These nuts and seeds energy balls are seriously the healthiest snack you can eat, and they are so delicious too! Don't let hunger catch you unprepared again, so make a large batch of these yummy snacks to nibble throughout the day or take it along wherever you go.
Got 10 minutes to make something amazingly satisfying and super healthy to eat?
Sometimes as little as ten minutes can be a crucial period to decide on what to eat. Staying focused on eating the right foods that will nourish my body can be so simple and yet so complex.
When it comes to my daily eating routine I like to break it down into three categories; the main meals. In this case I am mostly safe because it takes preparation, which means I can plan and prepare the right foods to cook, focusing on natural earthy flavors from garlic, herbs and spices, all before hunger arrives.
The second are desserts, which I actually don't get too worried about because I purposely don't carry it around the house. Although I occasionally enjoy making a few treats for the kids, desserts are something that I usually don't struggle with, instead I enjoy with limitations.
This third category is what I would like to blame for more than a few ruined meals, usually followed by a round of quilt trip. That is the mid-day, in between meals, snack time fever that we are all well aware of. Raise your hand if you never casually placed a large bag of chips on the counter to "munch" on while making your delicious supper, only to realize that by the time dinner was ready, the bag-o-chips was gone and so was your appetite!
Seriously, snacking is a tricky one for me. The one thing that I learned over the past few years is to be armed with the right foods at all times. It is so much easier and less tempting when I open my cabinets to find a selection of nuts and seeds, in addition to plenty of fresh fruits and other ingredients that I can use to make other healthy yummy snacks, that will feed my hunger without ruining my appetite.
Some of my favorites snacks are almonds, cashew nuts, Brazil nuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Other ingredients you will almost always find it in my cabinet are garbanzo which I use to make Homemade Hummus quite often, chia seeds and cacao powder to add to smoothies. Also fruits and yogurt. With these ingredients in hand I can either snack straight out of the box or make some of my favorite recipes.
When I say "some of my favorite recipes" I am directly speaking of these amazing energy bites. It is no surprise I have two other similar recipes on this site! (see Chocolate Almond Energy Balls and Healthy Monkey Banana & Cashew Energy Balls).
About this recipe...
There are so many good things to say about this recipe, I honestly don't know where to start. For one thing, I love making these energy bites or energy balls because it drives me nuts when I see several open packages of nuts and seeds around the house. My people can't seem to finish one bag before digging into the next one. Call me crazy but reason one is to clean up the cabinets! I am not prioritizing this argument, I just figure the other ones were kinda obvious...
They are insanely healthy and delicious too! All the healthy fats, energy releasing, brain and focus ingredients combined, rolled into a ball of awesomeness. Make these nuts and seeds your next best friend.
Got a busy lifestyle? these nuts and seeds energy bites are just perfect! Whether you are working, running errands and trying to fit a million things into your day, these are so great to nibble on for more energy to take you that extra mile. These are also a great post-workout snack for nourishment and muscle recovery. Take them on the plane when you travel. Most times when I am traveling I will roll up a batch the day before, refrigerate and bring it on the plane with me. This has saved me many times when traveling from exhaustion and mood/energy swings, from a well known combination of stress, lack of nourishing foods, too much coffee and leaving routine grounds.
The best part is they are so easy to make and requires no baking! This recipe is super flexible too. Add more or less of your favorite ingredients. Substitute the ones you don't like. Try it out and have fun!
My recipe is a suggestion for you to use as a base for your own creations. Make it just as is, for a chocolate nutty bite or change it all up.
To make this recipe work for you, you will need some guidelines. You can seriously use as little as 3 ingredients or as many as you want. Be sure to always use a natural liquid sweetener such as honey, agave or maple syrup and one ripe banana, so the ingredients can stick well together to form into a bite size ball. In addition I like to use a dried fruit like apricots or dates, and lots of nuts and seeds.
Nuts & Seeds Energy Bite
Ingredients
- 1 cup chunky almond butter
- 4 soft dried apricots
- 2 tablespoon agave
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- ½ cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 tablespoon Valrhona cocoa powder
- ¼ cup raw pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients into a blender cup. I used a Vitamix
- Start blending the ingredients in low speed, increasing the speed as the ingredients combine. You will need to stop the blender a few times to bring the ingredients together.
- You will know when it's done, once the dough looks well combined and the nuts are all chopped into grains size pieces.
- Roll it into bite sizes and refrigerate.
- Eat it cold or at room temperature. I can be frozen. Best to be consumed within 2 weeks.
Thanks for reading this and I hope you enjoyed this recipe. As always I encourage you to try making my recipes and if you do so #tag gardeninthekitchen and follow my behind the scenes recipe making and daily inspiration on Instagram!
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