I hope you aren’t sick of energy balls just yet, because these ones are delish and they’re the perfect to pop in the freezer and keep in stock for whenever you’re in need of a sweet and salty treat. They’re also my go-to before workouts because they’re substantial enough to push me through and they don’t make me feel sick, which is a serious bonus. I started making raw energy balls after my girl, Katie Crewe, made me some for my birthday around 7 years ago. She brought them to my party and I thought, hm, interesting. She was always making healthy creations and this was one of the first I had tried. I took a bite and immediately popped them in the freezer and made a conscious decision to hide them from everyone at my party and eat every last one of them by myself. And that, my friend, is exactly what I did. From that day on, I was in love with raw energy balls. So we can thank her for this modified version of her original recipe 🙂
Also, I promise I will be sharing some healthy baked goods soon! I just found baking very hard during this time in my pregnancy, for a few reasons:
Baking is a science, so you have to be on point. I literally was such a mess around Christmas, almost all of my Christmas baking ended up requiring a remake because I did silly things like, set the timer or temperature wrong, used baking soda instead of baking powder or actually forgot to put the shredded carrots in the carrot cake (true story). My 83 year old grandma had to ask if there was supposed to be carrots in the carrot cake… thank god someone was paying attention. So, it was easier for me to stick with a safe, fool-proof, raw dessert.
I was just plain exhausted. Most of my raw desserts require a food processor and 15 minutes, tops. Throw it in, process, roll into balls, wash the food processor blade and bowl (I mean, that part is literally zero fun and is the primary reason why I like to make them in bulk), pop in the freezer and done. Although I provide a recipe here, I do a lot of throwing in and guessing, taste testing and adding things, as needed. This means, less mess washing measuring cups and whatnot.
I had issues with the smell of different foods being baked/cooked or even raw sometimes (ground beef, ugh, I cannot even). I was not really being impacted negatively by the smell of fresh baking, but, because I was developing all of these food aversions, I was hesitant to potentially ruin my love for sweet smells. It actually happened with my essential oils already, so during the first trimester I tried not to involve the oven as much as possible, to avoid developing more food aversions.
Given all of this, raw recipes were an overall safer choice. They were also a very yummy choice! So, win, win.
The recipe is below and, please note, if you’re not a huge peanut butter gal (I AM), then you can always sub with any nut or sun butter.
Cash Creations: Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls (Raw)
Total Time out of your life: 20 mins
Need: Food Processor*
Makes: 10 Energy Balls
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of Almonds
- 1 cup of Dates
- 2 tbsp Cacao
- 1 tbsp Chia Seeds
- 1 tbsp Almond butter
- Pinch of sea salt
- 2 tbsp Maple syrup (for added sweetness)
- 2 tbsp dark chocolate chips (because.. more chocolate is best)
- 2 tbsp Peanut Butter (organic, just Peanuts)
Instructions:
Toss the almonds in the food processor and process for a minute to ground them a bit prior to adding in the rest of the ingredients. Then add the dates and process. You can add the rest of the ingredients and process. Stir in the dark chocolate chips and peanut butter.
Using a TBSP ice cream scoop (or a spoon if you don’t feel like being all fancy), scoop out TBSP size balls and roll them in your hands. Place in an airtight container and pop in the freezer!
*Be careful how long you process because they can become super oily from the nuts.
**You may not need to add coconut oil if you feel they are moist enough
