Peanut Butter Energy Snacks

Flavour bombs:

Heleen Meyer often gets asked if she has a recipe for a special snack, that’s not a packet of chips or sweet biscuits. Her answer is a big fat ‘YES!’. Once you’ve made these peanut butter balls, you’ll want to have them in your fridge on a regular basis. Your whole family will love these wholesome energy balls.

This recipe is a simple combination of everyday ingredients, packed with flavour. And they’re good for you too! The almonds are a great source of healthy fats, and the oats add texture and lots of good fibre. The dates add natural sweetness, and they are important to bind everything together. Peanut butter is the main flavour profile but also contributes to the good fats – make sure you use a peanut butter without the added salt and sugar to keep these little treats as healthy as possible. Combining peanut butter with cocoa and cinnamon is where the deliciousness happens. Using good quality cocoa is key, so that you can include lots of antioxidants. And a bit of strong Rooibos is used to turn the mixture into a rollable consistency.

A food processor is ideal to blend everything together. Alternatively use a stick blender, but first chop or blend the individual ingredients, like the nuts and oats and then mix it together, so your blender doesn’t struggle. The mixing can even be done by hand until a cookie-dough-like mixture forms. If you need the mixture to be softer to blend and roll, just add a little extra Rooibos tea, as the dryness of the oats and cocoa may differ from one brand to the next. For an added chocolatey flavour, roll these energy balls in extra cocoa powder.

Peanut butter energy balls

Recipe by Heleen Meyer

Makes about 24 balls

Serves 8

25 unsalted almonds, coarsely chopped, or 100 ml sunflower seeds

2 cups (500 ml) uncooked ordinary oats

150 g pitted dates, coarsely chopped

¼ cup (60 ml) raisins (or use dried cranberries)

1 tbsp (15 ml) cocoa powder

1 tsp (5 ml) ground cinnamon

⅓ cup (80 ml) peanut butter (with no added salt and sugar)

80 ml (⅓ cup) strong Rooibos, cooled

1. Blend almonds or sunflower seeds in a food processor until coarsely ground – to about ¼ cup (60 ml) ground almonds or seeds.
2. Add oats and blend until it almost looks like a coarse flour mixture. Add dates, raisins, cocoa powder and cinnamon and blend. Add peanut butter and Rooibos and blend until it starts to look like cookie dough and is a manageable consistency.
3. Roll tablespoonfuls of the mixture into balls.
4. Pack in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a week. Enjoy three as a portion for a snack.

For more recipes like this visit Heleen’s website.

Image by Adel Ferreira, for Cooking from the heart SA, by Pharma Dynamics