Natural Energy Bites

Summer is coming, and if your family is like mine, we will be on the GO! Vacations, camps, swimming lessons, hiking and camping are all on the agenda.  

So I developed these yummy and nutritious Natural Energy Bites. I've seen similar products in the health food section at the grocery store--Aussie Bites, Simple Bites, Somersaults--and all are yummy. But we can devour lots of money's worth of those in a short amount of time. 

You can make these bites and store them in the fridge or freezer all summer long. My family loves them. My neighbors love them. I took some to my physical therapist today--they loved them!  Have I convinced you yet? 

If not, here are more reasons to love these nutritious morsels: 

* Refined Sugar-Free

*Made with Coconut Oil (a healthy fat)

* Gluten Free

*Wholesome, Natural, Easy-to-find Ingredients

*5 Grams of Sugar and 85 calories per FOUR snacks

Here's how to make 'em: 

The healthy winning line-up. Many, if not all, of these ingredients are probably staples in your pantry. 

The tools used to make the cute little uniform bites: 

Wax Paper or Parchment Paper and an Apple Corer.

Beat coconut oil and honey. Add the egg and mix well.

Put nuts and dried fruit in food processor and pulse until...

...it looks about like this. It's okay for a few larger chunks to remain.

Stir the processed fruit and nuts into the oil and honey mix.

Measure 1 cup of old-fashioned oats into the food processor or blender. 

Pulse until mostly milled into "oat flour."  Add baking soda and pulse a few seconds more. (No need to wash your food processor between the fruit/nuts and the flour--it all ends up together in the end!)

Mix oat flour mixture, remaining 2.5 cups of rolled oats, vanilla, seeds, and coconut (if desired) into the wet mixture until well incorporated.  Dump entire bowl onto wax/parchment paper.

Place a second piece of wax/parchment paper over the dough and roll to 1/2 inch thick.

Here it is all rolled out.

Use the apple corer to place the "bites" onto a prepared cookie sheet. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes. Check at 6 in case your oven or pan cooks faster than mine. 7 was perfect for me. They should rise just a bit and be light brown around the edges. Cool completely.

No "empty calories" here! Full of goodness!

Natural Energy Bites
Makes 168 bites

Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 cup nuts (if using roasted and salted, omit salt)
1/2 cup dried fruit (dates, raisins, dried cranberries, apricots, etc)
1 cup oatmeal ground into flour (grind in blender of food processor)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chia, flax, or other seeds of your choice
1/2 cup coconut flakes (optional)
2.5 cups old fashioned oatmeal

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat coconut oil and honey. Add egg and mix well.
3. In a food processor, process nuts and fruit together until chopped very small. Stir this into the oil and honey mixture.
4. Stir oatmeal flour and baking soda together. Add to wet mixture. Stir in vanilla.
5. Stir seeds, flakes, and remaining oatmeal. Dough will be thick.
6. Dump dough onto wax/parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment on top. Use a rolling pin to flatten to a uniform 1/2 inch thickness.
7. Using a apple corer, cut out the "bites" and place 1/2 inch apart on cookie sheet.  Bake for 7 minutes. Cool completely.
8. Store in a zipper seal bag in the pantry, fridge or freezer--depending on how quickly you expect to eat them. Recipe doubles well. :)

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Chocolate Avocado Brownies

I bought avocados last week to make some guacamole for taco night. Well, taco night came and went, and my avocados were still sitting in the fruit basket. I forgot to use them, and they were ready to be used. 

Meanwhile, my family was hankering for me to make a treat. I'd taken a break from treat-making since the new year, and they were starting to forage (eating chocolate chips right out of the bag, melting marshmallows on crakers, etc).  So I tried to find a brownie recipe that called for avocado. Sound crazy? I thought there HAD to be one. I made a chocolate mousse with avocados as the base a few years ago from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook that was incredible. Surely someone had incorporated avocado into brownies. 

Well, my search didn't turn up much in the way of brownies. I found some chocolate puddings and cupcakes, and some layer-bars. But I was hoping for brownies. So I decided to give it a go myself.  And I'm so glad I did! I made brownies (using avocado!) that have what I consider to be the perfect brownie consistency: slightly crispy on the outside; dense, moist and chewy on the inside (but not under-cooked). These were a crowd-pleaser AND a mommy-pleaser! My kids were getting all kinds of hidden nutrients as they gobbled them up!

Here's the recipe: 

Chocolate Avocado Brownies

Makes 24 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup avocado puree (about 3 medium avocados)

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 eggs

1 stick butter, melted

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour (I used whole wheat!)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet, but milk is fine if you prefer sweeter)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Prepare a 9"x13" baking dish with cooking spray.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat avocado puree with cocoa powder. Add eggs and beat at medium speed just until mixed. If you are using a stand mixer, use the paddle/cookie dough attachment from this point on. 

3. Mix melted butter with white sugar and add to avocado mixture. Mix in brown sugar and vanilla.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to wet mixture and stir well. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips. 

5. Spread evenly in prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips on top. 

6. Bake 20 minutes. Serve warm or cooled. Perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

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Trail Cookies (Sugar-free, Gluten-free, Milk-free, Bad Fat-free)

And they're not gross! They are tasty, even. I promise. My kids have all approved.

In hopes of seizing the forecast sunny (!!) day this weekend, I decided to try out an idea for a healthy but hearty cookie to take along on our excursions.  It doesn't have any weird unnatural sweeteners, bad fats, or ingredients that are hard to find or expensive. My recipe made about 60 cookies and cost about $6 to make. Not bad eh?

I used homemade date paste instead of refined sugar to sweeten them. You can find the tutorial for making your own date paste here on Chocolate and Carrots. These cookies aren't as sweet as a typical oatmeal cookie (more in the realm of a muffin's sweetness), and they are full of delicious texture and moisture.

I'm so excited to pack these up for our hike this weekend! Now we won't be tempted to stuff our pockets with Halloween candy! 

Here's the recipe: 

Trail Cookies

Makes 5 dozen

Ingredients:

1.25 cups date paste (see link above for how to make your own.)

1.5 cups natural unsweetened peanut butter

1/2 cup coconut oil

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

4.5 cups rolled (old-fashioned) oats--gluten free

1 cup dried fruit, chopped to raisin-size (I used cranberries, raisins, and blueberries)

1 cup finely chopped nuts (I used pecans because I love them)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat date paste, peanut butter and coconut oil. Add in eggs and beat well.

3. Beat in vanilla, sea salt, and baking soda.  Mix in remaining ingredients 2 cups at at time.

4. Use a medium cookie scoop to place on cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Press down to flatten slightly. Bake 9-10 minutes. Cool and store in refrigerator or freezer. 

Here's a glimpse of the hike we took these cookies on this weekend.  My only complaint: I should have packed more! We gobbled them up!

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