Easy + Delicious Energy Bites

Hi everyone!  Today I'm so excited to share my first recipe on GretchRuns.  I know that I promised a recipe for egg cups, but I'm still working on that and just had to share this easy and delicious snack.  The eggs will be coming next week, swear!  This one is so great that I just couldn't hold off on sharing!
 

I've been loving Lara Bars during the Whole30 for a quick snack, but they're pretty expensive for having such a simple ingredient list.  I played around with some recipes that I found online and experimented with my own flavors, and made my own!  I decided to make them into balls, because I think they're more fun that way and easier to grab and go.  Today I'll be sharing two varieties, but I'm working on developing more since these are so fun to experiment with!

2 Ingredient Energy Bites

Ingredients:

1 part dates
1 part salted cashews


Directions:

Blend dates until they are a thick paste, and move to a bowl

Blend cashews until they are in small pieces, but still have a bit of texture.  If you're using unsalted cashews, throw in a dash of salt.  Add to bowl.

Mix these two into a paste, and roll into balls.

Refrigerate and enjoy!


For my recipe, I used a half cup of both cashews and dates, and ended up with six large balls, or 12 bite-sized balls.  It's easy to adjust the amounts to make more or less, and it only takes about 3 minutes from start to finish!




I also have a bonus recipe that I like to call "A Bite of the Tropics".  It's so cold and dreary out lately, but eating these tropical flavors transports me to a warm and sunny place.  I love these!

4 Ingredient Energy Bites

Ingredients :

1 lime, juiced and zested
1/2 cup dates
1/2 cup salted cashews
1 tablespoon coconut flakes


Directions:

Blend dates, juice and zest until they are a thick paste, and move to a bowl.

Blend cashews and coconut until they are in small pieces, but still have a bit of texture.  If you're using unsalted cashews, throw in a dash of salt.  Add to bowl.

Mix these two into a paste, and roll into balls.

Refrigerate and enjoy!


This recipe is also easy to adjust to make more balls.  Make sure you add more lime so that flavor really comes through!  If you're not as much of a fan of lime, you don't have to add the juice.  I love how the zest adds a bit of green color, and the coconut is very subtle but delicious.  These are so refreshing!


What's your favorite on-the-go snack?
Do you have any favorite flavor combos?
Who else loves Lara Bars??

linking up with: Meatless Monday with Sarah and Deborah, Meatless Monday with Annmarie, Delicious Dish Tuesday, What’s Cookin’ Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday with Miz Helen, FoodFriDIY,  Foodie Friday, and the Weekend Potluck.