Superfood Snack Bites
Happy Valentine’s Day week! <3 To celebrate, I have a recipe for superfood snack bites!
It’s fun to look back and think about how I’ve spent different Valentine’s Days throughout my life: as a little kid, carefully analyzing which boy got which Valentine; in high school, watching sappy movies with my best girlfriends; a college date night with my best friend since the Pilot was deployed; our Valentine’s Day trip to One Ocean in Jacksonville; and now, with my sweet little Livi valentine. We have a fun day planned, and I’m pretty excited about it.
Even though I get that it ranks middle to low on the “awesome holidays” list, I’ve always been a of a fan of heart day. I’ve also always been legitimately obsessed with all things chocolate, so how could heart-shaped boxes of the good stuff do me wrong? That’s right. They can’t.
In honor of the upcoming holiday, I knew there had to be at least one chocolatey recipe on the blog this week.
Superfood Snack Bites
We’re eating through the stuff in our pantry as preparation for moving, so the giant bags of superfoods and usual staples will be creatively used for the next few weeks.
When I saw the hemp seeds and goji berries, I thought that they would make awesome snack bite components. I love the nutrients and gentle crunch of the hemp seeds, plus the boost of antioxidants from the goji berries. Add in a little chocolate, almond butter, chia and sweetener, and these little bites were a dream come true.
They were also a great emergency snack while we were at the vet today. Caroline and Bella needed check-ups, so Livi and I took them to their appointment this morning. These little snack bites were the perfect little snack before lunch.
Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Superfood Snack Bites
A sweet and slightly crunchy snack, full of healthy fats, antioxidant power, fiber and protein. Make some to enjoy throughout the week!
- Prep Time: 10
- Total Time: 10
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup almond meal
- 1/4 cup almond butter (or any nut butter)
- 4 tablespoons hemp seeds
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 2 tablespoons goji berries
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- pinch of sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- 1. In a small food processor, pulse all ingredients until a soft dough forms.
- 2. Using a melon ball scooper, scoop the mixture into 8 even servings and using your hands, roll into balls.
- 3. Place in the fridge to slightly harden, about 30 minutes.
- 4. Enjoy as a filling and delicious snack bite! Store covered in the fridge for up to one week.
Notes
- Don’t have goji berries? No worries– any dried fruit will do!
- Feel free to substitute the maple syrup with another sweetener of choice. 2 tablespoons of pure honey would work well, too!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
Some more of my favorite Valentine’s-appropriate desserts:
–Raw chocolate tart (possibly my favorite dessert EVER)
–Grain-free chocolate chip cookies
–Chocolate orange goji berry clusters
Are you making anything fun this week?!
I’d love to hear any Valentine’s Day stories, too! Any particularly memorable heart days?? I’ll never forget the night I threw a party with 15 girlfriends since all of our husbands were deployed. It was amazing.
Have a wonderful afternoon. <3
xoxo
Gina
I have everything in the cabinet except the hemp. Any substitution ideas?? I want to make these tonight!!
any chopped nuts or seeds would be lovely!
Great, will try sunflower seeds. Thanks!!
These look delicious!!! We are planning on a pretty low key valentine’s day since we are on a pretty tight budget!
I can’t wait to try these snacks! I recently watched Giada on the FoodNetwork make a pork tenderloin with a chocolate rub and a chocolate-tomato sauce to pour over it. It’s just strange enough, I think I have to try it!!
I always completely forget about Valentines day – except to send my sweet niece and nephews cards and V-day stickers. Otherwise, as a single gal who’s okay with her singleness, I let it pass or use it as an excuse to wear pink (any excuse to wear pink is a good excuse in my book!). ๐
These look delicious!!!!!! Perfect V-Day treat ๐
Those look SO good! I love making nut bites that I can keep in the freezer and easily have on hand for a quick snack.
Yes I just bought some hemp seeds so I have everything to make this! Admittedly, Valentine’s Day is kind of my least favorite holiday ever. I call it “Singles Awareness Day”. Even when I’m in a relationship, I just don’t care for it, but I did get asked out by a cute Australian guy on Valentine’s Day when I was 17 (I was studying abroad there at the time) and then when I was 21, my boyfriend who I’d met while studying in Greece sent me a dozen roses, a teddy bear, and a box of chocolates (he was American but went back to spend a second semester in Italy). But I think the best Valentine’s Day I had was one spent in college with my best friend. Our school put on the Vagina Monologues and we got to buy…umm…adult toys (can I say that?) That was a great day! Hope yours with the Pilot and Livi is an awesome one!
haha, you can totally say that! i was going to write about the passion party i had with friends but decided to skip it haha
hope you have a great day ๐
Passion party!!!!! It’s the party that keeps on giving….
