I know I’ve mentioned it before, I’m hungry – hence the food blogging hobby
. I love prepping healthy little snacks to keep in the fridge and take on the go for those times when I’m ready to eat my arm off. These Coconut Pecan Energy Bites are naturally sweetened little balls of wholesome ingredients. They are easy to store, travel well, and most importantly – taste good!
You’ll need a food processor to make these. I’ve never tried these in a blender, but if you have a high powered one, it *should work. Start with processing the dates, then you pretty much throw everything else in and whirl away. When the mixture comes together, it will form a ball. Pinch a small amount of the mixture in between your fingers and see if it will stick together nicely. If it’s too wet, add more oats or pecans. If it seems too dry, add about a tablespoon of water. Process again. When it’s a good consistency, remove the mixture from the bowl of the food processor – be careful of the blade. Let the mixture chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes, covered. After the mixture has chilled, roll into balls. I did about 1.5 tablespoons of mixture per serving and got 16 balls. Roll each ball in unsweetened shredded coconut. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for about a week. Or, for longer storage, freeze in a ziplock bag or freezer safe container. Enjoy 🙂
Wholesome ingredients
- Medjool dates
- Almond butter
- Rolled oats
- Pecans
- Unsweetened shredded coconut
- Ground flax seed
- Vanilla extract
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Coarse sea salt
Coconut Pecan Energy Bites
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 12 pitted medjool dates soaked in hot water and drained, if needed
- 1/4 cup almond butter or any other nut butter
- 1/3 cup rolled oats gluten free if desired
- 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut plus more for rolling
- 2/3 cup pecans
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 1 and ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt if using regular table salt, only use 1/4 teaspoon
Instructions
- Remove the pits from 12 medjool dates and place into a small mixing bowl. Add enough hot water so that the dates are covered. Let soak and soften for 5-10 minutes. Drain and slightly pat the excess water off with a paper towel. Place into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. (If your dates are soft enough, you may skip the soaking process and just add the pitted dates straight to the food processor.)
- Pulse the softened dates until they break down and start to form a ball. Add in the almond butter, rolled oats, coconut, pecans, ground flax, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, and salt. Blend until everything gets evenly distributed and starts to form a ball. You may need to stop the food processor once or twice and scrap down the sides a little. Once everything comes together, pinch some of the mixture together to see if it will form a ball. If the mixture seems too dry, add one (1) tablespoon of water to bring it together.
- Dump the mixture into a medium sized bowl, being careful of the blade from the food processor. Press everything together into a ball. Let chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- After the mixture is chilled, scoop into balls and roll between your palms. Roll the individual balls in unsweetened shredded coconut, if desired. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
- If you don't already have ground flax seeds, place a scoop of flax seeds into your food processor (before you add anything else). Blend until finely ground. Remove from the food processor. Measure out two (2) tablespoons to use for this recipe. Store any leftovers in the fridge, and add to smoothies and oatmeal.
- If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, sub 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, and 1/8 tsp each ground nutmeg and all spice. Or you can use only cinnamon, if you prefer.
- I really like coarse sea salt in this recipe. If you have to use fine grain salt, cut the amount down to 1/4 teaspoon.
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