Its been hard to ignore the new trend of ‘healthy snacks’ that have been gracing the shelves of every shop I walk into these days. From large grocery stores, to corner shops to even (yes I have seen it with my own eyes) off-licences! The shelves are packed with them, all different kinds and brands. I have tried some of them and they have been pretty nice, but on my Slimming World diet, they are still quite high in Syns (between 7 and 12). This for me is quite high and on reading more about the shop bought bars, they all seem to be incredibly high in sugar. Now, I’m not opposed to eating sugar in the slightest… I have heaps of it every week eating chocolate and ice-cream and other varying junk food… but to me, if I am going for a healthy snack, I would prefer it to be full of nutrients and natural sugar, rather than sweeteners and additives.

So I have put together 2 of my own recipes for healthy, nutritional and filling Energy Balls. Both are Slimming world friendly, although they contain syns and are quite small they definitely curb the sweet tooth cravings and keep the hunger pangs at bay all while being super good for you!

Please let me know if you try them out, I’l love to hear how you got on 🙂

 

Chocolate Salty Energy Balls

These Energy Balls are perfect for a chocolate cravings. Although they appear small, they are quite dense, and can be eaten in 3-4 bites. Packed full of Oats they will keep you fuller for longer, and will give you a slow release of energy. Dates provide the natural sugar hit, while also being a good source of fiber, which will aid your digestive health and magnesium which is a natural anti inflammatory. Lastly the peanuts will keep you fuller for longer with their high fat, fiber and protein content. These Energy Balls will tackle both you sweet and savory cravings 🙂

Ingredients:

(Makes 12 balls, 4.5 Syns each)

120g of Rolled Oats

2 tbsp  of Cacao powder

60g of dried Dates (3-4 pitted)

20g of Peanuts

2tbsp of PB2 (powdered peanut butter)

3tbsp of Sweet Freedom Choc Shot

1tsp of Vanilla essence

1tsp of Salted Caramel essence (optional)

sprinkle of salt

Method:

Chop up dates and place in a small dish, just cover the dates with boiling water (a couple of Tbsp) and leave to soak.

Blitz 90g of the rolled oats into a powder (I use my nutribullet, you can use a food processer or similar).

Add last 30g of Oats and roughly blitz so there are chunky pieces in the oats mix, and put into a mixing bowl.

Roughly blitz the peanuts and add to the oats.

Add 1 tbsp of Cacao powder, the vanilla and salted caramel essence and 3 tbsp of choc shot to the oat and nut mix.

Take your soaking dates, empty the dates including the water into the food processor with the PB2 and blitz into a paste, then add to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients.

Take a Wooden spoon and mix everything together evenly so it forms a dough like consistency (you may need to get your hands dirty… get in there and mix it good!)

Once all the ingredients are mixed together take a spoon and divide into 12 balls, It may not look like you will get 12 but you defo will! Spoon some mix into the palm of your hand and roll into a ball (about the size of a ping pong ball).

Lastly, put the last tbsp of Cacao powder into a small dish, place each ball in the dish one at a time and roll around until it coated. Once all the balls are coated sprinkle with some table salt, refrigerate and enjoy all week!

Fruit and Nut Balls

These are so tasty! Full of energy, fibre and protein from mixed nuts, sweetness from the dates and figs and containing the Superfood that is Gogi Berries. These little berries are full of vitamin c and antioxidants, they are great for your skin and will help boost your immune system, they are also low in calories, fat free and packed with Fibre. The extra almonds will help regulate blood sugar levels, reduce hunger and are known to aid weightloss **eaten moderately**

**I also think 1 of these can be used as a HexB as all the ingredients are HexBs in their own right and each Ball amounts to 6 syns… I will have to check with Slimming World HQ though.

Ingredients:

(Makes 12 balls, 6 Syns each)

90g Rolled Oats

75g of Mixed Nuts

60g of dried Dates (3-4 pitted)

25g of dried Figs (1)

20g Gogi Berries

40g of ground Almonds

2 Tbsp of Sweet Freedom Fruit Syrup light

30g of Chia seeds

Method:

Chop up dates and fig and place in a small dish, just cover the dates with boiling water (a couple of Tbsp) and leave to soak.

Blitz 60g of the rolled oats into a powder (I use my nutribullet, you can use a food processer or similar).

Add last 30g of Oats and roughly blitz so there are chunky pieces in the oats mix, and put into a mixing bowl.

Roughly blitz the mixed nuts and gogi berries and add to the oats.

Add 20g of Almonds to the oat and nut mix with the 2 sbsp of Sweet Freedom fruit syrup.

Take your soaking dates and fig, empty the dates and fig including the water into the food processor and blitz into a paste, then add to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients.

Take a wooden spoon and mix everything together evenly so it forms a dough like consistency

In a small dish mix the last 20g of ground almonds with the chia seeds

Note: this mixture will be quite soft, so I suggest spooning the mixture into your hand, again about the size of a ping pong ball, lightly round with your palm and place in the almond and chia seed mix. Take a pinch of the Almond mix and sprinkle on top of the ball to cover, and gently roll in the mix to cover, once covered remove and shape properly in your hand.

These are better refrigerated over night and eaten soon after removing from the fridge due to their softer consistency.

Enjoy,

PinkLadyxo