Nutritional Whole Food Energy Balls

The ingredients and method behind whole food trail food: Blend, roll, dust and chill.

That is pretty much all you need to do every Sunday to have a 1 or 2 week supply of whole food, energy dense, ball-shaped goods, to be enjoyed as a multi-purpose snack. Not to mention they can be modified to meet the requirements of any fad diet including vegan, paleo, gluten free, HCLF, HFLC, etc.

In most cases, they can last around 1-2 weeks in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. So once you have made them, the real challenge begins, which is abstain from eating them all in the first week.bliss1

The below recipe makes about 15 single serves.

There is no end to the alterations you can make to the below list of ingredients if you wish to change the flavour, texture and/or macro balance. If you want to experiment, the one thing you are trying to do is finish with a mixture of dough like consistency.

Try substituting some of the dry ingredients with: oats, LSA meal (linseed, sunflower, almond), cacao powder, chia seeds, puffed amaranth, almonds, sunflower seeds, pepitas, brazil nuts, pecans, peanuts or a protein powder supplement.

Similarly, replace some wet ingredients with pure maple syrup, honey, coconut oil, flaxseed oil, soaked goji berries, soaked sultanas, soaked dried apricots or carrots*.

Have a big impact on flavour by adding a little ground vanilla bean, ground ginger, cinnamon, cardamon, turmeric fennel seed or salt.

And finally give your balls a new look by rolling them in something other then coconut, such as chia seeds, cocoa powder, sesame seeds, ground almonds, crushed pistachios or leave them natural and bare, if you dare!

But first off, give the below a try and see how it all goes:

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Medjool dates (pitted) or soaked pitted dehydrated dates
  • 1/2 cup almonds
  • 1/2 cup cashews
  • 1/3 cup cacao powder
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil (melted)
  • 1/3 cup shredded or desiccated coconut
  • 1 pinch Himalayan sea salt
  • 1 Tbsp soaked chia seeds (mix 2 tsp chia seeds with 2 Tbsp water to form a gel)

Method

  1. Put all the ingredients into the food processor in the order listed and secure the lidimg_2393
  2. Process until you have a nice dough consistency and ensure everything is combined
  3. Remove the mixture from the processor one tablespoon at a time and shape each serve into a small ball. Dip your hands in warm water before you start shaping to prevent the mixture sticking to your handsimg_2406
  4. Roll the balls in shredded or desiccated coconut to coat and place on a plate
  5. Set the balls in the freezer for about an hour and then store them in an airtight container in the fridge

 

Bon Appetit!

energy-balls

*if you decide to use carrots as a substitute ingredient, it may limit the time the finished product will keep well in the fridge.