Oatmeal Energy Bites

Joyce and I are excited to be featured on www.anothermotherrunner.com Thursday, April 26.  In honor of all the runners of steel, we thought a running snack would be a great recipe to share.

My husband and I are always looking for snacks to eat before our morning runs.  Many days, John brings home snacks the XC moms bring to meets; one morning, he brought home little energy balls that were tasty.  I started searching the internet for similar treats.  When I found a promising recipe, I started playing around with it.  I was thrilled to read in March's Runner's World Fridge Wisdom that flaxseed contains essential nutrients for runners (omega-3 fatty acid, lignans). I added sesame seeds after learning that they provide calcium, copper, iron, and magnesium (they would have gone bad in my cupboard anyway).  John loved them, saying, "These are deceptively good!  I could easily eat them all."

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup oatmeal
• 2 T sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup honey (if you spray the measuring cup lightly with cooking spray, it won't be so hard to manage)
• 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (you got that right, I chopped up the ones from my super-sized bag from Costco)
• 1 t vanilla

Note: This recipe yields 2 1/2 dozen balls.  They are around 90 calories each.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add all ingredients to a large bowl.  Mix well.
2. Put bowl in refrigerator until well chilled, about 30 minutes.
3. Roll into balls; store in air-tight container in freezer or fridge.

Difficulty: Easy

Time: From start to finish about 45 minutes

Source: I got the idea from an XC mom