No-Bake Energy Bites

These were served at our church coffee hour and were very tasty. The comment was that these could replace sugary desserts and also have nutritional value. I am a confessed sugar addict. I plan my nighttime tea and desserts like some do their drug addiction. If there is no dessert, then there is always plain ol' chocolate chips.

So the goal is to reduce the sugar intake, and these seem to be a good start. I have all the ingredients and I like everything in them.

The recipe says it makes 20. There are many different recipes, but the base seems to be peanut butter, honey, and oatmeal. I bought some peanut butter protein powder (which I haven't used but it sounded healthy) and that seems a natural to add that to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup old-fashioned oats, raw

2/3 cup toasted, sweetened shredded coconut

½ cup ground golden flaxseed meal

6 Tbsp chocolate chips (mini chips may be better)

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a mixing bowl, stir together the peanut butter, honey and vanilla extract. Add remaining ingredients and stir until evenly coated.

Transfer mixture to the refrigerator or freezer and chill until mixture has firmed up a bit – about 30 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and shape into one-inch balls.

Store in refrigerator in an air tight container.

MY NOTES: I like nuts, so I will add walnuts and/or almonds and some sesame seeds. Also, if you have one of those cookie dough scoops, it might make them easier to roll.

ENJOY!