Good morning! I don’t have a What I Ate Wednesday post for you today because half my meals have been eaten standing up in the kitchen grazing, so I’ve been lacking in actual meals to share. Instead, I though I’d share the recipe for my first ever chocolate PB energy balls.
Everywhere I go I see balls. Get your head out of the gutter. I mean energy balls! Or, as they’re often called in Healthy-Blog Land, “no-bake energy bites.” Same thing. Does the adolescent in you do a little “tee hee” every time you talk about balls? Just me? Oh.
Anyway…
Let me tell you about the ones I made this weekend because they were freakin’ awesome. They taste like cookie dough and even better, they’re not terrible for you.
There are a ton of recipes out there for balls like these and literally a million variations you can do. I searched around and found a bunch I liked, but in the end I made up my recipe as I went along. If you want some inspiration, here are some of the sites I’ve pinned or saved that feature some tasty looking balls (he he…sorry, I’ll stop):
- The Great Ball Recipe Round-Up by My Healthy Nest
- Healthy No-Bake Brownie Bites by Making Thyme for Health
- Chewy Chocolate Energy Bites by My Happy Place
Now on to my creation! As you may know, most of my recipes are born out of a desire to do as little work as possible. Because of this, I used stuff I always have in the kitchen.
The one exception to this was the chopped dates, which I just happened to have a coupon for and grabbed at the store. I’m even too lazy to chop my own dates, so the fact that Sun-Maid would do it for me was even better!
You can make this with regular peanut butter, but I had some Dark Chocolate Dreams PB in my pantry and figured that would be a fun twist. My measurements are kind of approximate because as I mixed I was adjusting and sampling, but it’s pretty close.
Chocolate Dreams Energy Balls
Makes: 16-20 balls, depending on how you roll them and how much you eat before they get rolled.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup chopped dates
- 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate peanut butter (I used Peanut Butter Co.)
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Roll into small balls and chill for about an hour before eating. Enjoy!
In case you’re interested, I got curious about the “healthy” factor and put this recipe into My Fitness Pal to check out the nutritional breakdown: Per serving: 118 calories, 16 grams carbs, 6 grams fat, 4 grams protein, 12 grams sugar, 1 gram fiber.
Based on the breakdown, I wouldn’t exactly say these are nutritional powerhouses, but they are really delicious. The peanut butter and chocolate combo is to die for, and the oats cut the sweetness just enough. I love the convenience of being able to just grab and go. They also make a great little dessert. In fact, I’d say they lean more towards the dessert side of things anyway. I love a good excuse to pretend I’m eating health food, though, even though they’re basically unbaked cookies. 😉
Hope you enjoy them!
What’s your favorite no-bake energy bite? Feel free to share links!
Health food? Cookies? What’s your take on balls?
Kelly Runs For Food 