Would you believe me if I told you that these quinoa energy balls taste like guilt-free Ferrero Rocher? Plus, they only require four nutritious ingredients and a few simple steps.
It is almost unbelievable you can get something as flavourful by only blending cooked quinoa, dates, cocoa powder and walnuts. But it is possible and easily achievable!
Apart from giving you an energy boost, these quinoa energy balls are packed with an array of essential nutrients, making them a great addition to your diet. They are great for people with high energy requirements, like athletes or kids. Plus, they are vegan-friendly and gluten-free making them suitable for people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance.
Let’s see how you will make these energy balls and what are all the potential health benefits associated!
Which ingredients will you need for these quinoa energy balls?
Natural cocoa powder
White quinoa
Fresh dates
Walnuts
What is cocoa powder?
Cocoa beans are made up of cocoa butter and cocoa solids, which are primarily proteins, carbohydrates and water. In order to extract the cocoa butter, the beans are fermented, roasted and pressed. At the same time, the leftover solids are dried into what we call cocoa powder.
So, cocoa powder is a concentrated form of these cocoa beans with a small portion of cocoa butter added. It has a robust bitter chocolate flavour and, unlike chocolate, has no added sugar. Also, compared to chocolate, it has a much smaller portion of fat.
Even though it looks similar, it is not the same as instant cocoa mixes. Those products have other ingredients like sugar and dehydrated milk added to the cocoa powder. For that same reason, they can’t be used interchangeably in recipes.
How to cook quinoa?
Apart from being a nutrient powerhouse, which you can read more about in the Nutrition section below, quinoa is also quick and easy to make.
It doesn’t need prior soaking and cooks in under 15 minutes.
First, rinse quinoa under running water to ensure all the potential impurities have been removed. To cook quinoa, use a ratio of water to quinoa 2:1. By using the provided ratio, by the end of the cooking process, all the water will be absorbed, and all the nutrients that dissolved into the water during cooking will be preserved. Plus, you will keep moisture and more flavour inside than when rinsed.
Bring the water to a boil and add quinoa. Wait for it to come back to a simmer, cover it and cook on low for 13-15 minutes.
Your quinoa is cooked when the seeds turn translucent throughout, but it shouldn’t be mushy.
After it finishes cooking, leave it covered off heat for another 5 minutes. This will allow quinoa to cool down slightly and prevent it from drying out.
For this recipe, it would be best to leave it to cool down entirely since it will allow you to form the balls more easily.
How to make these quinoa energy balls?
After cooking quinoa, you are left with simple preparation steps before blending all ingredients.
Before adding cocoa powder to the recipe, I like to mix it with water to form a spread-like consistency. Since cocoa powder is a dry ingredient, it can absorb a lot of water when added to a mixture. Combining it with water will allow it to incorporate more evenly with the rest of the blend and keep these energy balls extra moist.
The process is easy: pour water into the powder and mix it until both ingredients start coming together. Put it on the side.
Weigh out the walnuts and blend them first for 1-2 minutes until powdery and even. Then, add pitted dates to the blender, the cooked quinoa, and the previously prepared cocoa spread.
Blend the mixture until smooth and even. The mixture should be quite thick; don’t add additional water, as that would make it too liquid and hard to work with.
Prepare a container lined with baking paper where you will store your quinoa balls.
Now it is time to form the balls. A thin layer of oil on your hands will prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands and make this process cleaner and easier. So, oil your hands, spoon out a little bit of the mixture, form it into a ball between your palms, and place it in the prepared container. I got 18 balls, each approximately 25 g in weight from this quantity.
For the best result, keep your energy balls in the fridge for a few hours, preferably overnight, which will allow them to set. This step is optional, but it will improve the texture of your quinoa balls, making them firmer.
You can leave the balls like that or coat them with blended walnuts. Repeat the same process of crushing walnuts in a hand blender until desired consistency. It can be finer or chunkier, depending on your liking.
Toss balls into the bowl, one by one, and coat them by gently shaking the bowl in your hand. This way, you will keep your hands clean and allow the balls to cover more evenly.
2 responses
Energetske kuglice su odlicne.Radila sam kombinaciju oraha i badema.
Slijedeći put cu dodati ribanu koricu narande ili neki začin ,jer mislim da bi bio jos bolji okus.
Hvala za recept!
Odlično! Baš mi je drago! Ja sam u jednoj kombinaciji koristila koricu naranče i okus je zaista odličan tako da ne možete pogriješiti. Nema na čemu, i drugi put:)