Eating healthy can get expensive, am I right?  News flash: it doesn’t have to be, at least not in the snacks category!  Listen – I know you’re busy and want quick pick-me-up snacks to stick in your purse and have available during the day.  If you’re wanting to cut down on trips to the vending machine at work, then today is your day, ladies!  I came up with a delicious, simple, no-weird-ingredients energy bites recipe that I make for my own family and we LOVE it.  This yummy snack is so easy to prepare and easy to store!

Energy Bites

Serving size: 1-2 bites

• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup ground flax seeds
• 2 T honey

Mix ingredients together and roll into 24 balls. Drop onto parchment paper and freeze for 30 minutes. (You can skip this step and just eat them, but they stick together better when they have cooled.  Store in fridge for 5 days or freezer for 3 months!

Benefits of Ingredients

Peanut Butter

• Protein.  Protein takes longer to break down than fat, which makes energy bites a long-lasting energy source!
• Magnesium.  Peanut butter has a lot of magnesium in it, which helps regulate your blood pressure and strengthen your bones!
• Calories.  Peanut butter is not a low-calorie food, but this is what makes it a good source of energy!  These calories are nutrient-dense rather than “empty” like the calories you would get from eating a donut. You can use other nut butter (almond, cashew, etc.) as a substitute if you prefer!

Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

• Sugar.  Depending on how many of these energy bites you eat (I recommend 1-2 as the serving size), the chocolate chips do not add a huge amount of sugar (woohoo!) Plus, they’re delicious and pair SUPER well with the peanut butter!  Dark chocolate chips also work well if you want to decrease the amount of sugar in the bites.

Flax Seeds

• Fat.  Flax seeds have healthy fat, which helps you feel satisfied appetite-wise for longer!
• Fiber.  Flax seeds possess fiber, which eases digestion

Honey

• A great natural sweetener

Make these with your girlfriends, kiddos, hubby, or pop some earbuds in, turn on your favorite music, and make them yourself!  Leave a comment or a fun picture below  – enjoy!!

P.S  If you want to calculate calories and overall nutrition of this recipe, head over to verywellfit.com and check out their Recipe Nutrition Calculator!