Easter is just around the corner and instead of giving out Easter Eggs for our clients at Health Space Burwood, our office manager suggested we give out a “healthier alternative” for the little sweet treats so he suggested to make mini protein balls which I thought was a fantastic idea! So here is the recipe I used and it turned out much better than I expected. So if you’re feeling like something sweet but don’t want to over indulge in chocolate, this is a great alternative that you can bring to the family feast or you can have them as give-a-ways too.
Ingredients
- Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon
- Chia seeds- 3 tablespoons
- Cashew nuts- 3/4 of a cup
- Almonds- 3/4 of a cup
- Dates (preferably medjool) – 16 or 1 cup
- Usana Dutch chocolate Protein powder (or another alternative brand) – 3 tablespoons
- Cacao powder- 1 tablespoon
Method
- crush the almonds and cashew nuts in a Nutribullet or a food processor until they are fine-medium consistency
- doesn’t matter if they have some chunky bits throughout the mixture
- pit the dates and put it in the food processor or if you don’t have one (like me) chop very finely and put it through the Nutribullet. The Nutribullet is a bit harder to use as it sticks together so I ended up chopping my dates so they were in tiny pieces and almost like the consistency of mashed potatoes.
- Add all the ingredients into a food processor and Blend. Once again if you don’t have a food processor, just place it in a large bowl and mix thoroughly!
- The mixture should be able to stick together and naturally form clusters throughout the bowl, that’s when you know they are able to hold the form. When you pick up a clump and it just falls apart and doesn’t hold together in 1 piece, you can either: add 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil or add a few more dates in.
- Grab the mixture once it’s ready, squeeze it together and then roll it into your desired ball size.
- Optional: you can add an extra layer of flavour by rolling it in either cacao powder, chocolate protein, goji berries, crushed nuts.
- Ideally store in fridge until ready to serve
HAVE A BEAUTIFUL EASTER HOLIDAY and ENJOY the long weekend :)