Chocolate Chia Energy Balls. Talk about an antioxidant powerhouse! Definitely a great snack coming into spring when we’re all getting outside to enjoy the fresh air and outdoor activities. These energy balls are packed with awesome ingredients like cocoa, chocolate, peanut butter, puffed rice and a boost of extra protein. These make a great snack and are 100 calories a ball. So you can enjoy one (or a few!).
There are lots of flavors and textures in here too. Crunchiness from the chia seeds, with a chewy center and a sweet coating of chocolate! This recipe is very flexible and you can switch around ingredients if you wish. You could use oats instead of the puffed rice, or heck, even corn flakes or granola.
Here’s what the Chocolate Chia Energy Balls looked like before they went for a bath in delicious Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate.
The kind people at Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate provided me with some bars to play around with to come up with a new recipe. If you haven’t tried Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate before, it tastes amazing, and I also love that their chocolate is fair trade.
I wanted to break the norm and use some flavored chocolate to coat the balls in. So for half the batch I used the Maya Gold, which is a dark chocolate with orange and spices, and the Butterscotch which is milk chocolate with some delicious toffee bits hidden inside. But really, you could use whatever chocolate you prefer.
Once the balls got a little bath in chocolate, and rolled in chia seeds, they went to the fridge to harden a bit (which only took about 5-10 minutes).
I recommend you store these in the fridge, or for a longer shelf life…in the freezer. Out of the fridge they are chewy, fudgy and delicious. If I had to describe them, I’d say they’re a cross between a cookie dough texture and a truffle.
Want to experiment with some Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate for yourself? Be sure to “like” my Facebook page as I’m posting a giveaway for 5 bars as soon as the recipe posts 🙂 {Canada-only entries please}
I hope you enjoy this recipe! It couldn’t be easier as its no-bake!
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup honey (or agave, or I used Nature's Hollow sugar-free honey)
- ½ cup natural peanut butter (or coconut oil)
- ½ cup whey protein, chocolate (I used Allmax Natural Chocolate. Could also use a vegan protein or omit and add extra puffed rice)
- 1 cup puffed rice (I used Nature's Path. Could also use gf Rice Krispies, or oats)
- 2 x 100 gram (or 3.5 oz) Green & Black's Chocolate Bars. I used ¾ of Butterscotch & ¾ of Maya Gold
- ½ cup chia seeds
- In a bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, honey, peanut butter and whey protein with a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Once combined, add puffed rice and mix together with hands until the puffed rice is evenly distributed in the dough.
- Roll into 24 balls
- Melt chocolate bars. I did mine in the microwave. I broke into pieces and microwaved for 30 seconds, then stirred, and microwaved for 30 more seconds until just melted.
- Dip each ball in the chocolate letting the excess drip off.
- Once its dipped in the chocolate, roll in the chia seeds.
- Place on a cookie sheet or plate lined with parchment paper.
- Put balls in the fridge to allow the chocolate to harden.
- Keep stored in the fridge or freezer in a sealed container.