Oct 4 2016

German Chocolate Energy Bites

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These German Chocolate Energy Bites are the perfect poppable treat when you need a boost of energy and need to satisfy those dessert cravings! Plus they’re no bake!

Let’s face it, we’re busy people. Work, soccer practice, the gym, football games, late meetings, dog groomers, family, friends, last minute bake-sales, dance class, surprise guests… it’s always something. And with that we tend to lean towards convenience when it comes to food or worse, we skip a meal. Now I’ve shared with you numerous times why breakfast is the most important meal of the day so I’m not going to rehash that. Instead I want to talk with you about some options where you’re super limited on time. That’s where Carnation Breakfast Essentials® and Carnation Breakfast Essentials® Light Start™ packets come into play. With them having multiple options and flavors, there’s zero excuse why you can’t have breakfast on the go!

Carnation Breakfast Essentials® offers not only a ready-to-drink bottle but a bunch of flavors as well as a lighter version too! Plus the most important feature..the taste! Let’s be real, I’m a foodie. And this stuff is awesome! Plus I love the fact that it’s so adaptable to recipes as well! Anyone who knows me knows I work a lot…A LOT. It’s a choice I make because I want to make TKW more evolved. However I still need to eat. And since you know I will never do a drive-thru or eat crap food, I cook and bake everything. It’s funny as when the whole internet exploded with the craze of protein balls/energy bites my first thought was “um, this isn’t new… I did this for years” however truth be told the early adaptations eons ago didn’t taste that good. I never thought of making them taste like “real food” let alone cake! Wha?!

Today I’m partnering up with the amazing folks from Carnation Breakfast Essentials® to show you how these delicious drinks and powder packets not only taste amazing on their own but how you can include them into something sinfully delicious while getting the nutrients that they need, especially in the morning to make sure you and your family get a great start to the day. Plus if you’re looking for a lighter, low-calorie option they have that too! And with Carnation Breakfast Essentials® you can pick and choose your flavors from Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, Chocolate Malt or Dark Chocolate. Carnation Breakfast Essentials® Light Start™ packets come in chocolate or vanilla. Since I wanted a lighter version I decided to go with the low-calorie option.

Normally if you’ve made energy bites or protein balls before you’ve more than likely either used peanut butter or some type of nut butter. Well for this recipe I wasn’t feeling that whole peanut butter chocolate marriage. Yeah I know, I love the peanut butter chocolate marriage as well but this time I wanted German Chocolate. Plus truth be told, Mr. Fantabulous doesn’t like pb & choc. Yeah I know, he’s weird but hey he’s sexy so I keep him around. LOL (please tell me you guys know I’m joking about that… well I mean he is super sexy but that’s not why I keep him) *wink*. So anyway, instead of the pb I went with dates.

collage

Have you guys every used dates in cakes, cookies or bites like these? No? OMG they are amazing! Plus dates have so many health benefits. Scientific research has shown they lower cholesterol, are a natural energy booster, help reduce Triglyceride Levels, amazing natural sweetener substitute plus they can boost your bone health. And they taste really great!

When I was making this recipe Mr. Fantabulous was sitting at the kitchen island with me. Actually he hadn’t planned on sitting there but since I needed my food processor put on the counter and can’t lift it due to my stupid bicep tendon tear he had to use his muscles to lift it for me. Then when he said cocoa, coconut and other stuff he decided to stick around to “see if I needed help” which translated into “let me see what I can sneak a taste of while she’s working. LOL

As I’m chopping up the dates he’s looking at them and I can see his curiosity getting the best of him so he asks “So tell me, what is the purpose of those dates in this recipe? What do they ‘do’?” LOL Yeah he asks that. Such an engineer!

If you’ve ever had or touched a date, they are sticky. They are a sweetened naturally and they are STICKY! Making Energy Bites you need that sticky factor and some sweetness. Since I’m not using peanut butter or adding sugar-type items, the dates are the perfect binder for these bites. They, when processed in the food processor, form a paste which leaves you with a fudge-like texture. Now this whole recipe literally took 5 minutes to process, form and roll. My personal preference is once they are rolled in the coconut to allow them to chill out in the fridge for an hour or so. However since he was helping me out and asked me ever 15 seconds what I was making I gave him one.

Now I didn’t tell him exactly what the flavor was. I wanted to see if he could identify it. Any baker would have been able to identify it just by seeing the ingredients (assumingly) however since he’s not allowed to even touch my pots and pans, he’d never know.

He takes a bite and you could see his brain going into full on decipher mode. I could tell, just by looking at his face, he knew the flavor but wasn’t quite sure what it was. Then after the 2nd bite he went “OMG! This tastes exactly like that cake I like you make. You know that German one with the chocolate, pecans and coconut! Wow honey these are awesome!” as he grabbed a 2nd one and walked away. LOL I just laughed and hollered out “They are German Chocolate Energy Bites”. What he said next though caused an issue between us.

He came back in and said “Honey, those are mine. Please put them in the fridge and do not eat them. Please respect this and do not eat them. I want them all. I worked hard on them.” Wait, what??? They’re yours??? You worked hard on them??? You lifted the food processor! I just smiled and said “Fine baby. They are all yours. And since you worked so hard on them, you can clean up your mess!” and I walked away into the one room and turned on the tv. All I heard was “GASP!” LOL

Really I did marry a 6 year old at times. LOL But seriously that’s a huge compliment to me. And yes he shared them… he had no choice *wink* LOL

What’s awesome about these bites is that they are no bake, they taste just like German Chocolate Cake but without all the guilt, they are low in calories and sugar. A typical serving in all honesty is 2. They are rich and filling and perfect for those mornings when you’re running late and just can’t cook breakfast. Instead of reaching for some frozen this or drive-thru that, grab a couple of these energy bites and start off your morning in a delicious, low calorie and low sugar.

So the next time you’re at your grocery store, definitely pick up a few boxes of Carnation Breakfast Essentials®! Now I challenge you.. what flavor energy bites will you make?