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I love protein balls, but have never made my own until now. My kids love them and they are a great way of providng a sweet snack, that gives us energy, but with no added nasties and you can control how much sugar you add. Most protein balls I see in the shops are expensive and also many contain whey powder or similar which of course my dairy allergic boys can’t have.
I know lots of people make them, so I figured I finally needed to try and that it can’t be that hard.
This is what I used. You can add a non dairy protein powder if you want to, to these and I usually would if they were just for me, but I don’t for the kids. If you want to add protein powder I work on half a tsp for each ball and this recipe makes 12 small balls or 8 bigger ones.
You will need:
10-12 mejool dates, pitted.
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup of maple syrup, please buy the proper stuff and not maple flavou
red stuff.
1 cup of desiccated coconut, plus some more for rolling the balls
1/4 cup of rolled oats
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup cashews (plain ones, not the salted kind)
Using a blender on a medium setting add the dates, coco powder, oats, vanilla, and maple syrup and blend the mixture until it’s a rough paste. You don’t want a puree. Then dump it out into a bowl and add the cup of coconut. Using your hands or a spoon (depending on your tolerance for sticky on your hands) blend the coconut in.
Place the bowl in the fridge for half an hour to an hour to firm up.
When the mixture has firmed up you can roll it into bowls.
Put the remaining coconut on a plate and take a scoop of mix and roll it into a ball in your hands and then roll it in the coconut mix.
You can make bigger balls if you want them for a substantial snack or smaller ones for grazing and lunchboxes.
They keep in the fridge for about 2-3 days (but not really in our house, my kids love them and they don’t last that long)
*You can add other flavours if you like instead of vanilla, to make them more interesting, or 1/2 tsp of cinnamon instead*
These look like a yummy treat! I’ll need to try this recipe!