Strawberry Cashew Energy Bites
These energy bites are loaded with dried strawberries and collagen for an easy, raw, bite-sized, naturally sweetened snack! No baking required, gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free. Try my coconut lemon poppy seed bites next.
I've been trying to perfect a certain recipe lately, but I've been failing repeatedly and I think I'm going to shelve that one for a while.
You ever try something so many times it just stops seeming like it's worth it? Yet, you know it's completely achievable so you feel bad for quitting? But you know if you try again and fail you'll probably throw your mixer through a window?
Yeah, that's where I'm at with that one right now.
So, while I put that aside, I decided to work on some more energy bite recipes. They're so easy to make, and so easy to customize, that I felt like it was basically an easy win to get me out of this rut. And guess what – I was right! And so the strawberry cashew energy bites were born.
To be completely fair to myself, I didn't just make these because they're easy. I made them because I need healthy snacks around the house, and I've had a killer craving for all things strawberry recently.
Real talk: I'm at the heaviest weight I've ever been as well as the most bloated, and I'm not happy about it. I've very, very not happy about it. I've been trying to pinpoint why, and there are a few things I've been taking into consideration:
- I don't commute to work anymore. I've been working from home since last Thanksgiving, so I've lost about 2 miles of walking time I used to have going from house –> boat –> office, and back.
- The stress of the wedding wore off. Mind you, I feel like I had a very easy time planning our wedding compared to the horror stories I've heard from others, but still – planning a wedding is an emotional investment (and a financial one – woof), and that kind of stress tends to make me lose weight.
- I've been regularly consuming kombucha. I've debunked this one. The original thought was that the calories and sugar content might be throwing me off, but I've been drinking the same amount as I have in the past. A bottle of what I normally drink has 35 calories and 5g of sugar, and I usually don't have any other sugar unless I splurge in a few bites of ice cream in the evening.
I also only tend to drink half a bottle during a day, and it's not an every day occurrence. So, this likely isn't the cause for the weight gain. Plus, I've found that it really helps my gut health and keeps me regular, so I'd hate to get rid of it for that reason alone.
- The winter put me in a cardio slump. To be perfectly honest, I didn't do a ton of crazy exercise leading up to the wedding. I did some more kettle bell exercises than usual, but I really didn't do any additional yoga or running.
I think the stress factor leading up to the big day helped offset my lack of extra effort in the exercise department. So now that the stress is gone and I still wasn't amping up my cardio, my waning metabolism has caught up to me. It's harder than I anticipated to run in my neighborhood during the winter.
Since we're on the ocean, when we get snow, there's nowhere for the plows to put it so it ends up on the sidewalks and then, boom. No sidewalks. I'm not comfortable running in the street when cars may not be able to see me around snow piles, so my exercise regimen turned into yoga only and it's clearly just not enough. - PCOS is a bitch. I've talked about it before, but if you're not familiar with the medical side of my life, I have endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). With it can come acne issues, depression, hair loss (and hair growth in awkward places) and weight gain.
I've been having all of those problems as of late, so there's a good chance that I'm experiencing some hormonal fluctuations and it's throwing my body out of whack. - Someone has been injecting me with Marshmallow Fluff while I sleep. This is an unlikely scenario, but I'm not ruling it out.
Now that the weather is finally improving, I'm getting out to run more often. I'm also decreasing the amount I'm eating by about 25%. I already have a tendency to only eat half my dinner and then save the rest for lunch the next day, but I tend to eat a lot at breakfast and snack. I'm going to dial it back on breakfast a bit, and I just need better snacks.
The stuff I've been snacking on isn't unhealthy, but most of them were pretty calorie or carb heavy. I miss my 20something year old metabolism so much. RIP.
So, peace out heavy snacks – these strawberry cashew energy bites are swooping in to save the day.
Guys, they're so good. I'm so glad I came up with these. They're moist, but not heavy. They're filling, but not indulgent. They're sweet, but not in a toothache kind of way.
And since it's natural sugars from the medjool dates and freeze dried strawberries, I don't feel bad about it. Like anything though, you need to keep fruit consumption to a reasonable level because of their natural sugars – so don't sit down and eat the entire batch of these, k? K.
It's the perfect snack to help curb a craving for something sweet, and won't destroy my diet. I let my husband know that I was doing photographing them and they were “fair game”, and he gave a casual “Okay, thanks” from the living room.
Half an hour later, I see him next to the fridge and he says, “I really like these!” I said, “Oh good! So you had one?”
“… three, and this is my fourth.” [scurries away]
How many balls does this recipe make?
The recipe below makes 15-20 balls, depending on how big you make them. I use a small cookie scoop (aff link) to portion mine, and I end up with 18-19 each time. So if you want to double up so you have enough for a larger household, it's easy enough to do.
If you wanted to, you could roll these in desiccated coconut, crushed pistachios, or maybe even some freeze dried strawberry powder! All you'd need to do it pop whatever you're using in your food processor and pulse it into fine crumbs or powder, and roll away.
Or maybe some raw cocoa powder. Or drizzled with chocolate! Okay, maybe not the last one since that will sort of defeat the purpose of me making a good-for-me snack.
Don't those strawberries look like a trail of rose petals leading to deliciousness? It's so romantic… if you're me, and your idea of romance is food.
I admit, they kinda look like little meatballs. But no, they are not meatballs. And no, you should not put them on pasta and cover them in sauce.
I'm all for creativity in the kitchen, but that's just wrong.
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Strawberry Cashew Energy Bites
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 pitted dates, or about 1 cup, pitted and moist
- 1 cups freeze dried strawberries
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 tablespoon collagen peptides, I use Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- Water, as needed
Instructions
- Place parchment paper or a non-stick silicone mat on a baking sheet. Set aside.
- Make sure your dates are pitted and moist. If needed, soak them in hot water for about 10 minutes to soften them, and then drain them before adding them in the next step.12 pitted dates
- Combine dates and strawberries in a food processor, pulsing until chopped and somewhat combined.1 cups (236 ⅗ g) freeze dried strawberries
- Add cashews, collagen, vanilla and salt and pulse until you have a relatively fine crumb that is moist and combined. If it seems too dry, add water (1 tablespoon at a time) and pulse again to combine. You should be able to squeeze the mixture in your fingers and have it all stick together.1 cup (129 g) raw cashews1 tablespoon collagen peptides (aff link)1 teaspoon pure vanilla extractPinch saltWater
- Use a small cookie scoop (aff link) or tablespoon to scoop out the mixture and roll them into balls. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to eat. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is generated by an automatic API and does not take variations across specific brands into account. This information is provided as a general guideline and should not be treated as official calculations. Learn more here.
These were amaze-balls. Pun intended. I love a sweet treat option that doesn’t contain any added sugar (including maple syrup and honey) and that isn’t nut-butter based. Love my almond butter balls but sometimes nice to change it up. These are perfect!
I can’t tell you how happy that makes me! Thank you so much for stopping by to share <3
These look delicious. I am looking for healthier snacks too (fellow PCOS sufferer)
I’m allergic to cashews, any suggestions for an alternative nut I could use to make these? I like and can eat pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, and almonds especially.
I think any of those will work, it will just have a different overall flavor. I like the idea of using macadamia nuts!