Healthy Protein-Packed No-Bake Energy Bites

I can't believe that it's already been a month since Christmas Eve.
After many years celebrating this special day without my family, we decided to bring back some of those old family traditions that we had when I was little.
Helping my mum to prepare the Christmas dinner, baking delicious gingerbread cookies which then we all decorate together, playing several boardgames at nighttime and fighting over the chocolate coconut bites with my mum.
We both love coconut just as much as we love each other.
Coconut is a traditional Christmas flavour in Hungary so having some flavoured coconut dessert on the table during the holidays it is quite common.
Hungarian coconut balls are one of the most popular desserts during Christmas or Easter.
This no-bake deliciousness contains a high amount of sugar and carbs so my mum and I decided to switch and add some ingredients to make our own healthy and vegan version of it that everybody can enjoy.

To stop yourself snacking high sugary and carby snacks while everyone else around you eat them it is quite a task.
This is why I tend to swap every dessert recipe for a healthier option this way, and I can control my sugar intake, as well as everybody, can enjoy snacking together without any guiltiness.
When I first made this change in our home, I got such an evil eye from Carl when I served the dessert. haha
But once he gave it a chance, he started to enjoy my healthy treats.
Like my vegan ice-cream, click here if you missed the post to read the recipe.

By adding either whey or plant-based protein powder to the usual recipe and switching some of the ingredients up for a healthier option, you can easily create a super delicious, healthy treat from any recipe.

One of the best and easiest healthy snacks you can make is protein balls.
Protein balls are the perfect way to keep your energy level up during the day, not to mention how delicious they are.
So let me show how you can create your own homemade healthy as well as vegan protein balls.

The original recipe:

500gr digestive biscuit
100gr butter
100gr icing sugar
1 pack of vanilla icing sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp rum aroma
100gr shredded coconut
200 ml of milk

Use a food processor to pulse the biscuits to a breadcrumb consistency, pour in the melted butter, icing sugar, vanilla icing sugar, cocoa powder, milk and the rum aroma and combine well.
Once you have a dough consistency with a tablespoon scoop out 1 tablespoon of the mixture and roll in between hands to form a ball.
Pour the shredded coconut in a bowl, and then roll the ball in the coconut.
Place the balls on a tray and refrigerate for an hour or two and then serve.
Store in refrigerator.

Our alternative recipe:

500gr digestive biscuit, but you can use any gluten-free or sugar-free biscuit too
100gr coconut oil
200 ml coconut milk or soya milk
1 tbsp rum aroma
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
100 gr shredded coconut
1 scoop of plant-based coconut flavoured protein powder
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vanilla aroma

To make this healthy alternative recipe, you need to follow the original recipe just with their healthier alternatives.
Use a food processor to pulse the biscuits to a breadcrumb consistency, pour in all the ingredients except the shredded coconut and combine well.
Once you have a dough consistency with a tablespoon scoop out 1 tablespoon of the mixture and roll in between hands to form a ball.
Pour the shredded coconut in a bowl, and then roll the ball in the coconut.
Place the balls on a tray
and refrigerate for an hour or two and then serve.
Store in refrigerator.

Voila, these energy bites are naturally sweetened by maple syrup, and honey contains no sugar.
Even though Carl doesn't like coconut, he loves this recipe because it's super easy to swap the ingredients accordingly to your taste buds.

Try whipping up a batch today, and you'll have a fridge full of healthy protein-snacks for a week.

* collaboration post with Plantaforce
Hope you will enjoy this recipe, if you try it, please tag me on Instagram @delilapipoly or leave your link in the comment below.
P.S: Don't forget to use my discount code: DELILA10 to receive 10% off your entire basket