Protein squares/balls
This is a very useful snack to have with you at all times. 100% healthy and is made with only dates and honey for sweetness. There is plenty of room to get creative with this in terms of what ingredients you can use. So raid your pantry and try it out using whatever nuts and superfood grains/seeds you have at home. As long as your dry nuts and grains/seeds equal four times the dates (4:1) this recipe will work fine.
Ingredients
Dates – 1 cup
Almonds – 1 cup
Cashews – 1/2 cup
Pumpkin seeds – 1/2 cup
Amaranth seeds – 1/2 cup
Sesame seeds – 1/2 cup
Chia seeds – 1/2 cup
Cranberries – 1/2 cup
Oats – 1/2 cup
Honey – 1/2 cup
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Soak the dates in half a cup of water for an hour. Grind it into a thick purée and set aside. Break the almonds and cashews into 2s and 3s and dry roast all the nuts and seeds and set aside. Dry roast the oats and grind to a powder. In a large pot heat the dates purée, add honey, lemon and salt. Once it has thickened, add the nuts, cranberries and oats and mix well. Pour on to a tray lined with baking paper and pat down with a spatula. Refrigerate for an hour and cut into squares/bars. This is not very sweet. If you want, you can add raisins as one of the ingredients to increase the sweetness.
Alternatively, you could make this into laddoos and then store in the fridge. Makes 30 squares or laddoos.