Peanut Butter, White Chocolate, and Cashew Energy Bites

I kept seeing "energy balls" or "energy bites" all over Pinterest and wondered what was up with that. Well, now I know! They are 1 ounce bites (which actually means about 3 bites) of sweet and savory deliciousness wrapped around a lot of nutrition, if you do it right.  In texture and taste, they're a cross between a no-bake cookie, candy, or an old-fashioned sugar plum. Remember the Christmas poem "...while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads..."   I made those one year for Christmas and wonder why I never did again. An all natural chewy bit of carb happiness, I mean, energy. Will definitely be keeping these in the rotation. They will be great for at home but even more perfect for work when I need to grab something quick and easy to nibble on because it's too easy to get busy and end up going 8-10 hours without eating anything and that low blood sugar nausea feeling that comes on doesn't do me or my patients any good.

I will make up other flavors but my first foray into the energy bite world was kind of a rebellion against all things chocolate.  Every recipe I've ever seen has chocolate chips or cocoa in it.  There are some of us out here in the world, I confess, who are not chocoholics.   Loved watching Bobby Flay (old eppy) over the weekend where he made French toast sticks with white chocolate/orange ganache and said "White chocolate has always been my favorite chocolate. My Mom still brings me a white chocolate bunny to the restaurant every year on Easter."  Ahhh!  And yes, a fellow white-a-holic! 

 

Peanut Butter, White Chocolate, and Cashew Energy Bites

Recipe by Glenna Anderson Muse

Makes  16   1--oz balls

Ingredients:

1 cup Old-fashioned Oats (not instant)

1/2 cup Peanut Butter (I use Hallam's All Natural)

2 Tbsp Honey (local if available)

1/2 cup White Chocolate chips

1/2 cup Coconut

1/2 cup Cashew pieces

Directions:

1) Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

2) Place in fridge for 30 minutes to harden peanut butter slightly to make it easier to form balls

3) Form into balls using cooking spray or butter coated hands. A cookie scoop works great to keep portions even.

Store in a covered container or Ziploc baggie for up to a week.

Cook's Notes:  1)  I used a 1 oz cookie scoop which equals 2 Tbsp (or 1/8 cup). Use whatever you have to measure.  Also, 2) When I formed mine, I pressed the mixture HARD into the cookie scoop with the (cooking sprayed) palm of my hand, flipped it out into my hand, and then passed it back and forth in my hands (cooking sprayed) several times, squeezing pretty hard to make sure they wouldn't crumble as soon as we bit into them.  When I was satisfied that each ball was densely packed, then I gently rolled it between both palms to make it more uniformly ball-ish in appearance.

Nutrition per each:  Calories: 171;  Protein 6:  Carbs 17;  Fat:  10;  Fiber: 3.

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