Hey, hey, hey!
How are you today? I am good because I have one of my favorite afternoon snacks to share with you. You know I love my balls and today I have some creamy, good for you protein balls! As I said in past I think I just love saying balls! I’m totally weird and maybe a little immature.
These little balls are not only creamy, sweet and delicious, but they also taste like one of my favorite summer time treats orange creamsicles. Mmmmm, creamsicles… Sorry, I have to wipe the drool from the corner of my mouth. But different from a creamsicle, these little balls taste like raw cookie dough and if your like me, I love to eat cookie dough. But at least mine is healthy and doesn’t contain flour or eggs! You can go to school on these bad boys and not worry about raw eggs! However that never detoured me from eating cookie dough, probably most of you feel the same way. Why is that stuff so good?
I made my batch of these balls using my food processor. I used cashews and shredded coconut for the base of my balls. I love cashews they are a wonderful nut to use in sweet treats like this. If you add the right ingredients to it, you can make all kinds of little raw dough balls. Or if your not into balls, you can use it as a cashew nut butter, but as much as I love cashew nut butter, I like my balls better. For the orange flavor I just used some orange extract, but if you have an actual orange you could squeeze it and use the juice in these balls instead. I have one orange left and I am using it for another recipe, so orange extract it was. For the vanilla flavor I used vanilla extract and one tablespoon of french vanilla protein powder. The brand I use is Designer Whey French Vanilla. I buy it at Trader Joe’s, but I do know that Vitamin World also carries it in a bunch of different flavors. If your vegan, you can use a brand like Vega Protein Powder. I believe Whole Foods sells it?
I processed by ingredients in the food processor until it was a thick nut butter. It’s very pliable and you can make all different shapes. I bet you could even roll it out and use cookie cut outs to fun shapes. I’m pretty simple, so I just like to roll them up. After rolling, I placed them in the freezer to harden up a bit then stored them in a freezer ziplock baggie. I like to freeze them so they last. But you can also store them in the fridge.
- 1 cup cashews, lightly salted
- ⅓ cup coconut, shredded, unsweetened
- ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. orange extract
- 1 tsp. maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. french vanilla protein powder
- In a food processor add cashews and coconut process until smooth and creamy (thick peanut butter consistency). You will have to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times.
- Add vanilla extract, orange extract and maple syrup; process until combined. Add vanilla protein powder; process until combined. Taste test to see if it is sweet enough for you, if not add one more teaspoon of maple syrup.
- Line a baking sheet or a plate with parchment paper; set a side.
- Roll the dough into teaspoon size balls. Place on prepared baking sheet or plate. Do the same with remaining dough.
- Place the dough balls into the refrigerator or freezer until slightly firm. Store in an airtight container in the freezer or refrigerator.
These balls are delicious! I love how easy they are to make and I love how healthy they are, not to mention the creamy taste. If you freeze or refrigerate them, let them sit out for a few minutes so they are super creamy and melt in your mouth. The picture above is a ball out of the freezer so it’s a pinch harder, I should have waited for it to softened more, but I don’t have any patience to wait. 🙂
Here is this weeks weekly recap:
Sunday: Fire Grilled Salsa
Monday: Feta Stuffed Tomato
Tuesday: Virgin Sex on the Beach Slushie
Wednesday: Grilled Asparagus with Grilled Green Beans
Thursday: Grilled Herb Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Peaches
Friday: Summer Time Vegetable Pizza Pie
I’m making it short today, lots and lots to do this weekend!
Have a wonderful Saturday!!
Toodles,
Jennifer
P.S. Please vote for my Peanut Butter and Jelly Tart. You can vote everyday and have a chance to win up to $2000 in prizes. Thank you for your help and support. Just go here.
What a great idea and how simple they are to make!
Thanks Cathy! I love these little balls! Great snack to have between lunch and dinner!
Those sound amazing. I love cookie dough so this is for sure my cup of tea. Thanks for sharing.
these look great! can’t wait to try them!
Interesting, I will have to try these
If you do, let me know what you think!