Healthy bliss balls, energy bites or protein bars are quite a trend these days. They are easy snacks and can be made in different ways while you do your meal prep. These bite-sized balls are a healthy dessert which can be made with many plant-based ingredients. This easy recipe reminds me of a small laddoo. Major difference being it is made with raw ingredients, while laddus are cooked. While we make nut based laddu which are generally dairy and sugar based, these raw energy balls are naturally sugar free and dairy free. These vegan protein balls recipe is ready within minutes.
Basic ingredients can make a versatile healthy treat. No added sugar, means no extra calories, plus added health benefits of healthy fats. I love things made with no sugar or which use natural sweetness . Bonus, they are vegan, gluten free and have natural enzymes. These protein balls made with regular dates are rich in iron too. Most people think vegan and vegetarian people have low iron. It is not so. You can get iron from many sources. Just eat mindfully and you will never need a supplement.
Total time to make one variation of these little energy bites is hardly 10 minutes. Each variation yields 10 medium sized protein bliss balls. Total weight is 190 gms. If it is too hot and you cannot have dates, have a peanut butter ice cream instead or use dates to make a chutney and serve it with samosas and have less quantity. Totally summer ready!
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My heart says yes for anything chocolatey. I have a sweet tooth! Adding some cocoa powder, gives you that chocolate fix you need. Perfect to avoid your mid week blues. They are a great option to enjoy something sweet in your lunch box. Enjoy your bliss with cacao bliss recipes 🙂 Toddlers can also eat these power balls and you do not feel the guilt of giving them preservative loaded commercial chocolates. Choose natural sweeteners based goodies instead of using processed ingredients everytime possible. Kids will love making bliss balls in the kitchen, even if it means just choosing natural ingredients to use in the recipe and you using the food processor.
Both parents and kids are happy with such smart recipes for healthy snacking. They get to see a bit of chocolate and we get to see bit of healthy food. Easy bliss ball recipes are perfect for that small dose of energy bursts we need while handling work life stress battles.
Equipment
- Food processor
- Grinder
Ingredients
- Roasted almond butter/ Roasted peanut butter
- Pitted medjool dates
- unsweetened coconut flour/ desiccated coconut / shredded coconut
- Chia seeds/ goji berries
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
refer to recipe card for details.
How to make almond bliss balls?
- Roast almonds. Grind them in a coffee/spice grinder. Keep pulsing the mixture until it softens and gels together. It will take around 5 mins to extract almond butter. Substitution : You may use market based unsweetened almond butter if you have it handy. If you are allergic to almonds, you can use cashew butter.
2. In a food processor, add coconut flour, chia seeds, cocoa powder along with almond butter.
3. Pulse it in a food processor.
4. Roll into balls by taking small amount of mixture in your hands. It might feel little sticky as nut butters are a sticky paste. For best results, you can oil your hands before you make your first batch.
5. Store in an air tight jar.
The above mixture yields 190 grams of bliss ball mix and makes 10 balls each variation.
Almond bliss balls recipe | almond energy balls recipe
Equipment
- Food processor
- Spice grinder/coffee grinder
Ingredients
- ½ cup roasted almonds unsweetened
- ½ cup pitted dates
- 2 tbsp. coconut flour
- 2 tbsp. chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Roast almonds and let it cool. Grind them in a coffee/spice grinder until it resembles a fine powder. Continue to pulse for short intervals till it gels together and oil is released.
- Pulse all the remaining ingredients along with almond butter in a food processor.
- Roll into balls taking small amount of mixture in your hands.
- Store in an air tight container
Nutrition
Looking for more easy nut based sweets?
Click on below links to make easy sweets every week.
Variations - Amaranth gluten free coconut bliss balls
Below are the main ingredients:
- Add ½ cup dates to a food processor along with 2 tbsp. coconut flour, 2 tbsp. raisins and 2 tbsp. cocoa powder. Substitution: If you do not have coconut flour, use coconut flakes
Variations - Peanut butter bliss balls
Ingredients:
Below are the ingredients:
- Dates
- Cocoa powder
- Salt
- Peanuts
- Goji berries
- Roast ½ cup crushed peanuts or (¾ cup whole) and make its peanut butter after grinding it in a spice grinder. Keep grinding it until the peanut powder softens and almost gels together.
2. Add the remaining ingredients along with peanuts in a food processor. Roll it to make ball of desired size. Optionally, roll them in a powder of freeze dried strawberries to get a pink berry bliss balls.
Total quantity : 10 balls of 190 grams.
There are different flavors to enjoy when you use different dry ingredients to make these peanut butter balls. You can add any seeds like hemp seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds. Add chopped walnuts, hazelnuts or macadamias. Add coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract anything you like.
If you like to garnish, you can roll them in some desiccated coconut, unsweetened shredded coconut, powdered freeze dried strawberries or some amaranth.
Variation - cacao bliss balls
In the recipes above you can just replace cocoa powder with cacao powder to make cacao blissball. Another variation is adding mini chocolate chips or cacao nibs to these date balls. Chocolate bliss balls is super hit with kids! You can even add rolled oats to them.
Substitution
If you cannot have raw nuts, make a batch of flax seed or sunflower seed butter. Add a spoonful of protein powder if you like to use them in your fitness journey. Amount of dates can be reduced if you want to add some dried berries and raisins.
Storage
You can store these bliss bites in an airtight container for 7-10 days at room temperature.
FAQs
You can eat these raw balls at any time of the day. They are great for an afternoon snack to give a rush to dropping blood sugar.
You can use any nut butter, dates, chia seeds to make this simple treat. You may also add any dried berries and raisins as per your choice
Get your energy boost next time by choosing the healthier option. A little ball goes a long way when you use nutritious ingredients! Great thing about these little beauties - use it as a hobby activity for your kids. They will love making it and also eat it on the go.
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