Almond, cherry and orange energy balls
I’ve been making these almond, cherry and orange energy balls for years and many of my clients like them. I love that they are so easy to prepare and keep well in the fridge.
Almonds and cherry go well together, don’t they? These energy balls are effectively like mini cherry bakewell bites…
Why I love those energy balls
They make good kids snacks providing a good balance of nutrients (not in a nut-free school of course).
These almond, cherry and orange energy balls offer balance of sweetness, tartness, crunch and moist. Plus they also contain plenty of protein, lots of fibre, vitamins and minerals. They’re only made with natural ingredients and don’t cost the earth, like some ready made cereal/energy bars.
Did you know that sour cherries are really high in anti-oxidants with anti-inflammatory properties? They have been found to contain melatonin and could therefore promote sleep. It might be worth giving them a go, don’t you think?
Ingredients:
- 300g almonds
- 12 Medjool dates pitted
- 100g sour cherries (I buy mine on Amazon)
- 1 orange zest and juice
- 2 tbsp. chia seeds
- desiccated coconut
Method:
In an ideal world I first soak the cherries in the orange juice and zest overnight but I have done it many times without.
Place all the ingredients in a food mixer and blitz until combined. I like mine to retain a bit of a bite so I just don’t blitz the mixture smooth. Let it sit for 10min in the food mixer so that the chia seeds absorb some of the liquid and glue the mixture together.
Roll into balls the size of a walnut, then roll in the desiccated coconut and keep in the fridge. The coconut doesn’t add much but helps not getting horribly sticky fingers when eating them. If you don’t like coconut you could use sesame or flaxseeds.
