Monday, May 11, 2009

Recipe: Raw, No-Bake, Agave PB Oat Cashew Etc Balls

This recipe doesn't really have a name since I just made it up, but these little treats taste AWESOME and you can make them with whatever nuts/berries/additives you have on hand. I'm going to share it with you and I hope you like it, because it is super easy to make in a vehicle, very healthy (as long as you don't eat the whole batch in one sitting!), and you don't need an oven or a stove. Just a mixing bowl, a spoon, and maybe a fridge or a cooler to help them harden. They are delicious, though, straight out of the mixing bowl, which is how I am eating them, without refrigeration. These are guaranteed to become my new, perfect, on-the-road snack treats.

These are basically little gooey peanut butter balls - only better - because they don't use white sugar... I instead used "Wholesome Sweeteners" brand Organic Blue Agave, which is an agave plant-based sweetener that is sweeter than honey, but very low on the glycemic index (making it safe for diabetics or anyone watching their sugar intake). These really aren't very sweet because I only used 1 Tbl. of Agave in my batch. Feel free to use a little more if you want them sweeter.

Mix together:

1/2 cup (heaping) chunky peanut butter (refrigerated natural kind)
1 Tbl. Agave Nectar (add another little bit if you want the end result to be a little sweeter)
a good handful of quick-oats (I think I sprinkled in a little extra)
a heaping scoop of chocolate protein powder
2 Tbl. chopped cashews (raw, unsalted)
1 Tbl. shredded coconut
a dash of cinnamon
1 cap-full of real vanilla (not that imitation stuff)
1 Tbl. water (or a little dash more if needed)

The mixture should be thick and kind of sticky. Is it too wet? Add some more oats, some ground flax seed, some wheat germ, or something else that is dry. Is it too dry? Just add a little more water. I wouldn't add more agave nectar, though, if it's too dry because then the whole batch might end up way too sweet.

Re-mix and then use your hands to roll it into tiny balls (I think my batch made 14) and either start eating them or put them in the fridge to let them harden a bit.

The cool thing about this recipe is the fact that it doesn't make a whole bunch - just enough to satisfy a little sweet tooth. You can also add dried cherries, chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, goji berries, raisins, sesame seeds, basically whatever you've got on hand that you think would be delicious in a peanut butter ball. Don't have agave nectar? Try it with a little maple syrup, honey, or black-strap molasses instead. Mmm. Happy Snacking.

4 comments:

Red Icculus said...

Sounds like Goo Balls that I used to eat at Grateful Dead shows. Something tells me they had "extra" ingredients in them compared to yours. lol.

Gwen said...

Yummy! Thanks for the suggestion to use Blue Agave as a sweetener. I've been desperately seeking a sugar substitute but not an artificial sweetener.

FALIA REVIEWS: said...

Red Icculus - lol, yeah, mine were lacking any "special" ingredients... :)

Ginger - yes, definitely give Agave Nectar a whirl! Also, another natural sweetener you should check out is Stevia. Stevia is an herb that is sweeter than sugar. It is a bit easier to cook with Agave instead of Stevia, but many people figure out ways to cook with it as well. Here's a Stevia link with some info: http://www.stevia.net/ :-)

Unknown said...

I have sent your articles links to all my contacts and all of them liked it including me as well.
glock-doc.com