“Energy balls with a Cretan aroma” is a recipe created for the Festival “Days of Gastronomy” which took place for the 4th year in our city of Heraklion. I was called to make a nutritious and delicious recipe together with my little friends, a recipe that had the objective of highlighting the Cretan flavours and making them approachable for kids. And is there something better than carob for that? I don’t think there is! And since even our little friends approved of the carob energy balls, it’s time to share them with you, too! Energy balls with a chocolatey aftertaste, sweet, delicious, requiring few ingredients, and ready in just 10 minutes!
What we are going to need
- Raisins. White Cretan raisins are soft and so sweet. If the raisins you have are hard, soak them for 5–10 minutes in warm water, strain them, and carry on with the rest of the recipe.
- Oat flakes. One of our favourite ingredients and one that couldn’t be missing from the carob energy balls. I prefer whole-grain quick oats.
- Tahini. I always choose whole-grain tahini. For this recipe, make sure that the tahini you’ll be using is thin, runny, and well-processed because otherwise, you’ll need more moisture for the mixture to bind. (You’ll find the tahini we used here, and with the code littlehands10, you can get it 10% off)
- Hazelnuts. They make a truly enchanting combination with the other ingredients! They create that praline taste and will simply make the energy balls soar. Alternatively, you can use any nuts you like.
- Carob powder. You can also use carob flour if you have any, the difference between the two is that one is ground more than the other. Alternatively, you can use cocoa instead of carob powder, or the other way around.
- Carob syrup. An amazing, chocolatey, natural sweetener, suitable for children over 6 months old. However, just like all sweeteners, it’s best to avoid them until the age of 2 years old. Alternatively, you can use honey or petimezi, but the flavour won’t be the same.
- Food processor. To thoroughly grind the ingredients and create your carob energy
Tips
- If your raisins are hard, you’ll need to soak them for 5–10 minutes in warm water, strain them, and then continue with the rest of the recipe.
- Alternatively, instead of raisins, you can use dates or plums, as I’ve written above, but they may also need to be soaked.
- You can store them in the fridge for up to one week, but you can also freeze them.
- They can be eaten right away, but in order for them to thicken up, you’ll need to leave them in the fridge for 2 hours at least.
- You can cover them or let them as they are.
How the little hands can help
- They can add the ingredients (which you’ll place in front of them already prepared and weighed, for smaller kids) and they’ll mix them.
- Older kids can read the recipe or weigh the ingredients themselves.
- Their favourite thing will be forming the carob energy balls. Let them do it and have fun.
- Of course, they’ll help tidy up the kitchen afterwards.
See also
Process the raisins with the tahini and the carob syrup in the food processor into a smooth paste. If you need to, take breaks and remove the mixture from the walls.
Then, add the oat flakes, the carob powder, and the hazelnuts, and mix until homogenous, making sure that no big hazelnut pieces remain.
Form into balls.
Eat right away or set aside in the fridge for 1–2 hours to thicken up.
Ingredients
Directions
Process the raisins with the tahini and the carob syrup in the food processor into a smooth paste. If you need to, take breaks and remove the mixture from the walls.
Then, add the oat flakes, the carob powder, and the hazelnuts, and mix until homogenous, making sure that no big hazelnut pieces remain.
Form into balls.
Eat right away or set aside in the fridge for 1–2 hours to thicken up.
Αυτό το περιεχόμενο χορηγείται με άδεια Creative Commons Αναφορά Δημιουργού-Μη Εμπορική Χρήση-Όχι Παράγωγα Έργα 4.0 Διεθνές .
Το περιεχόμενο αυτού του blog αποτελεί πνευματική ιδιοκτησία της εταιρίας LITTLE HANDS BLW. Συνεπώς, ΑΠΑΓΟΡΕΥΕΤΑΙ κάθε αναδημοσίευση, αντιγραφή ή τροποποίηση του χωρίς την έγγραφη συγκατάθεση της εταιρίας. Εάν ενδιαφέρεστε για το περιεχόμενο του blog, μπορείτε να επικοινωνήσετε μαζί μας για να συζητήσουμε πως θα μπορούσαμε να συνεργαστούμε.
