Strawberry shortcake energy bites

{vegan and gluten-free!}

Helloooooo. How’s the morning going?? Don’t forget that there’s still time to enter this awesome White Plum giveaway, and your special discount code expires in 2 days!

Hope you’re enjoying the day so far. After being away for a while, it’s always nice to be home with my favorite people and back in the routine. I took Sunday off from the gym, and was needing it after the various workouts at IDEA, but was back to business as usual yesterday. I can already tell I’m going to be sore from the latest BODYPUMP release. I think my favorite track is the triceps track, and even though I’m so so sick of the song (“Lips Are Movin’”), I think it’s a great balance of my favorite triceps exercises. This release may be my favorite since 89. <— I loved that one.

So today, I have a new recipe for you! It’s a version of my beloved amazeball, with some new ingredients… and it tastes like cake.

Strawberry shortcake energy bites  1 of 1

Energy bites aren’t the most attractive food. They’re a jumble of pantry ingredients, rolled into a sphere for convenience sake. According to my Instagram friends, the latest one looks like a turtle? (Which make me laugh so hard I choked a little on my LaCroix.) Ok, so even though they aren’t the prettiest, they taste pretty gorgeous, and make you feel good, too. I’m always about a snack that gives me an energy boost from natural sugars, in addition to satisfying healthy fats and protein.

For the strawberry flavor, I used these crispy freeze-dried strawberries from Trader Joe’s.

Freeze dried strawberries  1 of 1

They yield a summery burst of strawberry flavor, but if you don’t have them on hand, feel free to add dried fruit or chocolate chips instead.

On the other hand, I highly recommend keeping the almond extract if you have it! This is what gives it that delightful cake-ish flavor.

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to give them a try!

WINE  BEER

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Strawberry Shortcake Energy Bites

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A delicious and satisfying snack option! It’s perfectly portable and tastes like a beloved summer dessert, with a boost of healthy fats and protein.

  • Prep Time: 5
  • Total Time: 5
  • Yield: 6 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/4 cup freeze-dried strawberries
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/4 cup oats (use gluten-free oats for a gluten-free version)
  • 3 pitted medjool dates
  • 2 tablespoons of your favorite vanilla protein powder (can use almond meal instead)
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Instructions

  1. In a food processor, chop all of the ingredients until a dough forms. Using a melon ball scooper or your hands, shape into 6 spheres.
  2. Store covered in the fridge for up to one week.

Notes

  • No freeze-dried strawberries? No worries. Try a dried fruit you love, chocolate chips, or another freeze-dried fruit.

Nutrition stats are here.

What’s your snack today?? I’ll be having one of these crumbled onto some plain goat greek yogurt.

Hope you have a lovely morning and I’ll see ya later today on the Family page.
xoxo

Gina

More amazeballs recipes:

The classic never dies

Brownie batter protein bites

Peanut butter cup

Cranberry orange and cashew butter and jelly

Bliss balls

Workout challenge: this barre squat burner! It’s short, but will set your legs on fiiiiire. 

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36 Comments

  1. Erin @ Her Heartland Soul on July 21, 2015 at 7:35 am

    Ohh this sounds yummy! I need to try making it!

  2. Morgan @ Morgan Manages Mommyhood on July 21, 2015 at 7:38 am

    These look so goo! They kind if remind my of the costing on those strawberry shortcake ice cream bars the ice cream man sold when I was a kid!

  3. Sagan on July 21, 2015 at 7:47 am

    Interesting recipe, thanks for sharing! Have got to get back into making energy bars / balls…

    I LOVE almond extract. It brings out such a gorgeous, decadent flavor to anything.

  4. Annette on July 21, 2015 at 8:33 am

    Can substitute the coconut? I do not like coconut at all:)

    Thank you in advance

    • Fitnessista on July 21, 2015 at 8:48 am

      sure- you can probably use more oats instead!

  5. Amber @ Busy, Bold, Blessed on July 21, 2015 at 8:46 am

    My snack today is fresh watermelon 🙂

  6. Jennifer @ Tri Stuff I Like on July 21, 2015 at 8:49 am

    Yum! These look tasty! We were obsessed with energy bites for a while, but then we got burned out on them. I think we might have to give these a shot, especially since the recipe only makes six!

  7. Annette on July 21, 2015 at 8:54 am

    My snack today is fresh blueberries.

  8. Amy Ramos on July 21, 2015 at 8:59 am

    I think I will try these this weekend. Yum.
    my snack today will be cocoa dusted raw almonds and a fuiji apple.

  9. Amanda on July 21, 2015 at 9:35 am

    So I’ve been away from BODYPUMP for about 2 months now (was easing back on exercise a bit) and decided to try out the new release on Sunday. I made the mistake of using my regular squat weight and I. CAN’T. WALK. I even did the lunge track without weights! Although I’ve been doing yoga, barre, and walking .. the weighted squats wiped me out. Needless to say, I’ve got a few days of light stretching ahead of me. Phew!!

  10. Alex @ True Femme on July 21, 2015 at 9:48 am

    Oooh these sound so good! I love those freeze dried strawberries! They’re perfectly crunchy and slightly sweet! Such a good idea to put them in amazeballs!

