I’m really excited to finally get this recipe posted!
I have typed it out on my phone sooooo many times for people that I am happy to have somewhere to send them instead of retyping or finding, copying, and pasting continually.
Energy balls: small balls of yummy goodness that are made of honey, peanut butter, flax, chia seeds, oats, and mini chocolate chips, with a dash of vanilla to top it off.
They taste a lot like raw cookie dough, and who doesn’t love cookie dough?
I try to always keep a good supply on hand. Unfortunately, my kids are rather fond of these as well and since I’m such a sharing person, they don’t last very long. Unless I hide. Or sneak. Or wait until they go to bed. But I really am a very sharing person.
My friends really enjoy these as well and I always pack enough to share because everyone wants to try one when they see them!
These little balls of amazing, yummy energy have gone with me all over:
- Hiking in Jackson Hole
- Canyoneering in Southern Utah
- On vacation in Oregon
- Family trips to Lake Powell
- And any other hike/bike outing I go on!
I eat one of these before I go running in the morning and they make a great snack for kids too!
I pretty much use these instead of your typical granola bars. Those things can be pretty misleading with all their added sugars, especially corn syrups. Ugh. Not good for your body.
These are also great if you are craving a treat of some sort. Just don’t go eating more than one or two at a time! These are packed with healthy fat and carbs, so a little goes a long way!
I made a huge batch to take to Lake Powell one year and left them at my parent’s house accidently where we had stopped overnight while en route. I was super bummed, but figured I would just pick them up on the way back.
Guess what? Every last one of those energy balls did not survive being in the same house with my mom and sister. They had discovered them and thought they hit the jackpot!
I was flabbergasted! “You two ate them all in one week?!?”
Yeah, they’re that good. And they’re pretty healthy for you, but don’t go overboard. Your figure won’t thank you for it.
I found the original recipe off pinterest at some point I think, but there are a lot of recipes for these floating around now.
This one has been tweaked and tripled to fit my personal needs and likes. I have also made a version that I now call my lactation balls that I add Brewer’s yeast to and I feel like they’ve really made a difference for me. I’ll post both versions below.
Brewer’s yeast kind of has a strong flavor and I had a really bad experience with it once. I won’t say more than that it involved just having had a baby, and waaaay too many lactation cookies from my sweet sister-in-law.
Remember that too much of a good thing saying?
Lesson learned.
But I have really liked these lactation balls and have had nothing but good from them, so yay!
I try to eat two lactation balls a day and I really feel like it has made a difference for my milk supply.
Not anything crazy, but I’m not panicking about having to go buy formula right now, which is a huge thing for me!
When making these I make the balls into about a 1-2 inch sphere. That can differ depending on the activity and who will be eating them.
If I know I’m going to be sharing with a lot of little kids, I make them a little smaller. If I know they may be a “meal” replacement while I’m hiking, they go up in size a little.
Most of the time I just scoop them out, roll them up, and that’s what we get!
How many you are able to get out of the recipe really depends on what you put into them. This is a great recipe to experiment with and add some of your favorite goodies to.
Also, I buy whole flaxseed (like these here) and then put about a cup at a time in my blender and pulse it to grind it, storing any extra in the freezer. The reason I do this is because flax seeds go rancid fairly quick and I want mine to be as fresh as possible when I use them.
And you do need to grind them. Flax seeds will pass through your system undigested and you’ll miss out on a lot of their great health benefits.
After the balls are all rolled out, I put them on a baking sheet and stick them in the freezer until they’re frozen and then I bag them and put them back into the freezer for long-term storage. They stay fresher that way and are not as messy to eat when they are somewhat frozen. Although you may want to be careful or let them thaw a bit before eating them as they can be pretty hard straight out of the freezer!
I really hope you enjoy these as much as my family and I have. They have been a real lifesaver, especially since we are always working on eating healthier and more “real” food.
Energy Ball Recipe
3 cups old fashioned oats1 cup mini chocolate chips1 ½ cups Adam’s peanut butter1 ½ cups ground flax seed1 cup chia seeds1 heaping cup honey (I like to use raw)1 Tbsp vanillaMix together. If your mix seems too dry, add a little more peanut butter and honey. You want the mixture to stick together and a little may stick to your hands, but it shouldn’t be a mess.Roll into balls and place on panFreezeWhen frozen, store in airtight container in freezer
Lactation Ball Recipe
1 ¾ cups Adam’s peanut butter1 ½ cups ground flaxseed1 cup chia seeds¾ cup brewer’s yeast1 ¼ cup honey1 ½ Tbsp vanillaMix together. If your mix seems too dry, add a little more peanut butter and honey. You want the mixture to stick together and a little may stick to your hands, but it shouldn’t be a mess.Roll into balls and place on pan.Freeze.When frozen, store in airtight container in freezer.