Energy balls: how to get a boost in one bite

INTRODUCTION AND RECIPE

You may have heard about them, or even seen them, but you may also be a big fan of them already… « Energy balls » have become really popular. But what exactly are they?

a stimulating recipe

As their name suggests, these little balls are designed to give you energy. In fact, thanks to a very special blend of ingredients, they provide proteinsfibrevitaminssugars and good fats, among other things. This makes them ideal if you want an energy boost to start your day, to recharge the batteries after a few drinks or even before a work-out or your favourite sport: they’re ideal for young and old alike, for sporty types and couch potatoes.

Energy balls sur une assiette entourée d'autres pâtisseries

Photo by silviarita via Pixabay

why are they so popular?

As well as being easy to prepare, with no-cooking required and ready in moments, energy balls are easy to transport and truly delicious! This is a recipe that’s 100% beneficial and they can even be kept in the fridge. You can adapt the ingredients to suit your tastes and depending on what might be in season. The cherry on the cake is that they allow you to replace cereal bars and other little snacks that are often far less healthy with lovely little balls of goodness where you choose the ingredients.

the basic recipe

Although you can use whatever ingredients you like, you’ll need a general recipe to make things as easy as possible for you.

Ingredients

 For 20 energy balls, you require:

  • 250g of oilseeds or nuts (for example: hazelnuts, unsalted cashews, almonds, walnuts...)
  • 250g of dried fruit (for example: dates, raisins, dried figs…)
  • 6 tablespoons  of cocoa powder, grated coconut or other
  • If you want, you can roll the balls in grated coconut, Matcha tea, cocoa powder, orange zest or any sort of seed (sesame, pumpkin…) to add even more flavour!

preparation

  • If possible, soak the nuts in water overnight or for a few hours before preparing the balls: this makes the oilseed elements easier to digest and suppresses any anti-nutrient elements they contain (these prevent nuts from being eaten before germination).
  • Then, drain the nuts fully and blend them into small pieces in a food processor.
  • Remove the stones from your dried fruits (dates) and add them to the mix along with cocoa powder, or your equivalent.
  • Mix everything together until you get a smooth paste (you can do this by hand if you don’t have a food processor).
  • Once you have your paste you can mould it however you like, although most prefer making balls.
  • If you want, you can roll the balls in cocoa powder, grated coconut, etc.
  • Once you’ve done this, you should leave them to rest in the fridge for 1 or 2 hours before enjoying the fruits of your labour.
Gros plan sur des Energy balls à la noix de coco

© Marco Verch

an infinite veriety of recipes

Because the combinations are endless and quantities will vary depending on what you need, we’ll leave it up to you to decide what suits you best. But here are a few ideas to get you started all the same…

20 Energy balls : 250g of dates | 250g of almonds/cashews/walnuts | 5 tablespoons of raw cocoa powder (optional: grated coconut)

10 Energy balls : 50g of dates and 50g of raisins | 100g of unsalted cashews | 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (optional: seeds of your choice)

10 Energy balls : 100g of cranberries | 150g of macadamia nuts | 1 tablespoon of sesame paste (optional: 3 tablespoons of sesame seeds)

10 Energy balls : 150g of fried figs | 100g of almonds

Now all you have to do is enjoy!

Plusieurs exemples d'Energy balls

Photo by silviarita via Pixabay