About the Recipe
These energy / protein balls do more than just curb cravings. They prevent the energy crashes that happen when you skip meals or restrict your food too heavily. While they contain a small amount of sweetener, it is far less than you would find in a typical store-bought snack. Check out the benefits to the ingredients below.
Oats | Beta-glucan, assists in reducing low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol by binding to cholesterol in your gut and assisting the body to remove it. Fiber, slows digestion to release the sugar into your blood slower to avoid spikes. Assists in over eating due to making you feel full. Contains magnesium, iron, zinc and phosphorus plus antioxidants. |
Cocoa powder | Flavanols lowers blood pressure due to improving the nitric oxide levels in your blood. Nitric oxide widens your arteries to improve blood flow. The flow on effect is that it improves brain function, cognitive health, fucus and memory. Serotonin and endorphins, assist in keeping mood steady. Polyphenol, slows carb digestion and absorption which assists in insulin sensitivity. |
Maple syrup | Rich antioxidants, contains compounds that assist in reducing inflammation and protect cells from damage. Magnesium, zinc, calcium and potassium for bone and immune health. It is a much better alternative to refined sugar, (requires moderation) Lower GI, still raises blood sugar slightly but slower that regular sugars resulting in fewer drastic crashes. |
Ingredients
Chocolate Protein Balls
470g dough
60g ½ cup Cocoa powder
1 cup 140g Almond flour
160g ½ cup Maple syrup
70g ¼ cup Almond butter
25g ¼ cup Protein powder
12g 2 tsp Vanilla essence
40g 3 tbsp dark chocolate chips
¼ cup Desiccated coconut
Oatmeal Protein Balls
540g dough
115g 1 cup rolled oats
25g ¼ cup protein powder
70g ½ cup dark chocolate chips
250g 1 cup almond butter
70g ¼ cup maple syrup
7g 1 tsp vanilla essence
Almond & Lemon Protein Balls
325g dough
150g 1 ½ cup almond flour 180g
40g ½ cup Desiccated coconut 50g
25g ¼ cup Protein powder 30g
90g 4 tbsp Maple syrup 110g
15g 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 34g
4g 1 tbsp lemon zest
Preparation
In a large bowl place all your ingredients bar the crushed chocolate and desiccated coconut.
Mix well monitoring the consistency of the mixture, if the mixture is too runny add some additional almond flour and too firm and the mixture doesn’t mold add a touch more syrup or water.
NOTE: it may be that the mixture needs to spend 30 minutes in the fridge to firm up depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
With slightly moistened hands grab a little over a tablespoon of the mixture and press into shape before rolling the ball between your palms to shape. You could lay out between two backing sheets to roll out to 2 cm in thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut them out.
you can leave as is or you can roll in some desiccated coconut.
Leave in the fridge to snack on for weeks or place in the freezer for up to 2 months.