Gingerbread Amazeballs

‘Tis the season for giving,

for memories,

for making our yard look like a light explosion,

for mugs of candy cane green tea while watching “Four Christmases”

for holiday-ifying all of my favorite recipes….

Gingerbread Amazeballs

The gingerbread amazeball had to happen 😉

Gingerbread amazeball

Sometimes it’s fun to stick with the usual snack standbys:

-egg burritos

-salad beast

-yogurt parfaits

-jerky

homemade energy bars

However, when the holidays roll around, I feel inspired to add some seasonal pizazz to my usual rotation. I’ll walk on the wild side and add cranberries with an orange vinaigrette to my salads, fresh roasted chilies to my egg burritos -in Tucson, roasted chilies scream “Christmas!”- and some crumbled cookies into my yogurt parfaits 😉 For amazeballs, the possibilities are endless. I especially love the pumpkin, cranberry orange and blueberry lemon variety.

Gingerbread Amazeballs Protein Snack

I’ve been on a huge gingerbread kick lately, so I thought I’d add some of those spices to my beloved protein-packed snack.

Bonus: you can shape the ballz into adorable little gingerbread folks.

Gingerbread amazeballs on a snowman plate

Cute, huh?!

One lesson I had to learn the hard way: egg white protein is not good for baking or recipe creation. I’ve been loving the Jay Robb egg white protein, but if you try to bake with it or combine it with various textured ingredients, it transforms into a gooey taffy-like substance. It’s best with some type of milk or in my beloved breakfast cookie cereal. For everything else (like these amazeballs), I alternate between Vega and Sun Warrior.

Gingerbread amazeballs

Molasses Makes the Gingerbread

What takes these amazeballs from “spiced” to “gingerbread city” is the addition of molasses. Not only does it yield a warm chocolate hue and sweet flavor, but molasses also has a surprising amount ofhealth benefits.

Molasses

1 tablespoon of molasses will give you 20% of your recommended calcium for the day, 22% the recommended amount of magnesium and about 40% of your iron requirement (source). Molasses is also used as a natural healing remedy for acne, depression, anxiety, chronic ailments and heart palpitations. Nice coincidence that our holiday cookies have some molasses boosts amidst the sugar in what can be a stressful time of year 😉

Hope you enjoy these! If you put them on the holiday tray and let them masquerade as cookies, I won’t tell anyone.

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Gingerbread amazeballs

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A high protein portable snack with holiday spice!

  • Prep Time: 5
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 5 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tablespoons dry ingredient (oats, shredded coconut and almond meal all work well)
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla protein powder (recommend brown rice, Vega or whey protein)
  • 2 tablespoons nut butter of choice
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon molasses
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon each cloves and ginger
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • pinch of sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Pulse all ingredients in a mini food processor until a dough forms.
  2. Using a melon ball scooper, scoop into ball shapes and roll with your hands until smooth.
  3. If you like, flatten the balls and cut into shapes using a cookie cutter 🙂
  4. Store covered in the fridge for up to five days.

Notes

  • Honey works for these, too, but I’d halve the honey and add a little coconut oil. Otherwise, the mixture is too sweet.
  • Instead of cloves, ginger and nutmeg, you can also use 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 2

See ya later with day 4 of giveaways!

xoxo

Gina

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45 Comments

  1. Julie on December 5, 2013 at 11:33 am

    Thank you! I’m on a gingerbread kick now and this is perfect!

  2. Marissa on December 5, 2013 at 11:43 am

    Do you have a recipe for your egg burritos?

  3. Cassie Vaughn on December 5, 2013 at 11:46 am

    Sounds yummy! I desperately need to make something gingerbread or peppermint!

  4. The Delicate Place (@misathemeb) on December 5, 2013 at 11:52 am

    gingerbread is my favorite!! think this might work if i subbed coconut flour for the protein powder? i like to get my protein from eggs/meat and hate the taste of the powders ha. the little g-men are so cute!

    • Fitnessista on December 5, 2013 at 12:23 pm

      i’m not sure.. coconut flour is very thirsty so the texture could be off. let me know how they turn out!

  5. Lisa @ Fresh Spinach on December 5, 2013 at 12:10 pm

    Any excuse to dip into the molasses jar!

  6. Lauren @ The Bikini Experiment on December 5, 2013 at 12:20 pm

    These look great! I love gingerbread cookies and adding the protein powder is such a good idea!

  7. Laurie W. on December 5, 2013 at 12:36 pm

    Love the amazeballs – cannot wait to try these little gems!

  8. FitBritt@MyOwnBalance on December 5, 2013 at 12:41 pm

    These are adorable and so much better than the traditional gingerbread cookie!

  9. Tracy on December 5, 2013 at 12:48 pm

    Perfect timing for me! I need to make some and I’m obsessed with Gingerbread flavors right now!

    • Fitnessista on December 5, 2013 at 3:41 pm

      whoo hoo! me too 🙂

  10. Erica on December 5, 2013 at 12:49 pm

    Gina! These sound so darn yummy!

    • Fitnessista on December 5, 2013 at 3:41 pm

      thank you!

  11. katie on December 5, 2013 at 12:55 pm

    awesome amazeballs recipe! woo hoo!

  12. Ali on December 5, 2013 at 12:57 pm

    Yum! I’ve been on a gingerbread kick too! If I use oats, would you suggest pulsing them down to a powder before adding the rest of the ingredients?

