Deliciously Ella’s Ultimate Energy bites: gluten free, vegan

Ella from Delicioulsy Ella is running a competition to win one of 5 Chirstmas hampers.  To enter you must make one of her recipes and post a picture of it onto her Facebook wall.

I knew straight away I wanted to make the Ultimate Energy Bites, and dress them up for Christmas.  They would make a great Christmas gift wrapped up in a cellophane bag tied with a ribbon, or in a cute gift box.

They aren’t exactly detox food, as they are made with medjool dates – dried fruit is off the menu – but if you are going to have a splurge, these are far better than diving headfirst into a handful of Christmas chocolates.

I weighed out some of the quantities, and changed up the recipe slightly to make it a little more festive.  So here’s my take:

Deliciously Ella’s Ultimate Energy bites

For the original, see here Deliciously Ella’s Ultimate Energy Bites

• 180g medjool dates (with pits in)
• 100g cashews
• 65g walnuts
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp mixed spice
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp raw cacao powder
• 1 tbsp spiced rum, or Christmas liqueur of your choice

For the decoration

• coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla protein powder (optional)
• pumpkin seeds
• dried cranberries/goji berries/cherries

1. To make the energy balls simply add the cashew nuts, walnuts, flax seed and chia seeds in a food processor and pulse until the nuts have crumbled.
2. Pit the dates and add them along with the rest of the ingredients and blitz until a stick dough forms.
3. Roll the mixture into little balls and place in the fridge.
4. To decorate melt some coconut oil – I added a little vanilla protein powder to make it more opaque.  Take each ball and dip half into the coconut oil.  Working quickly, insert, or top each with two pumpkin seeds to represen the holly leaves, and a dried cherry/goji berry/cranberry to represent the holly berries or cherry on the top.

Tagged: cashew, Christmas, Christmas gifts, coconut oil, Delicioulsy Ella, energy balls, energy bites, Gluten-free diet, mixed spice, walnut