Have you tried protein balls or energy bites as some people call them? If you have not tried them, I plan to come to your house and deliver a box. These darn things looked unappetizing to me for the longest time and one day my yoga teacher was saying her children found a recipe and made it and between the three of them they could not stop eating them. She was just raving about how good they were and she was telling us she tacked a little extra cardio onto her routine that day to compensate for how many she actually did eat.
There are tons of variations on this recipe that you can make- the most common is just with chocolate chips. I decided to create a little spin on mine by using white chocolate and dried cherry. You can absolutely substitute any toppings you like- toasted coconut, nuts, dried cranberry, chopped apples… These are incredibly versatile.
I love to grab one of these before a workout or after a workout. They are surprisingly filling and hit the sweet tooth without being a total disaster for your diet. I do suggest being careful though- these are so good you could easily eat the entire tray 😉 (or at least I could and apparently my yoga teacher.)
If you have kiddos these are a fantastic snack idea. My girls have snack recess at school and always complain it takes too long to eat snack and they don’t have time to play. My solution is to pop these in lunchboxes and the kids can basically finish it in seconds, feel full and have the energy to zip off to the monkey bars.
So here is the basic recipe I use. Please note you may want to add some variations on this recipe according to your own personal taste.
- 1½ cups oatmeal (I use old fashioned oats)
- ½ cup peanut butter or other nut butter (I like crunchy but creamy works fine)
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup dried cherries
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Ground Flax/ Whey Protein Powder or Chia seeds (optional)
- Add all ingredients into a bowl.
- Stir well to incorporate.
- Pop into the fridge for a few hours to harden to mixture up a bit. (I try to let it chill overnight)
- Remove from fridge and using a spoon, drop a small scoop of the mixture into your hand and roll into a ball. If they feel too sticky, add a bit more oatmeal.
- Enjoy!
- Keep chilled in the fridge for as long as they last (for us about 3 days) in an airtight container.
It really is that easy. If I make these for me and the hubs I usually add whey powder. For the kids I might add flax seed just depending on what I have on hand. You can add anywhere from 2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup just depending on your personal preference.
Also I have only tried this recipe with an all natural peanut butter. I think any nut butter would work fine but you may need to adjust the amount of honey depending on the thickness of the nut butter. Almond butter for example would probably require a bit more honey as it isn’t as creamy as peanut butter.
And now it is time to enjoy your hard work!
If you decide to try these, please come back and let me know what you think. I’d also love to hear any variations that you use in the recipe.
One last tiny note- a really good white chocolate makes a world of difference. I love Guittard Choc-Au-Lait or Ghirardelli brand but a good white chocolate bar chopped up would also be a great option. When I buy store brand white chocolate chips I am always disappointed.
And here are a few other recipes you might enjoy:
“Have you tried protein balls or energy bites as some people call them? If you have not tried them, I plan to come to your house and deliver a box. ”
I have not tried protein balls/bites yet, Charlene, so…. What time should I expect a visit? Western Oregon is lovely right now!
So, I love the Bear Naked energy bars but they’ve been increasingly hard to fine, not to mention expensive. This recipe has almost the same ingredients as the bars–I don’t know why I never thought to try making them. I’ll definitely give this a try. Thanks!
I’m wondering if there’s a good substitute for the nut butter in it? I have kids with peanut and tree nut allergies. 🙁 sounds yummy!
Hi Rachel,
As I mentioned I have only used peanut butter but I am sure any other nut butter you like would be fantastic! I am most familiar with almond butter which is much thicker in smoothies and such so you might need to be more generous with the honey. Give it a shot! You will be surprised at how good these are 🙂
I can’t use any nut butters as my youngest is allergic to EVERY nut. Boo!
Oh gotcha! Hmmm. No sunflower butter? What about tahini or Biscoff? Have you heard of this stuff? It sounds scary but I would totally try it:
http://www.thesneakychef.com/free-recipe-no-nut-butter.php
I have so got to try these. They sound totally GREAT! Being on a diet ALL OF MY LIFE… these would work in fine… Also, I wanted to say I saw a Post of yours on how to kill ants… SUPER DOOPER AND IT WORKED. I wanted to thank you so much for sharing your information. I get those little buggers every year. You wouldn’t happen to know how to keep squirrels away from the bird seed I put out do you??? Dirty buggers. I hate them. They’re piggies and the poor birds don’t get any food at all. I bought that for them and I bought a bird feeder and they got it down from the tree and broke it and emptied it all in one night. $12 SHOT TO HELL!!! I WAS SO MAD!!! Dirty rats with tails. I hate them. 🙁 My poor wild birds didn’t get any and Cardinals we have too. 🙁
I bet it is so pretty! Be there tomorrow Annye 😉
I have steel cut oats in my pantry. Can I use that?
I haven’t tried it SS but I think it should be fine 🙂