Oatmeal Energy Bites

If you know me well, you know not to mess with me when I'm hungry. I go from sorta hungry to "oh-my-goodness-i-feel-fatigue-and-will-drop-over-and-die-now-unless-you-can-feed-me-NOW" in a matter of minutes/seconds. No joke. So to all my  family members or friends that have seen me like that...sorry.

My hunger always catches me by surprise, even though I've always been like this and this is nothing new. I'm always snacking on things so that I don't get to that hunger crazy point.  I do try to snack healthy (baby carrots, and raw bell peppers for ex.), but I tend to go to the crackers, and cookies since they are so much more tastier..so lately I have been looking for a snack that I could eat between meals and would be somewhat filling and healthy, taste good and could curb my hunger craziness (I know a lot of criteria for a snack). But I found IT. Energy Bites. Oatmeal Energy Bites of goodness. No bake, super easy and I love them:

Yes.. I realize lots of bites going on over here (date bites, oatmeal energy bites..) But somehow everything to me always tastes better when shaped into a ball. Take cake balls for instance. Way better than cake. 

When I found this recipe I first knew I had to try it immediately, and second I knew I was going to love it. Now I make a batch of Oatmeal Energy Bites about once a week... we are sort of addicted to them in our household and many friends have asked me to share these addicting bites so here they are!

Ingredients:

*1 cup dry oatmeal (I used old-fashioned style oats, but quick cooking oats would work too)

*1 cup toasted coconut flakes (toasting is optional.. but recommended by yours truly)

*1/2 cup chocolate chips

*1/2 cup nut butter (soy butter, sunbutter, almond butter, peanut butter-- depends what you can have)

*1/2 cup ground flaxseed

*1/3 cup honey

*1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all the ingredients together until thoroughly mixed.  Put the mixture in the refrigerator for a half hour to chill.  Then you can roll the mixture into balls, or mold them into bars, or whatever shape you want.  Store them in an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator for up to one week. Super easy. Super quick.

Depending on how big/small you make the bites this recipe will yield different amounts of Oatmeal Energy Bites. The last batch I made 24.

(recipe from gimme some oven! adapted from Smashed Peas and Carrots)

With my busy schedule I don't always have the time to roll the bites after waiting for them to chill.  For example the last batch I made I didn't have time because I had to get to my night classes (from 4-9pm! fun fun!).  So I mixed all the ingredients together before I left for class, put them in an airtight container and let it chill over night.  I rolled the bites the next morning.

Sometimes I find if you take the desired amount of mixture and squish it into your palm like a stress reliever ball it does two things for you: 1. it  de-stresses you. 2. the bites come together easier ;)