Have you tried creating your own Energy Balls? I promise, it's so so simple. Check out the DIY video that I posted last week on my Feed (right here).
Read below for my easy formula that you can customize with your favorite ingredients. And stay tuned for more amazing energy bar and on-the-go snack recipes coming soon in our next cookbook, Rise & Run (launching October 5th).
DIY Energy Balls Recipe
Makes 20 bite-size balls
Choose Your Own Adventure: pick your nuts, pick your seeds, choose your flavors (spices), add a booster, read the tips below.
2 cups raw or roasted unsalted nuts (any combo: almonds, cashews, walnuts)
1/2 cup raw seeds (any combo: hemp, sesame, pumpkin, sunflower)
1 tablespoon sweet spice mix (cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, chai, pumpkin pie) OR 2 tablespoons
unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 Medjool dates, pitted, halved or 1 cup Deglet Noor dates, pitted (about 5 ounces)
1 to 2 tablespoons virgin coconut oil (no need to melt)
Boosters: 1 tablespoon maca powder or matcha powder OR 2 tablespoons collagen peptides or hemp protein powder.
In a food processor, pulse the nuts, seeds, spice blend or cocoa powder, and salt until the nuts are coarsely ground. Add the dates and coconut oil. Pulse, stopping as needed to scrape underneath the blade, until the mixture starts to clump together (no visible date pieces). Be careful not to over-blend or it will become oily.
Use a spoon or a small cookie scoop and your hands to roll into bite-size balls. Place in a container with a lid. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour prior to eating. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Tips:
- Large food processor works better than a blender b/c of the wide base.
- Medjool dates work better because they have a higher moisture content but Deglet Noor will also work (you’ll just need more)
- Amount of oil depends on the type of nuts, for example almonds are drier/less oil than cashews, also if you’re adding boosters/protein powders you’ll need more oil (we will discuss this more during class). Start with 1 T and add a 2nd tablespoon if the mixture seems dry.
- You don’t have to roast the nuts but this does help enhance their flavor, with almonds I prefer roasted but cashews I tend to leave raw (cashews are never actually raw, they’re boiled before being packaged)
Enjoy!
Photos by Natalie Bickford