Easy No Bake Protein Energy Bites

Ingredients

• 1 cup oatmeal – can use Gluten Free (GF)
• 1/3 C chocolate chips, coarsely chopped or (GF by Enjoy Life mini chips)
• 1/2 C toasted shredded coconut *I also rolled balls lightly in coconut
• 1/2 C peanut butter
• 1/4 C almond butter
• 1-2 scoops chocolate protein powder
• 1/4 C Honey or Agave
• 1/4 C ground flax seed
• 1/4 C hemp seeds
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Put vanilla, nut butters, and honey in bowl and stir up. I use my hands to mix well. Add all other ingredients to bowl and mix thoroughly. I mix by hand.

Roll it into small balls on wax paper.  Recipe makes 12‐15 balls. Can freeze for several days.
NOTE: If the mixture is not moist enough to form a ball add a few drops of water to mixture.

Substitution ideas can abound for just about any of these ingredients! Feel free to substitute in your favorite nut butter (almond butter, sunflower seed butter, etc.) for the peanut butter. And you could also add in some wheat germ or chia seeds in place of some or all of the flax-seed. I would caution, though, against substituting agave nectar for the honey, as the honey’s thickness helps hold mix together.

Some other fun substitutions for the chocolate chips (or an addition to them) could include:

• chopped dried fruit (apricots, dates, raisins, etc.)
• dried berries (cranberries, cherries, etc.)
• chopped almonds, pecans, walnuts, or sunflower seeds
• other chips (butterscotch, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, M&Ms, etc.)
• other grains (different kinds of oatmeal, rice cereal, etc.)