These powerballs make a great little snack or treat. There are two versions…
1. The Chocolate/Peanut Version (pictured):
I recently bought my first bar of unsweetened chocolate (100% cacao)…and to steal vocabulary from my 5-year-old, it tasted disgusting! 
However, in some magical way the combination of ingredients in this recipe below make the cacao taste like “regular” chocolate. I have to thank a 100 Days of Real Food reader for introducing me to a version of this recipe. I would have never thought to put these items together and now we can’t stop eating them!
- ¾ cup tree nuts (I used pecans)
- ¾ cup dried pitted dates
- 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (an all natural PB is recommended – the only ingredient necessary is crushed peanuts)
- 3 tablespoons 100% cacao (unsweetened chocolate bar – Ghiradelli makes one that I found at 2 different grocery stores in the baking section)
Combine all ingredients into a food processor and blend. Form into balls (makes about 10 – 12 depending on size) and serve immediately or keep refrigerated. For a slightly different variation without peanut butter check out the chocolate torte recipe.
2. The Peanut/Honey Version:
This recipe is from a friend of a friend and you can get creative with adding extras.
- 1 cup peanut butter (an all natural PB is recommended – the only ingredient necessary is crushed peanuts)
- 1 cup honey
- 3 cups rolled oats (oatmeal)
- 1 cup of nuts or dried fruit (or whatever your heart desires)
- Crushed nuts, granola cereal or unsweetened coconut
Mix the first four ingredients together thoroughly. Form them into balls (makes about 10 – 12 depending on size) then roll them in the crushed nuts, granola cereal, or unsweetened coconut. Serve or refrigerate.
[...] that will require recipes (which I will include in future posts): Triscuits with homemade hummus, powerballs, and homemade granola [...]
[...] than a minute. (Note: these nuts are also a delicious replacement for the plain pecans used in this chocolate Powerball recipe…just add two teaspoons of water instead of using the peanut [...]
How do I make these w/ no nuts or peanut butter? Do you have any ideas?
Just leave out the peanut butter (similar to this recipe http://thefoodillusion.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/recipe-chocolate-torte-with-whipped-cream-and-chocolate-sauce/) and how about trying sesame seeds or pumpkin seeds instead of pecans? Can Ella have those?
Sunbutter.. it’s made with sunflower seeds. my friend’s son loves it. and, instead of the nuts maybe pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat nuts or banana chips
I just made the first version and they’re very good. They were extremely easy to make. My boys even at them.
Made the chocolate/pb version last night (for a bit of dessert after making your grilled pimento cheese sandwich!), and it was fantastic.
Your daughter was not wrong about the taste of the 100% cacao by itself. (I couldn’t resist tasting it!).
I can happily eat 75% dark chocolate with a smile on my face, but that was just terrible. However, mixed up with the dates, pecans and peanut butter – it definitely works.
Once this batch is gone, I’ll try the oat/honey version. It sounds good, too.
I know the dates work magic with that bitter unsweetened cocoa…the version I am currently addicted to though is this one made into little balls: http://thefoodillusion.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/recipe-chocolate-torte-with-whipped-cream-and-chocolate-sauce/
[...] and last, but certainly not least…the chocolate torte recipe which I like to turn into little chocolate powerballs. I can barely go a day or two without eating a couple of [...]
[...] Peanut Butter and Honey Snack Balls100daysofrealfood.com [...]
[...] Powerballs [...]
TYVM you’ve soelvd all my problems
we have a nut allergy in the house… this tastes just fine w/ sunbutter or soy nut butter.. I also have a friend who calls these “fiber bombs”
Since I love Key Lime Larabars and they are $2.29 EACH up here in Canada, I decided to try to tweek your powerball recips (which I love) and it worked! Here is my recipe.
Lime-Flavoured Power Balls
1 ½ cups dates
¾ cup unsweetened coconut
1 ½ cups raw almonds
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. finely grated lime rind
Juice of ½ lime
Put all ingredients except for lime juice in food processor. Pulverize.
Add lime juice gradually until the mixture forms together. It usually takes about
the juice of half a lime.
Form into inch-sized balls. Refrigerate or freeze.
Enjoy!
Since I love Key Lime Larabars and they are $2.29 EACH up here in Canada, I decided to try to tweek your powerball recipe (which I love) and it worked! Here is my recipe.
Lime-Flavoured Power Balls
1 ½ cups dates
¾ cup unsweetened coconut
1 ½ cups raw almonds
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. finely grated lime rind
Juice of ½ lime
Put all ingredients except for lime juice in food processor. Pulverize.
Add lime juice gradually until the mixture forms together. It usually takes about
the juice of half a lime.
Form into inch-sized balls. Refrigerate or freeze.
Enjoy!
very cool…thanks for sharing!
How do you measure the chocolate? Do you melt it first? I think I may have done something wrong!
