
1 cup dried apples, 1/4 cup packed, pitted, soft whole dates, 1 cup warm water, 1 cup raw pecans or walnuts, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, and 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt (optional).
posted by lollusc at 7:40 PM on March 24, 2017


I just went out and bought dates. Going to try this!
posted by wenestvedt at 4:25 PM on March 25, 2017


These copycat KIND bars are delicious and can be adapted as you please.
posted by AnOrigamiLife at 12:04 AM on April 15, 2017


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