Banana Espresso Cookie Dough Energy Bites

It’s Christmas Day, so we wanted to keep things light and offer up a treat you can make before a holiday run or last-minute get-together. Provided by one of our favorite chefs and athletes, Jeff Mahin, this incredible Banana Espresso Cookie Dough Energy Bite satisfies our passion for healthy real food ingredients, our very real need for carbohydrate energy during endurance workouts, and our insatiable sweet tooth.

These no-bake bites are so easy to make, you’ll let your bananas sit on the counter a few extra days just so you have the excuse to make them. They are great for a pre-workout snack or wrapped up and taken along to replenish energy during a longer workout. Be aware, these bites pack a lot of energy into a little package – 240 Calories in just a 2-ounce serving! But if you really want to make friends, wrap up a bunch of them and hand them out to your running buddies! Just be sure to remember the link to this page, because your friends are going to ask you for the recipe.

Speaking of the recipe, just follow along below:

Banana Espresso Cookie Dough Energy Bites

Ingredients (Makes 28 2-ounce servings)

3 Cups Oat Flour (Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oat Flour)
½ Cup Gluten-Free Oats (Nature’s Path Gluten-Free instant Oats)
½ Cup Hemp Seeds
2 Tbsp Instant Espresso (Medaglia D’Oro)
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Sea Salt
½ Cup Dark Chocolate Chunks (72% chocolate)
½ Cup Sprouted Almonds, chopped
½ Cup Banana Chips, chopped
½ Cup Protein Powder (Jeff uses whey protein powder)
¼ Cup Almond Butter (can substitute peanut butter or cashew butter)
2 Bananas (very, very ripe)
¼ Cup Honey
Hemp Seeds (to roll bites in as finishing touch)

Instructions

1. In a bowl, combine dry ingredients: oat flour, oats, hemp seeds, instant espresso, cinnamon, sea salt, chocolate chunks, almonds, banana chips, and protein powder.
2. In a separate bowl, mash together bananas and almond butter. Stir until combined.
3. Add honey to banana and almond butter mix. Stir thoroughly.
4. Gradually stir dry ingredients into banana/almond butter/honey mixture. Add a small amount of the dry mixture, stir to combine, then add some more, etc.
5. Once ingredients are all combined, remove dough from bowl and knead by hand on a hard surface.
6. Place dough in a ziplock bag and flatten/press to desired thickness (typically 3/4 inch to an inch thick).
7. Refrigerate bagged dough for about 30 minutes.
8. Remove from bag, slice into bites of desired size, and individually wrap.

Nutritional Information (per 2-ounce serving)

Total Calories: 240
Carbohydrate: 30g
Protein: 10g
Fat: 9g