The Great No-Bake Energy Bites Experiment!

My no-bake energy bites are cooling their heels in the fridge, so I thought it would be a good time to start this post. I have no idea how they're going to come out...you'll find out right along with me!

A good friend of mine, cognizant of my near-constant snacking, sent me a link to Gimme Some Oven's No-Bake Energy Bites. Intrigued, I decided to try my hand at it.

Tonight's participants - oats, wheat germ, honey,
peanut butter, fruit, chips, walnuts

I'm no cook (not even a no-bake cook), but this sounded relatively easy. After dinner, I ran to the store and picked up the ingredients I didn't already have - rolled oats, chocolate chips, dried fruit, honey - and headed home to begin the experiment.

Here's the thing about me and recipes. Sometimes I painstakingly measure each ingredient, and sometimes I don't. Tonight, I winged it.

The original recipe calls for:
1c. dried oats
2/3c. toasted coconut flakes
1/2c. peanut butter
1/2c. flaxseed or wheat germ
1/2c. chocolate chips
1/3c. honey
1tbsp vanilla

Here's what my recipe ended up being:
2c. rolled oats
some peanut butter
2/3c.-ish wheat germ with flaxseed
1/2c. walnuts (that was the entire package)
1/2c. dried cranberries
2/3c-ish Hershey's dark chocolate chips
a couple of splashes of vanilla extract

So I dumped all of my ingredients in a bowl and started mixing with a butter knife and spatula. It quickly became obvious that I was getting nowhere, so I put the utensils aside, rolled up my sleeves and got my hands dirty, so to speak.

And now, after extensive mixing and another 1/4c. of peanut butter, the mixture is in the fridge, chillin' out. My hope is that in four minutes, when they're supposed to be done, they will miraculously be ready to be rolled into little one inch balls and consumed as pre-run snacks or as a quick breakfast.

So I'll step away for now, and go back to work on my energy bites...

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30 minutes later...

More honey!

Well, I can only characterize the first pass as complete, abject failure. Totally not holding together. Stick my hands in the mixture and it completely falls apart. 

Adding more honey, remixing, placing back into the fridge for 15-20 minutes. I may end up eating it out of a bowl with a spoon...

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10 minutes later...

While you've been sitting there waiting for me to continue, I used my down time constructively - made coffee for the morning, made the kids lunches, emptied the dishwasher, picked up the kids' shoes and socks and homework off the den floor so the dogs didn't eat them, etc....

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5 minutes later...

We may well be on the verge of success. Just tested the mixture and it seems to be holding together. Chilling for another 10-15 minutes, then will either attempt to roll them into balls or make them into bars while watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart...

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24 minutes later...

The sweet taste of success!

"Do you like apples? Well, how 'bout them apples?" my friend Carl always says. And what do you know? Success! Twelve nifty little energy bites, ready to be snacked upon.

So what was tonight's lesson? That's easy - if at first you don't succeed - add more honey!

-Steve

October 2012






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Update I - 8 hours later...

The final verdict from the official taste tester: "Mmmm...really good. Too crumbly, but really good!" At least that's what I think she said through her mouthful of No-Bake Energy Bite...

 

 

 

Update II - 8.5 hours later...

 

The boys both like them, too! All three kids giving thumbs up...I must be on to something!