Thanks I hope you have a great day too!
HAHAHA. so true!
xoxo
One year the husband (then boyfriend) had kidney stones. CLEARLY we had to change our Valentine’s Day plans once he was released from the hospital. If I could still love him after seeing his “oh shit the morphine is wearing off” face, I knew it was true love. ๐
all of our favorites together ๐ we have been eating chocolate non stop over here
xoxo
YUM!! I’d love to help you clean out that pantry of yours ๐ I actually used up all my chia seeds yesterday, so I’m in need of more!! haha
I just made something similar last week! Me and the BF called them “balls” and giggled like 10 year olds every time.
I told my boyfriend all I want for valentines day is multiple boxes of chocolates and I’ll be good to go. ๐
Yum! I’ve been obsessed with Goji berries after learning they help with fertility ๐ My birthday is the day before Valentine’s Day so I typically get one or the other. Which I used to hate but now, with an almost three year old, isn’t really a big deal. Although my hubby truly tries to make each day special ๐
I love energy bites like these though I always have a hard time not eating the whole mixture in one sitting before even forming into balls ๐ ๐
Valentines Day is not very popular here in Switzerland and most people dislike it, because it is ‘an AMerican thing’ – sad face.
Though this year I will be flying to Spain on the 14th for a 1 week vacation with the man. No complaining ๐
These sound delicious! Thank you for sharing! I just received a sample of the hemp seeds in this month’s Greatist Parcel and I really like them!
So simple and delicious!
I made a similar snack the other day loosely based on your Amazeballs recipe. I have a giant bag of hemp hearts from Costco, so I first processed about a cup of those to make a hemp seed butter (made a lot of butter so that I could save some for another time). Then added the unsweetened coconut, protein powder (vanilla), some unsweetened baking chocolate, and a splash of maple syrup. They turned out great!
How is hemp seed butter? (Taste comparrison to other nut seed butters)
Oh! and texture haha
I don’t know how else to describe the taste other than “earthy”. It is a distinct flavor but not too over powering with the other ingredients. I couldn’t get it super creamy in my food processor even with adding a little bit of oil into it, it was kind of stiff. Not sure if that helps you…
glad i re-read this post, thanks! ๐
I agree with the first commenter. I work for the Air Force and we were told “No hemp seeds” – apparently they can cause you to fail your random drug test. ๐ I’m always so bummed when I see new recipes and they include hemp seeds. Will nuts or seeds always work as a substitution?
I made those almond butter brownies last week, and loved them! They are definitely on the menu for some Valentine’s Day treat!
These look SO good. I love goji berries but have never tried hemp hearts. Do they have the consistency of a mini puffed rice?
I love these kind of snacks! They’re great to make on the weekends and take to work with me during the week. These look super healthy, but so flavorful. Great recipe!
What’s amazing is that I have EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT for this recipe in the pantry downstairs! Even better, the color of the gojis is perfect for V-day. Def making these for this weekend, thank you!!
I work for a florist and this is our busiest time of the year. I will be pulling a 16+ hour work day on Friday! But I wont have to do it again until next year! I do love how everyone seems to be nicer around V day. I’m from Boston so we aren’t generally the nicest people, but V day brings out the best in even the toughest Bostonians
These look yummy! How many does it make?
8 balls
I always scatter chocolate kisses and mini candy bars all over our kitchen island and breakfast bar before my kids wake up on V Day. Then we enjoy chocolate with breakfast before school!! <3
what a fun idea! copying you ๐
This looks awesome.
let me know if you try them ๐
these look so yummy!
any substition for almond meal (i just dont have it); maybe can i use almonds since they will get chopped in the processor?
definitely! oat flour (ground oats) or shredded coconut would work, too
Look good!
I have almost of these ingredients! I think Iโm just missing the chocolate chips & goji berries. I never know what kind of chocolate chips to buy though; whatโs a โhealthyโ chocolate, if such a thing exists, lol? Dark, I know, but I donโt want something full of junk/oil/fillers.
I like to check out the ingredients. Trader joes has great dark choc chips!
Figured TJ’s would be best! I was just there on Sunday, and of course forgot to check those out. Wouldn’t be such a big deal, but I live in Canada ๐ Thankfully, it’s only about an hour away so hopefully I’ll be back soon!
I’ve been wanting to make these snack bites since you posted them and finally did it tonight. I didn’t have maple syrup, so I used agave nectar. These are seriously amazing!!! Thank you for posting this healthy recipe.