Just one bite of these gingerbread balls and you’re tastebuds will be overwhelmed with festive flavor… but I promise you’ll want more than one bite.
Remember that time I said I had a bunch of gingerbread recipes in the works? It was no joke. I’m back today with more gingerbread and this time it’s coming at you in the ball form.
I always get super excited when my In it 4 the Long Run Pro Taste Tester (aka my sister) gives her thumbs up on a recipe right away. This most recent scene looked like this:
- Me: Try this
- Pro Tester: What is it?
- Me: Just try it, then guess
- Pro Tester: Ok, whatever *tries it, looks happily surprised* Wait what is it?
- Me: I said, guess
- Pro Tester: Gingerbread
- Me: *mini happy dance*
My second cue is that she’ll go in for a second. My third cue is when I polish a batch off in less than a week. In this case all three applied. You guys, these balls are the real deal.
I think the real game changer in these little guys was the combination of crystalized ginger to give it that extra ginger-y oomph and the pecans to give them the melt-in-your-mouth texture. Pecans and gingerbread just go together. I’m not here to ask questions, I’m just here to eat balls…ok, you knew that was coming. I think it’s proper blogger etiquette to make 1-5 ball jokes for every ball recipe. I don’t make the rules, I just follow ‘em.
Other than instantly putting me in a festive mood, I love these ‘lil guys for a pre-workout snack. Usually I head to the gym before work and eat breakfast at my desk. But some mornings I wake up and want to eat ALL THE THINGS. I don’t do well with too much in my tummy before so these are the perfect size to hold me over until after my sweat sesh.
But I made a rookie mistake. When I finished photographing this batch I put them in a bowl in my fridge so every time I opened the fridge I automatically wanted them (and usually had one… or two) so yeah. They went fast, so I’ll just have to bust out the good ‘ol food processor again and get to ballin’.
PrintHealthy Gingerbread Energy Balls
Just one bite of these gingerbread balls and you’re tastebuds will be overwhelmed with festive flavor… but I promise you’ll want more than one bite.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 20 1x
- Category: Snacks
- Cuisine: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- ½ cup of unsalted cashews
- 1 cup of unsalted pecans
- 1 cup of old fashion oats
- 10 pitted dates
- ½ tsp of ground ginger
- ½ tsp of pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tbsp of crystalized ginger
- 1 tbsp of molasses
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into your food processor and blend, stopping to scrape sides, for 3 minutes or until mixture is a dough consistency.
- Remove the dough from the food processor and use a paper towel to blot excess oil (from the coconut)
- Roll dough into small 1″ balls
- Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks
Your Turn
- Bloggers – do you have go-to recipe tester?
- On a scale of 0-Super Pumped how pumped are you about Gingerbread season?