Low Sugar Almond & Oat Energy Bites

Originally created for Reboot with Joe- click here for the original post

Prep time: 10 minutes; Cook time: 10 minutes; Total time: 20 minutes

Servings: 16

Low Sugar Almond & Oat Energy Bites

I love making these energy balls for a great snack or post-workout pick-me-up. To make the classic power bite just a little healthier I used fewer sugary ingredients than most recipes use- like sugar, dates, honey, dried fruit and more. Instead of using high-sugar ingredients to help keep these balls together, I kept these together by using slightly more nut butter that offers more minerals and micronutrients like calcium, iron, phosphorus and more. Don’t forget that you can swap in any dry ingredients or fruit that you want to make these power bites your own.

Ingredients

• 1 banana, smashed
• 2 cups (180 g) rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (125 g) almond butter
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/3 cup (50 g) almonds
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• dash of sea salt
• 2 tbsp chia or flaxseed (optional)
• 3-4 tbsp coconut flakes (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C).
2. In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (rolled oats, almonds, cinnamon and salt) with the smashed banana.
3. In a double boiler over medium heat, mix maple syrup and almond butter until the mixture is homogenous and well combined.
4. Pour hot mixture over ingredients in the mixing bowl and fold together until the wet ingredients have spread evenly throughout the drier ingredients.
5. Form the mixture into small/medium balls and place on a parchment paper-lined tray.
6. Bake balls for 10-12 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven, serve and enjoy or store in a tupperware container for a later time.