Cherry Vanilla Energy Bites

Nourish your body, mind, and spirit with these Cherry Vanilla Energy Bites, full of nutritious ingredients that will also satisfy your sweet tooth! I know you love this flavor combination as evidenced by your response to my recipe for Vegan Cherry Vanilla Parfait!

Cherries are such a wonderful thing in the summertime. In fact, we have a neighbor with a cherry tree and I can see the cherries already coming to color. Sometimes she let’s me pick a few so I’m excited to see a bountiful crop unfolding.

But let’s talk about vanilla. Because I‘ve been such a chocoholic in my life that I’ve oftentimes disregarded vanilla. As the infamous Inspector Clouseau says, “Not any more.”

I just want to say for the record that the opposite of chocolate is not vanilla. In fact, chocolate and vanilla live on a delightfully delicious spectrum together! I just wonder why it’s taken me so long to discover that.

So lately I’ve been a little more into vanilla and all I can think is…what took me so long!  There’s something so perfect about the flavor profile and it combines so nicely with other flavors…like cherries!

Don’t you like how that worked together?

How to Make Cherry Vanilla Energy Bites

These energy bites are so easy to make and yield such nutritious little bites, you’ll want to make batch after batch. With the hot summer months on the horizon, no one wants to be firing up the oven to make cookies. And besides, if you’re working out and breaking a sweat, you’ll need something a little more nutritious than normal.

That’s where these energy bites come in.

Here’s the cool part, they’re so easy to make. All you do is combine the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until you get the right consistency. Then roll them into balls and roll those balls into your topping and voilà! You have delicious energy bites!

There’s only a few ingredients involved in this recipe, and that makes shopping so much easier.

Also, I’m using the Aloha Vanilla Bean Protein Powder to give these energy balls a little extra dose of protein-infused nutrition. I really love the flavor of Aloha Vanilla Bean Protein Powder. It’s made with plant-based pea protein which is great because it doesn’t have an aftertaste like some protein powders I’ve tried.

Also, Aloha products are full of lots of great things your body needs and they’re free of GMOs, gluten, soy, dairy and anything artificial. All their products are plant-based and organic.

Almost just as important, Aloha protein powder products are now sold at Target stores nationwide! I love having healthy ingredients so accessible!

We hope you love these Cherry Vanilla Energy Bites as much as we do! If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a photo and share it with me using #namelymarly on Instagram or even SnapChat (I’m @namelymarly there). We love seeing your photos!

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Cherry Vanilla Energy Bites

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

With just a few ingredients, whip up a batch of these Cherry Vanilla Energy Bites and in no time you'll be fueling your body with pure power!

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8

Calories: 196 kcal

Author: Namely Marly

Ingredients

• ½ cup raw almonds
• ¼ cup sunflower butter*
• ½ cup Aloha Vanilla Bean Plant-Based Protein Powder
• ½ cup dried cherries
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup agave nectar or honey
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes**
• 2 tablespoons dried cranberries+
• 1 tablespoon sunflower butter*

Instructions

1. Place the almonds in a food processor and pulse for a few moments until the almonds are broken up into small pieces.
2. Add the sunflower butter, Aloha protein powder, dried cherries and maple syrup (or agave or honey). Pulse until combined and nuts and cherries are broken into smaller bits. You may need to push down ingredients from the side of the food processor and pulse again.
3. Roll into balls, pressing the mixture between your hands to seal everything together. Place each energy bite onto a plate.
4. After all the balls are rolled, place the coconut flakes and dried cranberries into your food processor bowl (don't bother cleaning it out, it's all good stuff). Pulse until the coconut and cranberries are broken into small pieces.
5. Spread a little bit of sunflower butter over an energy bite ball and then roll it in the coconut/cranberry topping. Repeat with each ball.
6. Store in a lidded container in the fridge.

Recipe Notes

* If you don't have sunflower butter on hand you can substitute peanut butter. ** I used unsweetened coconut flakes, but you can use sweetened if you don't mind the little bit of extra sweetness + I used cranberries for the topping because they add a brighter color profile than dried cherries, which are darker in color

Nutrition Facts

Cherry Vanilla Energy Bites

Amount Per Serving

Calories 196 Calories from Fat 90

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 10g 15%

Saturated Fat 1g 5%

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 70mg 3%

Potassium 90mg 3%

Total Carbohydrates 17g 6%

Dietary Fiber 2g 8%

Sugars 9g

Protein 9g 18%

Vitamin A 5.4%

Vitamin C 0.3%

Calcium 5.2%

Iron 12.7%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Enjoy!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Aloha. I partnered with Aloha to bring you one of my favorite recipes with protein powder. All opinions are entirely my own.  Thanks for supporting the brands that help make Namely Marly possible!