Trail Mix Energy Date Balls

A healthy, deliciously addicting grab and go snack, made with dates, nuts, peanut butter, dried fruit, and spices, all the great things found in a bag of trail mix. 

But first…. coffee and an energy bite.

I prefer to work out in the mornings, if I can, so I don’t lose motivation throughout the day. Before I work out, there are two things that I need to ensure I have a productive workout. 1. Coffee…of course. It wakes me up and helps keep me energized throughout the workout. 2.  A small, healthy snack. If I do not consume some food, I won’t work out as well. I literally will get hungry during my workout and be so fixated on what I am going to eat when I am done, I rush my workout. My husband can wake up and immediately go for a run, no coffee, no water, no snack. I just cannot do that! What can say, I like to eat. And food is fuel!

But, I don’t like to eat anything too heavy before a workout because if I am too full, my workout will suffer. I try to consume something with protein, healthy fats, and a little bit of carbs to sustain me throughout the work out and keep me performing my best.

I have found that a lot of pre-made granola bars tend to be chalked full of sugar and mystery ingredients. It always shocks me when I look at the ingredient list of some granola bars because there is such a long laundry list of ingredients. My rule of thumb is to try and avoid any store-bought product with a ingredient list 3 lines or longer (when it is this long, a lot of the ingredients are things I cannot even pronounce and have never heard of…a telltale sign it is not that good for you).

Therefore, I prefer to make my own healthy workout snacks because I can control what I put in them. One of my favorite pre-work out, grab-and-go snacks is energy date balls. They are made with wholesome, natural ingredients and there are a million fun flavor combinations you can try.

My new flavor-combination obsession is my trail mix energy date balls. It has all the fun, delicious items you find in a bag of trail mix all rolled into one delicious treat.

Let’s get to cooking.

This treat is extremely easy to make!

Put most of the ingredients, dates, nuts, peanut butter, honey, coconut oil, cinnamon, and sea salt, in your food processor and blend until the ingredients come together and form a coarse sand. Next, add the dried fruits and chia seeds, a pulse a few times until those ingredients are fully mixed in. I add the dried fruits and chia seeds at the end because I wanted the fruit to stay mainly intact (and not too pulverized).

Next, use an ice cream scoop or small spoon to scoop out about a tablespoon of the mixture. Rolls the mix between your hands to form balls. You should be able to make about 12 small balls.

Finally, allow the balls to set in the fridge for about an hour. This allows the coconut oil to harden and keep the balls in tact.

That’s it. Your delicious workout snack is done and ready to be enjoyed!

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Warning: these date balls are deliciously addicting. You may just eat them throughout the day, even after your workout is long complete. But no need to feel guilty. This snack is totally good for you – made with all natural, healthy ingredients. No mystery surprises here. Just real deliciousness.

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Trail Mix Energy Date Balls

A healthy, deliciously addicting grab and go snack. 

Course Snack

Prep Time 20 minutes

Servings 12 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dates pitted
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil melted
• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chia seeds

Instructions

1. Add all of the ingredients to a food processor (except chia seeds and dried fruit). Set food processor to high blend and mix until all the ingredients break down and resemble a course wet sand. 

2. Add in chia seeds and dried fruit. Pulse until the ingredients are well incorporated and the dried fruits breaks down slightly. 

3. With a small ice cream scoop (or small spoon), scoop about a tablespoon worth of the mix and rolls in between hands to form small balls. Repeat this step until all the mix is used. It should create about 12 balls.

4. Allow the balls ti set up in the fridge, for at least an hour. 

5. Serve and enjoy! 

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