These oat quinoa energy bites have been a favorite in our household for a long time! I was first introduced to them when I was breastfeeding Finn and have worked on “perfecting” them the past few years. I will warn you though: these are addictive!!
Because of my chronic pain, I’m also committed to creating meals that are anti-inflammatory – packed with inflammation fighting foods and devoid of foods that cause inflammation. To read more about this, check out my post Anti-Inflammatory Meals for the Whole Family.
Pin for later!
One of the things I love about this recipe is that it’s very easy to substitute ingredients when you need/want to. For example, if you’re in the mood for a fruitier bite instead of a chocolatey one, you could add dried cherries or cranberries. If you don’t have chia seeds, but you have hemp seeds, you could use those instead. Or if you want to increase your iron, you could add blackstrap molasses. To make these into “lactation” bites, you could add a tablespoon of brewer’s yeast. You can easily remove the coconut flakes if you’re not a fan or trade the honey for pure maple syrup. This is a very flexible recipe!
I love to give these to new mamas or pregnant friends because they’re SO great for those early nursing days. They’re calorie AND nutrient dense, which is perfect for those middle-of-the-night hunger pangs that you get as a breastfeeding mom of a newborn.
Enjoy!!
If you’re looking for simple anti-inflammatory meals that you can make on a weeknight for the whole family, check out my 7-Day Anti-Inflammatory Diet Meal Plan & Guide!
No Bake Energy Bites
Ingredients
- 1 cup oats dry, quick cooking
- 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
- 1/4 cup flaxseed
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1/2 cup coconut flakes
- 1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup peanut butter or other nut butter
- 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- dash salt
Instructions
- Cook quinoa and allow to cool. (Refer to instructions on your quinoa's packaging but typically quinoa cooks with one part quinoa to two parts water. So for one cup of dry quinoa, boil two cups of water. Add quinoa to boiling water, cover and reduce to simmer. All to cook for 15 minutes.)
- In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together: oats, chia, flax, coconut flakes, chocolate chips, dash of salt.
- Combine peanut butter and honey in a microwavable dish. Microwave for 15-30 seconds or until the peanut butter is easy to stir. Add vanilla into peanut butter/honey mixture.
- Mix together dry ingredients, peanut butter/honey/vanilla, and quinoa. Once combined, put the mixture into the fridge for about 15 minutes or until it cools down enough to roll into balls.
- Roll into 1-inch balls and store in the fridge or freezer.
Notes
- If you only have chia or flax (but not both) you can sub one for the other. You could also use hemp or other ground/fine seeds.
- Warming up the peanut butter just makes it easier to mix together. It will melt the chocolate chips a bit (which I prefer) however, if you don’t want this you could wait to add the chocolate chips once you’ve mixed in the peanut butter and it’s cooled.
- You could also substitute the chocolate chips for dried fruit such as cranberries, cherries or chopped dates!
- I’ve used both creamy and crunchy peanut butter and love it both ways!
- Optional: if you love coconut, you could roll the balls in the coconut flakes at the end. Yumm!
No Comments