Chocolate Coconut Flax Energy Bites
I love Larabars as well as most energy ball/bites recipes I have had, and after stumbling across this Cherry Larabar balls recipe from Eating Bird Food that was featured on PopSugar Fitness this morning, and then seeing another for a chocolate coconut variation, I decided to make my own. I love anything with chocolate, coconut, and crunch, and had a headache and was already craving something with a hint of sweet chocolate anyway! These were a perfect, poppable lunch. 
If you have complementary fruits on hand, like dried cherries or cranberries, raisins, or other types of nuts or seeds, feel free to experiment, they’d be great! Also — if you don’t like coconut, these will be just fine without it!
Since I’m stubborn, love to improvise and wanted to make these now but didn’t have all the ingredients on hand to make regular energy or protein balls as they are so named, I found you can easily make energy bites without the need for peanut butter! I didn’t have any agave, stevia, honey or the like in the cupboard either, so I nixed it, and these still tasted great, drawing their sweetness from the applesauce and chocolate chips. In addition, something about the texture and presentation of these reminded me of eating raw cookie dough… which I love to do, so if you have that problem as well, here’s your solution!
- 1 Cup Rolled Oats (Quick Oats)
- ⅓ Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
- ½ cup Plain (or Vanilla) Greek Yogurt
- 3 Tbsp Golden Flax Seeds
- 1 Tbsp Chia seeds
- 2 Tbsp Semisweet Chocolate Chips
- 2 Tbsp Shredded Coconut Unsweetened
- 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- In a food chopper or a food processor if you have one, pulse together the chia seeds, flaxseeds, and about ⅓ of the oats for a few seconds. Add the applesauce and greek yogurt and pulse a few more times to create a thick paste.
- In a mixing bowl, add the vanilla, stir, then the cinnamon and remaining ingredients, stirring until well combined. If you have mini chocolate-chips on hand, use those instead of regular sized chocolate chips as they would work better in this recipe. Your "dough" should resemble a thick cookie dough. It will be very sticky!
- Form into balls about 1 inch in size and chill on parchment paper in the refrigerator 30 minutes. These would also be fantastic dipped / covered in chocolate!
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