Your New Favorite Treat
Neal and I have been trying to cut down on our sugar intake. As well as our dairy intake. As well as our gluten intake. Holy Cow! I feel for those who don’t or can’t eat these things because they. are. in. everything. For real, read the labels. It can be pretty disheartening when you have to say goodbye to all of your favorite comfort foods.
If you want to be successful at changing your eating habits, I believe there are two big keys:
- It’s got to taste great and
- It has to be quick
Cause let’s be honest, if it’s not grab and go, the habit is not going to stick. We have been doing a lot of granola recently as a healthy snack but I wanted to try something different, so where did I turn? To the time-sucking vortex of Pinterest (home sweet home).
Energy bites are the new protein bar
When I searched, “healthy snacks” one of the top ten things that popped up was energy bites. These tasty little balls (or squares), packed with protein and energy producing ingredients are everywhere on Pinterest. So many flavors and they all looked pretty tasty to me. I saw a lot of the same ones popping up again and again and I thought: “The ones that sound tastiest to me are the ones that mimic a comfort food favorite (like apple pie, brownies, or s’mores, etc.)”
I continued brainstorming recipe ideas trying to think of something that tastes like a dessert but isn’t too unhealthy. I had decided on a flavor but as I pulled into the store parking lot to buy the ingredients I had a revelation…Chunky Monkey Energy Bites!!! I quickly jotted down some ingredients I thought I would need and ran in (haha more like hobbled in, carrying Ariana in her carseat and trying not to wake her up).
Things are about to get real peeps!
This is a quick recipe and oh so divine! You seriously are just going to melt when you taste this. The flavors are spot on with the ice cream (I even had Neal taste it before I told him the flavor and he said, “um Chunky Monkey Ice Cream!”) but thankfully this version won’t make you feel guilty 😀 Also there is hardly any refined sugar so, eat the whole batch if you want!!! But let’s skip the small talk and get to what you’re actually here for, the recipe and the photos.
Chunky Monkey Energy Bites
- 1 C. Old fashioned oats
- ½ C. Chia seeds
- 1 banana
- 2 heaping tablespoons of protien powder (use your favorite vanilla or banana flavored brand)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp of liquid sweetener (you could use real maple syrup, honey, or agave)
- ¼ C. Chopped walnuts
- ¼ C. Dark chocolate chips
Combine oats and chia seeds in a blender until it becomes powdery. Set aside. Next peel and smash your banana in a bowl until there aren’t any big chunks. Pour protein powder, vanilla, and sweetener in with the banana mash and mix until well combined.
Next add the oat/chia powder, the walnuts, and the chocolate chips. It gets pretty thick so you will want to use a power mixer (hand-held or stationary). At this point you could either roll them into little balls or place them in a lined baking sheet and flatten them. If you want to cut them I would suggest refrigerating them for 15-20 minutes so they can firm up just a bit.
You can put them in an air-tight container and refrigerate them for up to a week. Or you could make a double batch and freeze half for next week. Or like I said eat it all right now all by yourself!
I am seriously stoked for you to try this!!! If you are a chunky monkey fan or just a fan of things that taste amazing (and healthy!) pin this recipe and make it!
Xo,
Aubrea (the Noob)
