These sweet and creamy vanilla coconut butter energy balls will satisfy any sweet tooth, perfect for a quick afternoon snack or a healthy dessert! Vegan, Paleo, Gluten Free, Dairy Free
Meet my new obsession. Coconut butter. It’s amazing.
Not coconut OIL, coconut BUTTER.
I make the distinction because before I knew what coconut butter was, I used to think it was okay to use coconut oil in recipes that called for coconut butter. Don’t do this because I promise you the result will not be good. Think of coconut oil like peanut oil is to peanut butter. The oil sometimes separates from natural peanut butter and sits on top of the jar, and it’s the same with coconut butter. Coconut oil sometimes sits on the top of the jar, but underneath is a creamy deliciousness that you can eat by the spoonful!
Like coconut oil, however, coconut butter is solid at cooler temperatures which means you might have to heat it (depending on the temperature of your house and time of the year) to get it to the creamy state you want. Unfortunately, you can’t throw it directly in the microwave because it will burn (trust me I’ve done it), so you have to heat it using the double boiler (baby bottle) method. Heat a jar of water and stick the coconut butter jar in hot water until it melts into a delicious creamy wonder.
I have another post coming soon about ways to use coconut butter, but let’s start with these delicious energy amazeballs, shall we? As you may know, I’m currently on a strict elimination diet due to food intolerances little man is having in my breastmilk. Recently I introduced fish, and that went okay, but nuts were a total fail. (I’ll spare you the details in this recipe post.)
Luckily, he seems to do okay with coconut (classified by the FDA as a tree nut but not by most allergists), and there is only so much sunflower seed butter one can eat. So, I turned to coconut butter for a filling snack. At first, I was eating it straight out of the jar, which was great, but these balls are convenient little afternoon snack ” hunger pinch hitters” for the win. Let me know if you try them!
P.S. You can make your coconut butter or buy it jarred in the nut butter section of the grocery store (or on Amazon, of course)!
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Vanilla Coconut Butter Energy Balls
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut butter NOT COCONUT OIL
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp oat flour for grain free use almond flour
Instructions
- Melt coconut butter if it isn't creamy at room temperature. To melt it, heat up a large bowl of hot water, place coconut butter jar in hot water for 5-10 minutes.
- Combine coconut butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and oat flour (or almond flour) until a dough forms. You may need to add more oat or almond flour because the oil content of each jar will vary slightly.
- Make balls by rolling each ball in hand (I used a cookie scoop to measure.)
- Place in the fridge for at least one hour, then enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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- Peanut Butter Protein Bites
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