    • Fitnessista on December 5, 2013 at 3:41 pm

      yep, but in a pinch i’ve just thrown everything in there and it works 😉

      • Ali on December 5, 2013 at 4:15 pm

        Thank you! I’m giving these a try when I get home from work!

  13. Abi@AbsofSteel on December 5, 2013 at 1:11 pm

    sounds delicious, I’ll have to try them out once I get my hands on some molasses! that way I’ll have an excuse to make gingerbread cookies while i’m at it 😉

  14. Andrea B on December 5, 2013 at 1:17 pm

    Woohoo – I love all things festive and am so happy you put a healthy spin on one of my weaknesses! I can’t wait to make these!!

    • Fitnessista on December 5, 2013 at 3:40 pm

      :)! hope you love them!

  15. char eats greens on December 5, 2013 at 1:19 pm

    These sound AMAZING!! I love the comment about the light explosion on your lawn too haha!! So true!

  16. Laura at FitMamaLove on December 5, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    Theses sound so yummy and are adorable! Seems like a lot of sugar, though.

  17. Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs on December 5, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    I’m obsessed with gingerbread flavoured things this season! So these amazeballs sound…amazeballs! 🙂

    • Fitnessista on December 5, 2013 at 3:40 pm

      thank you! let me know if you try them 🙂

  18. Brynn on December 5, 2013 at 1:43 pm

    Yum! Why is it that holiday-ified eats seem so much better?! Can’t wait to try these GBB. And thanks for the heads-up on the egg white protein!

  19. Sarah on December 5, 2013 at 2:18 pm

    Sounds yummy. You inspire me to pursue healthy habits. I’m on a (permanent) health kick 😉 I’ve been mostly eating clean foods, and feel good. I told my Husband it wasn’t about how I look, it’s how I feel. Then, wait a minute…I’m totally lying – scratch that. Lol. But, I DO feel good. So, thanks for the extra push & motivation. My body thanks you.

    • Fitnessista on December 5, 2013 at 3:39 pm

      thank you so much, sarah!
      hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season <3

  20. Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl on December 5, 2013 at 3:43 pm

    These sound like the absolute best snack for the holiday season. I am pumped to try them out since I am pretty much obsessed with all things gingerbread-related right now!

    • Fitnessista on December 5, 2013 at 3:58 pm

      me too! they make an awesome, healthy little snack 🙂

  21. Amanda @ .running with spoons. on December 5, 2013 at 3:46 pm

    It may be the holiday season, but I’ve been on the BIGGEST molasses kick lately. I got hit with a random craving a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been looking for different ways to get it in. These look delicious, Gina… Thanks for sharing!

    PS — love the ones shaped like gingerbread men!

    • Fitnessista on December 5, 2013 at 3:58 pm

      thank you! 🙂
      loving molasses lately, too!

  22. Alex @ Kenzie Life on December 5, 2013 at 4:17 pm

    I have a whole thing of molasses just waiting to be used…these look like a great little snack before a light workout too!

    • Fitnessista on December 5, 2013 at 4:17 pm

      definitely! hope you love them 🙂

  23. J on December 5, 2013 at 5:17 pm

    So no nut butter in these at all?

  24. Debbie on December 5, 2013 at 5:49 pm

    These sound so good. I have also been on a big gingerbread kick lately. Last year it was peppermint that I could not get enough of.

  25. Olivia at ohmy Olivia on December 5, 2013 at 5:52 pm

    These are SO adorable! xo

  26. Livi on December 5, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    yum please!!!

  27. Katie @ Talk Less, Say More on December 5, 2013 at 9:21 pm

    Mmmmm…..yum!

  28. AmyC on December 7, 2013 at 8:32 pm

    I adore gingerbread! Yum! Thank you!

  29. Kirby on December 8, 2013 at 7:49 pm

    Gina!

    Thanks for the recipe. I do think the proportions might be a bit off? I was surprised to see there were 2 tbsp of sweetener in the recipe (maple syrup + molasses) because your usual amazeballz recipes have 1 tbsp of sweetener… and then when I had blended it all together the dough was too sticky and wet to mold into amazeballz! I wonder if the recipe is more like 1/2 tbsp of molasses and 1/2 tbsp of maple syrup?

    Kirby

    • Fitnessista on December 8, 2013 at 10:33 pm

      i did 1 tablespoon of each and it was fine— sorry it was sticky for you! i’ll recheck. did you add more dry ingredients?

      • Kirby on December 10, 2013 at 10:37 am

        No need to apologize at all! I ended up doubling the protein powder, oats, and almond butter and it was all good. Thanks again for the recipe. It was delicious.

  30. Leah O on December 10, 2013 at 5:27 pm

    Just finished making/eating these. SO GOOD. Thank you!!

  31. Liz @lizziefit_ on December 11, 2013 at 8:14 pm

    Oh God yes! I’ve been loving your amazeballs for years – mainly the original version – but now a festive edition? Count me in 😀

  32. Bekah on December 13, 2013 at 8:55 am

    These are delicious! I made them yesterday, with the help of my 3 year old, and I wanted to just eat all of the dough ;). It tasted like raw molasses cookie dough, so I felt like I was eating something naughty. Great flavor. Thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂

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