Great news friends – we’ve brought a new food contributor to the MPMK team and she’s got TONS of healthy family-friendly recipes she’s ready to let us in on.
Jen’s not just about food, though. Over on her own space, The Chronicles of Home, she shares all aspects of her life as a self-described wife, mom, cook, DIYer, and decorato, turning our house into a home one day and one project at a time.
Today she’s sharing with us a tasty new way to get the kids in the kitchen AND to help keep everyone’s energy up all day long…
If your kids are anything like mine, the “I’m hungry” chorus starts singing every afternoon around 3:00. We can get into a little bit of a rut with afternoon snacks – fruit, yogurt, goldfish crackers, repeat – so I’m often brainstorming for new ideas.
I recently came up with this easy energy bites recipe, loaded with good-for-you seeds, almonds, oats, and coconut.
I simply tossed everything into the food processor and minutes later we were all happily rolling energy bites in shredded coconut…and doing some sampling along the way.
I know a huge part of my love for good food and cooking comes from times spent in the kitchen with my mom when I was a girl, so I really love having my daughters in the kitchen with me. I think it’s so good for them to be part of the process of making a snack or a meal, and they appreciate the eating of it that much more when they’ve helped make it.
Energy Bites
makes about 30
- 1 c. almond butter
- 1/4 c. oats
- 1/2 c. unsweetened shredded coconut, divided
- 3 dates, pitted
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp. dark chocolate chunks
- 2 tbsp. pumpkin seeds
- 2 tbsp. sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp. slivered almonds
Put almond butter, oats, 1/4 c. coconut, dates, and vanilla in the bowl of a food processor. Process until well blended. Add chocolate chunks and pulse until chocolate is in smallish bits. Add pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and almonds and pulse to combine.
Place remaining 1/4 c. coconut in a shallow bowl and drop tablespoonfuls of the dough into the bowl. Roll balls in coconut to coat. Transfer to a sealed container and store in the fridge.
The finished energy bites keep beautifully in a closed container in the fridge – I know they’ll last a week but can’t vouch for beyond that because they’ve never lasted that long for us!
The variations on this base are practically endless. Add in any seeds, nuts, or dried fruit you and your kids love. I decided to use almond butter as the base but you could go with peanut butter, sunflower butter, cashew butter – again, whatever you love.
If you use a sweetened nut butter base, I’d leave out the dates, though. We don’t want any crash-and-burn afternoon sugar highs.
Hope these give you and your little ones a boost to get through to dinner time. Happy snacking!
Looking for more healthy snack ideas? Be sure to check out our 23 Healthy Homemade Kid Snacks.
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