I can’t decide if these little coconut frosted, grain-free energy bites were inspired by my trip to Hawaii or this weekend’s blizzard on the east coast. These dairy-free bites are a perfect portable snack to keep you going while hiking along a Hawaiian beach or shoveling your way out of your house.
Either way, these are a great alternative to the store-bought energy or protein bars that are often packed with sugar. It’s amazing how much sugar is in some of the “protein” bars. In my opinion, most of them are only slightly better than a candy bar. But . . . off my soap box and on to better things!
For more grain-free snacks and treats check out my gluten-free banana-blueberry muffins, healthy banana cupcakes recipe, and my gluten-free vegetable spring rolls with dipping sauce.
Energy Bite Ingredients
Sweetener – There is no refined sugar in this recipe. I have used coconut palm sugar and coconut nectar as the sweetener. The coconut nectar syrup also helps to bind them together. If you can’t find it, agave or honey for non-vegans can be a good substitute.
Cashew Butter – The cashew butter gives these energy bite richness and makes them satisfying. It also helps to hold them all together. Cashew butter can be quite expensive, so if you’re on a budget, use unsweetened peanut butter instead. If you have a nut allergy sunflower butter is a good option.
Roasted Chickpeas – You can find these crunchy chickpea snacks in many markets. The Good Bean is a great brand. If you can’t find them, you can make your own by roasting canned chickpeas like this:
- Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans. Spread them out on a kitchen towel to absorb any excess moisture.
- Lay them on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes at 400ºF. Remove the pan from the oven and stir the chickpeas to shift them around the pan then roast 15 minutes longer.
Store these grain-free energy bites in the refrigerator.
Grain-Free Energy Bites
These easy no cook energy bites are a perfect quick snack to keep you going for a work out or hike.
Ingredients
- 1 cup roasted garbanzo beans* (The Good Bean or Chic A Peas are good brands)
- ⅔ cup unsweetened shredded coconut + 3 Tbsps for coating
- ½ cup cashew butter
- 2 Tbsps coconut palm sugar
- 1 Tbsp Coconut Secret Raw Coconut Nectar or agave
- 1 Tbsp flax-seed meal
- 2 tsps cinnamon, add 1 more tsp if you love cinnamon
Instructions
- Place the roasted garbanzo beans in the food processor and run for about 20 seconds or until there are no big pieces. It does not have to be completely ground to dust but all the beans should be broken in small pieces at least.
- Place the ground beans in a mixing bowl and stir in the ⅔ c shredded coconut, coconut palm sugar, flax-seed meal and cinnamon.
- Add the cashew butter and coconut nectar syrup and stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened. If the mixture seems dry, add another tablespoon of cashew butter and a teaspoon of coconut nectar.
- If you have a kitchen scale, place the bowl on it and pull out 1 ounce of the mixture and gently roll into a ball. Without a scale you can eyeball about 2 Tbsps of mixture per ball.
- If your hands get very sticky, give them a rinse after rolling a few. This will make the process easier.
- Roll the bites in the remaining shredded coconut (optional). These work best if stored in the refrigerator.
Notes
*Note: Do not use raw dry beans. The Good Bean and Chic A Peas are cooked, then roasted.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1 ozAmount Per Serving Calories 164Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 0mgSodium 37mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 3gSugar 6gProtein 5g
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated using information from the Nutritionix database. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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