Recipe for Healthy Energy Balls

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Recipe for Healthy Energy Balls

By Dr. Ben Kim on July 12, 2009 Healthy DessertsFar healthier than almost any

energy bar that you can buy in a store, these energy balls are full of vitamins,

minerals, and natural compounds that are perfect for providing a quick boost of

energy.Because these energy balls are made out of fiber-rich whole foods, eating

just one or two can be surprisingly filling - quite the contrast when you

consider that most folks have no trouble eating half a dozen or more mini-donuts

in one sitting.Let's take a step-by-step look at how to make these decadent and

nutrient-dense energy balls.To start, count out about ten dates and place them

in a bowl.Soak the dates in water. If you think to do this an hour or more in

advance, it's fine to use room temperature water. If you're pressed for time and

only have a few minutes for soaking, use hot water. The idea is to soften the

dates so that they are easily blended into a soft paste.Measure out a cup of raw

pecans and

put them in a food processor. A strong blender might also work, but for this

recipe, a food processor works best.If you have trouble digesting nuts, soak

them in water overnight, strain, and dry with a towel before proceeding.Process

pecans on low or using a pulse setting until they're nicely ground. You don't

want to make pecan butter here - you're looking for nicely ground pecans.Add a

heaping teaspoon of quality cocoa powder. If you don't enjoy chocolate, it's

fine to skip this step.Blend or pulse for another few seconds to bring ground

nuts and cocoa powder together.Add six soaked and mildly crushed dates to the

mix. It's best to add a little water to this recipe to create proper texture. A

good way to add just enough, but not too much water is to lightly shake the

dates as you get them out of their bowl of water, give them a gentle mush with

your fingers, and add them slightly wet to the ground pecans.Process on low or

using the pulse setting

until the dates and pecans come together into a texture that looks something

like this:You want the texture to be such that you can pinch off teaspoon-size

chunks and roll them up with your palms into bite-size balls. If need be, add

another mushed up date or two, but always be conservative in adding extra dates,

as once the mixture gets too moist, it's very difficult to fix by adding more

nuts.Please note that the mixture doesn't need to come together as a big ball as

shown above. So long as you can pinch off small amounts and roll them up into

balls that remain intact, you're good to go.This is about what the energy balls

should look like:For some variety, bring out some dried coconut, cocoa powder,

or any of your favorite raw nuts and dried fruits.On this particular day, I felt

like putting a nice coat of coconut and raw cocoa on our energy balls.Here's

what they look like dressed up in a coat of dried coconut:And with a dusting of

raw cocoa

powder:Please note that because we already added cocoa powder to the pecans in

the food processor, adding an extra coat of cocoa powder gives these energy

balls quite a rich, dark chocolate-like flavor. If you're more of a

milk-chocolate person, you probably won't want to add this extra coat of cocoa

powder.It's really as simple as that. You can gently press your favorite nuts

and/or dried fruits into the tops to provide an endless variety of energy balls.

For example, here are a couple with whole raw cashews on top:Once you're done

making your energy balls, you can enjoy them right away, or keep them covered in

the refrigerator, where they'll stay fresh for at least a few days.If you have a

few dates, nuts, and other ingredients left over, bring them together in the

food processor and see what turns up - we've discovered some of our favorite

combinations doing just this with leftovers - a good example of such a mish-mash

is dates, almonds, coconut

shreds, and goji berries.Please note that for different types of nuts, you'll

have to adjust the number of dates you use to create a " cookie dough " that can

be rolled up into these energy balls. For example, almonds release less natural

oils than pecans, so for almond-date energy balls, you need to use about 9 or 10

small soaked dates for each cup of raw almonds.If you have your own favorite

recipe for healthy energy snacks, please consider sharing in the comments

section below. 

Muhammad Ahmad Al-Masry

 

64, Muhammad Korayem Street,

 

Gomrok, Alexandria, Egypt

 

Tel: 0020-03-4800555

 

Fax: 0020-03-3082667

 

Web: massrii

 

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