Peanut Butter Chocolate Power Balls

Today at the vegetable farm where I volunteer, we had 30 youth attending a local conference, offer their time to pick weeds and set up an out building frame.  Honestly it was a beautiful gift!!  Our plot was starting to look like it had been taken over by the garden devils and then we were suddenly gifted with engaging, hard working young people.  I wanted to thank them for their hard work so I got up this morning and made these Peanut Butter Chocolate Power Balls.  They are the perfect tasty and filling treat to enjoy after some hard work.

They can be made gluten free depending on the granola mix that you use, and I suppose even nut free if a seed butter such as sunflower or pumpkin seed butter was used.   Any granola blend with plenty of chunky pieces of grains, nuts, seeds and dried fruit will work well.  The dried fruit pieces offer some natural sweetness to the balls.

If your granola mix doesn’t have any flax seeds in it, you could add 3-4 tablespoons of ground flax seeds to up the omega-3 intake.

This is a great recipe to double as it is a good snack to have on hand for teenagers or friends who drop in for a visit.

I would suggest a hearty mix such as these:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Power Balls

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Serves: approximately 20 Prep Time: 15 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

• 1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)1 1/2 tablespoons melted coconut oil1/8 cup of maple syrup, or agave1/3 cup chocolate chips4 cups of granola blended in a Vitamix or food processor

Instructions

1. Melt first four ingredients in a pot on the stove, stirring often.
2. Blend granola then place in a medium sized bowl.
3. Pour melted ingredients into granola and stir until well combined.
4. Using your hands, mold a spoonful of the mix into a ball.
5. Place on parchment paper in a shallow, lidded container and immediately place in fridge or freezer.

These last well in the fridge or freezer and taste great with coffee or tea.  The trick is to not eat three at a time. 😉  They truly are filling and are great for a pre or post workout snack.

 

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