Try this recipe instead…it is a little easier to deal with the powdered cocoa. Just make the tortes into little powerball sizes (which is what I do with this torte one which is my favorite): http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/07/17/recipe-chocolate-torte-with-whipped-cream-and-chocolate-sauce/
I never usually comment on blogs, but I just had to tonight. I am on day 2 of my 10 day challenge. I was really craving my usual sweet, so I figured what they hey I’ll try these. I was somewhat skeptical that they would anything better than ok. WOW!! So yummy!! These may have to be a permanent fixture in my house. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Trust me…I had never eaten a date in my life before we started our real food pledge so I know exactly what you mean about being skeptical. But when I was feeling desperate for chocolate I was much more willing to try new things though. And I have done a side-by-side comparison (now that I can have regular dark chocolate again) and I like my chocolate powerballs better! I am so glad it worked out for you as well. Oh and this is the recipe I use the most now (rolled into little powerball sizes): http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/07/17/recipe-chocolate-torte-with-whipped-cream-and-chocolate-sauce/
Amazing!!! This will take care of my sweet tooth! This will also be great addition too my kids teachers gifts!! I will just have to make a lot!!
Gail
LOVE the power balls! I could eat gobs in a setting but limit myself to one……..NOT easy! Thanks for the recipe!
[...] Peanut Butter Ballz (from 100daysofrealfood.com) [...]
These are SO good! I have eaten way too many in the last 24 hours! lol!
I ended up using 2oz(4 squares) of the chocolate bar and just tossed it in the food processor with everything else. Turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!
Love the chocolate ones! And because they hit the spot so perfectly, I am content to eat just one, where in the past I would eat tons of chocolate or candy in one sitting. I tried the peanut butter/honey version last night, and I find them too sweet. Next time I’ll reduce the amount of honey. (Although, I ran out of natural PB, so I used half natural PB and half Kraft PB, which probably added to the sweetness factor.) In addition to the PB, oats and honey, I used raisins, sunflower seeds and unsweetened coconut. Yum!
Just found your website and LOVE it! Made these powerballs today and my oldest (5yr) gobbled it up! Cant wait to try the breakfast cookies and zucchini bread. Keep up the good work–Its nice to not feel crazy because Im trying to do the best I can for my family.
I do not own a food processor (just a magic bullet). I would like to purchase one, but the different parts and gadgets are intimidating and I feel that cleaning all of them would be a pain. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a good food processor that is easily cleaned and with no fuss parts?
With an appliance like a food processor you don’t want to mess around with a cheap or inexpensive version. You get what you pay for and mine, which is Cuisinart, is still going strong after almost 12 years.
Lisa, I’m not a stalker, haha. I just wanted to review the recipes of yours that we have tried, which is quite a few! So….
For those of you who haven’t tried these, do yourself a favor and make one batch. I don’t even want a Snickers after having these. They’re guilt-free and cover any and all chocolate cravings in this house! P.S. For one recipe, I tried raisins instead of dates because the only dates I found are sweetened. However, the raisins didn’t do the trick. I’ll just wash the dates I guess. LOL
I can’t wait to experiment with these. I’ve been thinking of making a homemade version of a lara bar. I have some dried persimmon from whole foods that’s going to have to make an appearance soon.
I just made the oat/honey/PB version and they are yummy! I’m so glad to find an easy snack to give my 2 year old rather than junky crackers or granola bars. I used 1 c. ground flax rather than the nuts so it was easy for him to chew and it worked great! I can’t wait to try the chocolate/date version next…I might save those for myself
Thanks!
I tried the chocolate torte recipe earlier (which was awesome) and decided I wanted to try the peanut butter ones here. I got a bit inspired and changed a few things. I used 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder instead of the chocolate bar, added honey, and a bit of water to make them easier to mold. These are AMAZING. Might have to even give them out for the holidays. This will DEFINITELY help me stay on track with eating fewer processed foods. I just need to learn to stop at eating one or two…
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Just tried these and found them to be wonderful! Thinking of making them for a Christmas cookie exchange…do they freeze well?
I’ve never tried to freeze them before…let me know how it goes!
The chocolate peanut butter was delicious! I used cocoa powder instead of the chocolate, and added some more peanut butter to make it “stick” better. So delicious!
I just made the chocolate-peanut butter powerballs. Delicious! I can’t wait to try out the chocolate torte version that you linked to. Thanks for another great recipe.
When you say 3 tablespoons of the cacao bar, how many squares or ounces is that? I am not sure how much to use! Thanks!! Love your blog!!!
Okay.. never mind on my question above, I used 1 ounce of cacao bar. I can not believe how good they are!!!!!! So yummy!
You really should connect with Pinterest. I especially love finding healthy recipes that I can past on to my friends.
[...] Energy powerballs http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/06/05/recipe-powerballs-two-versions/ [...]
[...] This week I cooked up tons of fun things. I had time to create images of three of those things. Peanut Butter Powerballs, Fried Chicken with pasta (I breaded and fried my own chicken!), and Coconut Banana Bread. [...]
My (continously) hungry boys loved these! We made them with peanut butter, honey, ground up almonds, and coconut. Thanks for posting this!
(Here’s a link to the picture of our powerballs)
http://www.kristiephoto.com/?p=545
[...] is a link to the original recipe . There is also a chocolate version there…haven’t tried it yet! Let me know if you do [...]
hello! My family and I are preparing for a road trip and I was thinking of making these now and freezing them for our trip in 3 weeks. Do you know if these would freeze well? Thx for the recipe!
I honestly have not tried freezing them before…let me know what happens!
I finally got the chance to try out the powerball recipe (the chocolate one, of course!), and it was delicious! Thank you for sharing! We’ve also tried the chicken nuggets, hummus, and cheesy crackers. Having a good food processor really helps! I have been inspired by your food journey and am slowly making changes in my own life and in the eating habits of my family! Thank you!