Day 232: Power Balls, Banana Bread and Pistachios
(Not necessarily in that order.)
Late in the afternoon I made us each half a PB & banana wrap to tide us over until Globalfest, at which we planned to avoid cooking by eating our way around the world. Our plans were dashed due to weather – they rescheduled the fireworks competition due to forecasted thundershowers, which never did happen.
We didn’t discover this until around 7, at which point my sister and her kids had just stopped by (to return my panini grill – hello Day 233) and we all devoured one of the two loaves of banana bread that came out of the oven as they walked in the door, so we weren’t really hungry enough to justify actually making something for dinner. W asked for Raisin Bran, and we picked at the leftover Power Balls from Breakfast TV on Monday. The mixture wasn’t even rolled into balls, to be honest - we just ate globs straight from the mixing bowl, which has been sitting in the fridge since after the show.
I was on to talk about the importance of donating blood – having been on the receiving end of a couple pints, I can tell you it comes in handy when you need it. Unfortunately people are often deferred because of their low hemoglobin, which is usually a result of iron deficiency. Thus, foods that are high in iron. In this case – oats, barley flakes, dried apricots, cocoa, cashews and almonds are all great sources of iron. Thus: pump a little iron with Power Balls (sounds like a lottery).
I came up with these once we moved back to Calgary because while living in Vancouver I got hooked on these goodies called CoCo Orbs (warning: don’t ever Google this term) from Capers market. They were like 4 for $6, and I’d eat them all within a day. So I bought a package on a trip out there and sort of dissected them and recreated a reasonable facsimile based on the ingredients on the package label. They are like unbaked energy bars in ball form – perfect to take along to the wading pool – if they get squished, Power Patties are just as tasty. And you can use any combination of dried fruit, nuts and seeds you like.
Power Balls
1 cup oats or barley flakes, or a combination
5 brown rice cakes, crumbled
1 cup chopped dried fruit (such as apricots, cranberries, raisins, figs, blueberries – apricots are particularly high in iron)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, chopped or pulsed in the food processor
1/2 cup chopped cashews (optional, but high in iron!)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed and/or sunflower seeds
pinch salt
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup soy milk or regular milkIf you are using old-fashioned (large flake) oats, pulse them a few times in the food processor to grind them up a bit. If you’re using quick oats, don’t worry about it.
In a large bowl, toss together the oats, rice cakes, dried fruit, coconut, pumpkin seeds, flaxseed and salt. In a small saucepan, combine the cocoa, peanut butter and maple syrup and set over medium heat. Cook until melted and smooth, stirring often. Remove from the heat and stir in the soy milk until well blended and smooth.
Pour the chocolate mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Put the bowl in the fridge until the mixture is cool. Shape into balls the size of those large bouncy balls – bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a baseball. Store them covered, in the fridge.
Makes 1 dozen balls.
Per Ball: 225 calories, 7.6 g fat (2.1 g saturated fat, 2.4 g monounsaturated fat, 2.6 g polyunsaturated fat), 37.6 g carbohydrates, 0 mg cholesterol, 6 g protein, 4.3 g fiber. 28% calories from fat
Print Post
August 19 2008 11:01 pm | cookies & squares and snacks
Jen on 23 Jan 2009 at 1:06 pm #
I made these the other day and they taste great. The only things I did differently were 1) used 2 cups rice krispies instead of crumbled rice cakes, and 2) didn’t add any nuts, because I used crunchy pb instead of smooth. I forgot to chill the mixture before I shaped it, and it was very fall-apart crumbly. Learn from my mistakes, everyone!
One thing I was wondering is why, whenever I try to incorporate rice krispies into my homemade granola bars, the final product has no satisfying crunch. Those rice krispies squares of old are haunting me, but I don’t want to use marshmallows and butter in my homemade health bars! I’m thinking it must be the liquid that gets in there and deprives them of crunchiness. Thoughts?
JulieVR on 23 Jan 2009 at 1:41 pm #
Yep – it’s the moisture from whatever else that’s in them that sogs out the Rice Krispies. It doesn’t happen so much in RK squares because of the marshmallow-butter mixture – not really much moisture there! Plus it cools so fast they stay crunchy. Have you tried Special K? The flakes are a bit bigger…
Not that either of these are particularly nutritious anyway.. but it is nice to have that crunch!