Trail Mix Bites

I made these trail mix bites for a NYC run today and I received so many compliments about them that I had to add to this post! I made a few versions of these bites and brought them to the Runstreet group run event this morning; we ran 4 miles on the lower east side and took pictures of different wall art around the city. It was such a great workout and afterwards some of us stayed for a strength training workout that was just perfect. I wanted to post the few different ways you can make these bites based on what ingredients you have in your kitchen.


First I made the original recipe that is posted a few paragraphs below. Then I left out the chocolate and made them this way:

1 cup of rolled oats
10 medjool dates, soft or soaked
3 tbsp of a chia seed, flax, buckwheat blend
Blend in your food processor and you get a sticky mixture that you roll into balls. Refrigerate before consuming. Another way to make them is to add peanut butter or any nut butter. If you run out of dates, the peanut butter will hold them together but the bites will be crumbly.

3 tbsp of natural peanut butter
1 cup of oats
As many dates as you have left
3 tbsp of chia/flax mix
Blend well and form into balls. If they are crumbly, freeze them before consuming.

 I made energy bars before and they were awesome. These bites are similar but I made them with a wider array of ingredients. How awesome is dark chocolate? Pretty awesome so it's one of the ingredients.

The summer is winding down and you may feel like reigning in your sweets intake especially since summer is all about ice cream and popsicles. If you have kids, you may feel the need to get them back to eating brain food so luckily these bites are super kid friendly. You can omit the dark chocolate if you want them to be less sugary but dark chocolate has alot of antioxidants and fiber. These take just a few minutes to whip up then you put them in the fridge to set. Love love love these little bites!

I'm a huge fan of preparing meals the night before; this helps with time management and makes for a much more relaxed breakfast the next morning. These bites are great to whip up the night before and storing in the fridge.

Recipe:

2 cups of rolled oats
1/2 cup of walnuts
1/3 cup of maple syrup
2 tbsp of chia seeds
2 tbsp of flaxseed meal
1 serving of a dark chocolate bar broken into small pieces
1.5 cups of dried prunes

Combine all ingredients except the chocolate in your food processor and blend well. Mix in the chocolate then form into balls by rolling in your hands. Store in the fridge to set and serve.