No-Bake Energy Bites by Lynne

Today we have Lynne over from 365 Days of Baking. Yes, she baked for a full year and posted about it on her blog. Now that the year is over she keeps on going, lucky for us, because she has some wonderful recipes to share. Like the No- Bake Energy Bites she brought over today. Say Hi to her on her blog and/or Facebook page.

Hi everyone, my name is Lynne and I am the writer, photographer and recipe creator of the blog 365 Days of Baking.  First of all, a big thank you to Andrea for asking me to share today with you.  It is both an honor and a privilege to be here!

I began my blog on January 27, 2011 as a way to challenge myself while being a full-time mom.  Previously, I enjoyed being in the kitchen and was “ok” in my baking skills, but never really had a passion for it.  I really enjoy writing, so I thought starting a blog would nurture my creative side while at the same time preserve family recipes for our children and other family members.  Little did I know…

My blog seems to have taken on a life of its own.  It has grown into so much more than I ever thought it would and finally I have found my passion.  Now I know what I want to be when I grow up!  If you had told me five years ago where I’d be right now, I probably would have laughed at you – me, in the kitchen, creating, cooking for others, writing about it and LOVING it??!!  Yeah, right!  But I am and loving every minute of it.  My family loves it, too!  We are eating healthier, spend a lot less money eating out and enjoy trying new foods.  I also have a rolling pin rating system that I use for everything I make and the family has really enjoyed giving me their input either good or bad.

I have three children.  My 15 year old son is on his high school’s cross country team and our 20 year old daughter has recently started doing triathlons after running for the same cross country team in high school.  Needless to say, they are concerned about what foods they are putting into their body and now like to eat healthier snacks.  So, when I found this recipe at gimme some oven, I knew they would love them.

And that they did!

They were SO darn easy and the best thing was that I didn’t have to use the oven!  I did make some changes however to the original recipe according to what I thought my family would like.

No-Bake Energy Bites – makes about 25 1-inch balls

1 cup old fashioned oats

2/3 cup toasted coconut

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup flax seed meal

1/3 cup dried cranberries, chopped

1/3 cup raw almonds, chopped

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

Place all ingredients into a large bowl.

With a rubber spatula, mix ingredients together until thoroughly combined.  You could use your hands since you’ll be rolling the dough anyway, but I thought it was just too sticky when first combining the ingredients to do so.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls.

Easy peasy!

Store in an air-tight container.

I rate everything I make on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and these No-Bake Energy Treats earned 4 rolling pins!

They were delicious, extremely easy to make, and are sweet treats we can eat quite a few of without feeling guilty.

I will definitely be making these again and again and experimenting with different ingredients.  My son said he wants chocolate chips in them next time.

I do store them in the refrigerator because we live in Arizona and the weather is still a little warm out here.  I noticed if they were left on the counter too long they were too soft for our liking.  Everyone agreed that they liked them better cold.

I don’t think they’ll last very long in your house – they didn’t here!

Thank you again, Andrea for allowing me to be here and a big thank you to you for taking the time to read!

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!

Lynne