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  Back to Scratch

Because Peanut M&Ms are Just Not Breakfast Food

8/9/2012

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I love peanut M&Ms.  More honestly, I love just about every and anything with sugar (unless it has coconut - that's just gross! :)  )  I also love feeling good and knowing I'm fueling my body right.  So, while I'm definitely all for sweet treats, I try to make it a rule that if I want a treat, I have to make it from scratch.  

This does a lot of things. It means I get to decide (and know) exactly what goes into my food.  I can change the types and amounts of oils, sugars, flours, etc.  I can insert some "extras" to increase the nutrition.  And, I get the chance to invest in my relationship with food, reminding myself what goes into the final product I feed myself instead of just seeing it as a complete item or a list of nutritional facts.  Recently, my love of cookie dough and peanut M&Ms have definitely come to the forefront.  I was reminded of an older recipe that I've used on occasion before and I was inspired to make a nice batch to have on hand and assist in my sweet cravings!

This recipe is full of nutritional goodness; oats, molasses, wheat germ, cashews.  That means a plethora of B vitamins, iron, protein, very good fats, and vitamin E, just to name a few.  There are also a lot of ways to play around with this recipe to change it up, which makes it a lot of fun.  Disclaimer for the recipe title; I tried to think of something cute and clever, but all I could think about as I munched on these delicious little morsels was nut balls....so....

Nut Balls
adapted from Oh She Glows

1/2 cup unsalted cashews (or another/mix of nuts)
1/4 cup rolled oats
2-3 tbs wheat germ*
2-3 tbs ground flax *
dash of salt
2 tsp molasses
2-3 tbs maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
handful dark chocolate chips (I like the Ghirardelli bittersweet)

Optional/add-ins
1 tbs nut butter (I used sesame; I've also used peanut butter for peanut butter nut balls)
dried fruit
no chocolate chips (maybe just peanut butter)
dipped in chocolate (this would definitely produce a more peanut M&M-like product)
nutritional yeast
molasses (substitute more molasses in instead of the maple syrup for a more molassesy flavor)

*flax and wheat germ are nutritionally awesome, but also not something everyone has laying around their kitchens.  You can use just 1/4 wheat germ and omit the flax, or you could use wheat flour (1/4 c.) in place of both the germ and the flax)

Put the nuts, wheat germ, flax, oats, and salt in a food processor. Process until fairly crumbly.  Add the wet ingredients and processes until sticky and dough-like.  If you're using nut butter, add that with the other liquid ingredients.  If you're using dried fruit or chocolate chips, add after the dough-like consistency has been achieved and pulse until evenly distributed and chunks are the size you would like.  Pinch off pieces of the "dough" and roll into small balls, a little larger than a marble (or the size of a peanut M&M!).  Place in a pyrex container and store in freezer.  If dipping in chocolate, do so after freezing briefly; it will help the chocolate set faster!  Whenever you need a pick-me-up, grab a few and enjoy!

These are AWESOME over banana soft-serve or broken up on top of yogurt with some fresh fruit for breakfast! Peanut M&Ms might not be for breakfast, but Nut Balls certainly can be!
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