  11. Megan @ Skinny Fitalicious on July 21, 2015 at 10:27 am

    Yum-o! I haven’t seen these at TJ’s but will need to be on the lookout. Do they have sugar added to them?

    • Fitnessista on July 21, 2015 at 10:48 am

      nope!

  12. Honey, What's Cooking? on July 21, 2015 at 10:56 am

    looks so good. i love healthy treats.. i need to start making these energy bites.. come in so handy at work.

  13. Tracy on July 21, 2015 at 11:02 am

    I’m loving greek yogurt with blueberries these days! TJs has bloobs the size of grapes!

    How was graduation? Excited to hear how it went and also what you have planned for your future with yoga!

  14. queenoffitness on July 21, 2015 at 11:05 am

    I saw that Instagram comment. I think the poster was saying the 4 balls together resembled a turtle. The half eaten pieces in your hand is the body, head directly in front and 2 legs off to the sides! That’s how I interpreted it anyway.

  15. Lauren @ The Bikini Experiment on July 21, 2015 at 11:11 am

    I am leaving and will be away for a week starting tomorrow so my snacks are hodgepodge leftovers that I need to eat through! Have a great day and thanks for the yummy recipe.

  16. Jessica @ Semi-Sweet Tooth on July 21, 2015 at 11:20 am

    That looks amazing! With those strawberries and that coconut, my sweet tooth has a hankering for those tonight! 🙂

  17. Ashley @ A Lady Goes West on July 21, 2015 at 1:16 pm

    Hi Gina! I am finally teaching BODYPUMP 94 for the first time on Thursday, and I think I’m going to be a fan of all the music. As far as snack-time, would you believe I’ve never made energy balls or bites? I’m missing the boat. These sounds DELISH! 🙂

    • Fitnessista on July 21, 2015 at 10:10 pm

      once you go energy bite, you never go back haha. have fun with 94!! 🙂

  18. Sandy on July 21, 2015 at 1:26 pm

    Could you make these (or any of the energy bites) without the maple syrup to cut down on sugar?

    • Fitnessista on July 21, 2015 at 10:09 pm

      sure! i think the texture and flavor wouldn’t be as great though

  19. Becky on July 21, 2015 at 1:26 pm

    Um, yup those sound amazeballs lol. I may have to give them a try. Wonder what they’d fit into under 21 Day Fix? Any ideas?

    • Fitnessista on July 21, 2015 at 10:09 pm

      i don’t know much about the eating plan for that one :/

  20. Lara on July 22, 2015 at 12:23 am

    I have no access to freeze dried strawberries where i live but picked up some freeze dried apple bits on a trip to Hawaii. Would these work too? Or any other ingredient to sub? Can’t wait to make this 🙂

  21. Lara on July 22, 2015 at 12:25 am

    Oops sorry just saw other suggestions!

  22. Tara | Treble in the Kitchen on July 22, 2015 at 8:55 am

    These sound so good! I love those freeze-dried strawberries form TJs!

  23. Julie @ A Better Life with Burgers on July 22, 2015 at 9:13 pm

    Delicious! Made a quad batch today for our road trip this weekend. Hopefully they’ll last until then. I also crumbled one into a bowl of Greek yogurt with honey and peanut butter. YUM.

  24. Suzanne on July 24, 2015 at 10:57 am

    Wow, these energy bites looks absolutely scrumptious! Thank you for sharing the recipe, I can’t wait to try them!

  25. Krista Williams on July 24, 2015 at 10:58 am

    Hi there!
    I just found your blog through a friend, it’s beautiful! I’m glad to see all the fitness related posts – i love it.

    I make something similar to these at all, and I really like the add of the strawberries from trader joes!

    These are like addictive, btw. So I love them but it’s so bad I eat them too quickly.

    Keep em coming! Can’t wait to read!

    xx Krista

    http://www.hundredblog.com

  26. Jo-Ann on July 27, 2015 at 3:10 pm

    These look great and I just happen to have everything I need to make them in my pantry! Perfect, so I’ll be making these this week. Thanks!

    • Fitnessista on July 27, 2015 at 10:01 pm

      let me know how they turn out!

  27. Mo on July 28, 2015 at 2:47 pm

    Gina – whenever you post an amazeballs recipe – I am all over it! Your energy bites are always the best, so of course I had to make these ASAP. They are SO delicious! Thanks for a fun flavor change up from PB and chocolate (which I do love and make all the time), but this will definitely be another go to in the collection. Thanks for creating and sharing xoxo

  28. Amy Ramos on August 3, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    I made these over the weekend. Wow. Just Wow! They are AWESOME! I make them for the week and put them in the freezer to nosh on before I work out. However, I have been having them for dessert. I am going to need to make some more tomorrow night. Whoops.

    • Fitnessista on August 4, 2015 at 2:33 pm

      haha yes!! so happy you’re enjoying!

  29. Angela on August 7, 2015 at 2:02 pm

    This recipe looks fantastic. I’m always looking for new healthy snack options. Thanks for posting the recipe.

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