I bought a bag of chia seeds a couple of weeks ago and attempted to make a chia “pudding”. I hated it. Not to be discouraged I scoured the web and Pinterest and found this recipe. The “carrot cake” flavor was appealing and so was the “energy bites” part…no baking required!

Below are all the ingredients blended up. I found the mix to be a little runny when I scooped it out to form balls so I stirred in a few handfuls of organic fiber cereal (I think I ended up using about a 1/2 cup but I didn’t measure).

I liked the fiber cereal so much that that I ended up rolling the finished balls in it rather than chopping up nuts. If they had been rolled in pistachios they would have been prettier but they taste pretty good like this!

I put them into individual baggies in the fridge and guess what!? They are even better cold. My 10th grader ate one the next morning and liked it so much that he ate another one today.

Carrot Cake Energy Bites

• 1 cup pitted dates (for me this was 10 mejool dates)
• 1/2 cup pistachios (I used pecans because it’s what I had)
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 2 tablespoons flax seed meal
• 1/4 cup pineapple (I used frozen)
• 1/3 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon honey or agave syrup (optional)
• 3 tablespoons chopped pistachios (optional)
• ½ cup organic fiber cereal (plus more for topping)

Method

• In a food processor, process the dates, pineapple and carrot on high for 30-60 seconds until finely chopped.  Add the pistachios, chia seeds, flax seed, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey and salt and process for another 30 seconds. (My mix wasn’t very firm so I stirred in a heaping 1/2 cup organic fiber cereal)  Scooping a tablespoon (mine was 2-3 tablespoons) at a time form into balls and roll in extra pistachios if desired.  Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Recipe from Scaling Back Blog