Chocolate Chip Oat Energy Bites

I made these bites after I saw a fellow blogger's recipe on Instagram (Carrie from www.carrieonliving.com). I love following her posts and her blog is super informative, check it out! Anyway, I bought dates and dried cranberries and just went to town with some raw desserts. I made these bites with dates and also with half dates and half dried cranberries-my personal favorite are the bites with the dried cranberries and no peanut butter (yes sometimes I DO get sick of pb!)

I've been eating these all day and there are only two left. They are an awesome snack especially when you're craving sweets. Everything in them is good for you, the only slight sugar rush would be from the chocolate chips but you can put as many as you want in or just eliminate them altogether.

These are simple, just throw everything in your food processor, hand mix in the chocolate chips, roll and refrigerate. Amazingly easy and a great way to stock up on a snack that you can have around for days. As long as you keep these bites refrigerated, they keep for a while, just store them in an airtight container.

As with all recipes like this, add more ingredients than I did. Use this recipe as a base and build from it.

10 dates, pitted or 5 pitted dates and 1/4 cup of dried cranberries
1/2 cup of rolled oats
2 tsp of vanilla extract
2 tbsp of hemp seeds
1 heaping tbsp of coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup of dairy free chocolate chips
2 tbsp of peanut butter (optional)

In your food processor, add the dried fruit, rolled oats, vanilla extract, and hemp seeds (and peanut butter if you're using it). Melt the coconut oil and measure out the chocolate chips. Turn your food processor on high, process on high and add the melted coconut oil. The mixture will become sticky and clumpy. Hand mix in the chocolate chips, roll the mixture into balls and refrigerate in an airtight container. This recipe made about seven bites.

You can use 5 dates and 1/4 cup of dried cranberries to give the bites a different taste. You can also add 2 tbsp of peanut butter. You can add water instead of coconut oil but the mixture will be a little different. I think coconut oil really brings recipes together and helps to bind the ingredients. Add flax seed or chia seeds too or other nut butters. Also, click on the link above that says join my mailing list to get my newsletter delivered right to your inbox!