Recipe for Honey, Peanut & Coconut Energy Balls
My healthy mission continues into the month of February. My followers on Instagram will know that I am tracking everything I eat via My Fitness pal. I have even managed to hit a 20 day streak of tracking everything and it has now become a habit, whoop. And habits form behaviours:-) The app has worked out that in order to lose 2 lbs per week I need to consume 1200 calories each day. Handily I am allowed more if I put in a good session of exercise, so on those days every week where I go for a 4-5 mile run I am allowed an extra 700 calories. My personal trainer has also requested that I keep to a protein/carbs/fat split of 40/40/20 in the little pie chart that My Fitness Pal shows every day. Oh man its hard! I always manage to eat too many carbs, normally ending up at 50-60% of my consumption being carbs. I have been on the search for higher protein recipes that taste great and satisfy me.
Evenings are a problem where on auto-pilot I would turn to a bowl of cereal if I was still feeling hungry. Basically a big bowl of carbs and sugar, not great! So my wonderful friend and author of ‘The Goodness of Nuts and Seeds’ Natalie Seldon has come to the rescue and sent me a recipe for honey, peanut and coconut balls. A perfect mini bundle of goodness to harness that sweet craving.
Natalie knows her stuff when it comes to nutrition and healthy eating. Just take a look at a few of her Instagram pictures.
She cooks the most beautiful and tasty food. And has written a best selling book, which I of course have a copy of. Just checkout a few sentences from her bio..love it
“She has subsequently spent the last 10 years gaining enormous enjoyment from inspiring readers and home cooks alike. For six of those, she has worked for established food magazines (including Conde Nast Easy Living and Sainsbury’s Magazine) alongside food-writing greats such as Jamie Oliver, Diana Henry and Nigella Lawson.”
“Since then, she has continued her role as a food writer, stylist and photographer, whilst writing her award-winning blog www.prettyediblestylist.com (voted top five food blogs of 2017 by Blogfoster) and instagram www.instagram.com/prettyediblestylist/ where she shares her passion for all things visually enticing – and delicious – in the hope that her readers will find pleasure and sustenance in nutritious, honest food.”
Back to the Balls!!
So simple to make with just five ingredients, three of which I already had in the cupboard!
To make 10 balls you need
100g Medjool dates
75g of peanuts (I went for Tesco whole foods jumbo peanuts)
50g raw oats
50g desicated coconut
2 tablespoons runny honey.
The method direct from Natalie
Blitz 100g stoned Medjool dates and 75g peanuts in a high-speed food processor (MyJuicer has a good selection to choose from) for 10 seconds, or until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl, and add 50g oats, 50g desiccated coconut and 2 tablespoons of runny honey. Mix well until evenly combined. Using slightly damp hands, roll the mixture into bite-sized balls, then roll half the balls in two tablespoons of desiccated coconut and the remaining in two tablespoons of oats. Refrigerate for at least an hour, or preferably overnight. Makes 10 balls
I used a hand whizzy blender which made the chopping of the dates and peanuts a bit more of a challenge but I got there in the end! The damp hands is a good tip, as honey is incredibly sticky
How do they taste?
Amazing!! I wanted a little bit of sweetness after a dinner of salmon and noodles (probably too many carbs…grrr) so I had one. It was good. The dates and the honey give it a lovely sweetness. I worked out the calorie value and each ball contains around 135 calories. A much better treat than a Cadburys cream egg or a bowl of sugary cereal.
If you are keen to find out more from Natalie do check out her book, I have made lots of things from it including satay beef and brownies with nuts and ginger on top.
Please leave me a comment with more nutritious and protein rich recipe ideas 🙂
2 Responses
oooo they look so good! Have you tried the Weetabix protein to help with your protein and cut down your carbs? I have those for breakfast and even the texture of them feels healthy (i know that sounds so silly!) 😉 !!!
No I havn’t and I’m going to look into that. I got some really nive protein rich granola from Aldi last week. Loving that.