One of our new favorite snacks is peanut butter balls. I got the idea from a recipe in Wondertime; I think they called them Power Balls. The original recipe called for chocolate chips, and while I am always trying to up my chocolate intake, I want to keep it out of the boys, so I don’t add them. Stir together one cup of peanut butter and one cup or honey (or less – I’ve been trying to reduce the honey so it’s less sweet, and I’ve been able to make it work with 3/4 of a cup). Stir in three cups of oats, a few tablespoons of ground flax seed, and some raisins. Roll them into balls (wet hands help). If you put them in the fridge then they’ll dry out a bit and get less sticky. I just keep a big bowl of these in the fridge and the boys (and Dave and I) eat them all day. Protein + fiber + omega + a little sweetness so you think you’re getting a treat = a winner. If I put them in Henry’s lunch (but heavens no not in his snack) then I know he’ll eat something.
Great Balls of Peanuts
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If all the grocery stores in the world register a jump in PB and honey sales, we’ll know why. I just made these and added grain-sweetened chocolate chips (without which I know this snack would not be eaten in my household) and they ARE really good. Thank you!
Tell me more about these grain-sweetened chocolate chips. Can we pretend they’re health food?
I pretend they’re health food because I buy them at Whole Paycheck. They of course don’t taste half as good as real chocolate chips, but they do the trick. I actually went in today looking for carob chips but didn’t find any–perhaps didn’t look hard enough.
Ok, now, I don’t think I’ve had carob since approximately 1991. Is it worth our time? Does it still taste kind of like chocolate mixed with bark and a little bit of vinegar for flavor? Isn’t it better to just have actual real chocolate, especially now that we can use the whole antioxidant thing as an excuse for eating it?
Yes, and ditto for the grain-sweetened chips. Might as well get the real thing.
By the way, I ate one of these as an on-the-run breakfast today, meaning to eat a yogurt and muffin, etc., later. But you know what? Not an iota of hunger. They’re pretty filling.
roll them in (unsweetened) coconut, and I bet you can reduce the honey even further.
From another version, called “Goodie Balls”: 3 oz cream cheese, 3 tbs pb, 2 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp dry milk, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, 2 tbsp chopped nuts, 1/2 cup coconut. Roll in wheat germ or coconut. Refrigerate or freeze. I think this was from the Tightwad Gazette, about a million years ago.
Ooh, I’ll try rolling them in coconut, that’s a good idea. For some reason I can’t get my mind around Goodie Balls (I think it’s the cream cheese and pb combo I’m having trouble visualizing) but I will definitely try them, since all the ingredients are favorites here. Maybe a year from now my refrigerator will be filled with bowls of various balls, and I’ll say, “Remember when we lived a ball-free life? How dreary it was…”
That would be dreary indeed. I’m going to try those balls, Julie. And I’m going to eat them with the lights on.
I just made these: http://www.recipezaar.com/137725 w/o the flax and though they are less healthy than the peanut balls, my sugar-friendly kids might actually eat them. Will attempt to serve as dessert tonight. They’re really just those no-bake Missouri cookies w/a little bit of wheat germ.
Those Recipe Zaar ones sound amazing! Though I have to admit I’m afraid to try them, because I think our regular peanut balls might get rejected if suddenly I offer a chocolate version. Maybe I will make some for dessert, though, so they can be viewed as an entirely different animal.
Isaac and I made them yesterday, complete with -gasp- REAL chocolate chips! Maybe that’s why he wouldn’t nap yesterday and woke up and wanted to get into bed with us at 3 am. But they are so yummy, I don’t think I will make them again for a while. I feel myself expanding. They were pretty much my breakfast, lunch and after-dinner dessert.
I think there’s a direct correlation between when I started making the peanut balls and when my post-Zuzu weight stopped coming off. But they are so good and tasty and yes, sometimes all I have for a meal. Plus I might possibly be addicted to them.