NEW PROTEIN POWER BALLS!
You often ask me what to eat before and after a training. Some of you probably don’t have enough time to prepare something, it’s easier to buy a snack than to make it.
I’ve written many times that power balls are a great post-workout recharge. After a session you want something quick, and standing over a stove is the last thing on the list.
But power balls are a perfect solution as you don’t need a lot of time to prepare them and they’ll definitely charge your batteries after a training. You can make them the day before your training and keep them in the fridge.
They are an excellent source of energy after a training. You’ll prepare them in no time, so take the time and make a delicious and nutritious snack that you’ll eat after a training. Other versions already on the blog:
What is more, those power balls are a good idea when you feel like something sweet or you’re having a sweets crisis. This concerns mostly us women, as we have cravings during PMS. Instead of eating sweets and snacks, eat a power ball. I promise it will help.
There are tons of recipes for power balls. I often experiment and create new ones. There’s something for everyone. Two recipes for you today, and I plan on creating and sharing more. Maybe some of you have ideas for power balls?
After-training protein power balls
To answer the question before it comes: in this combination I do recommend protein, but only the plant kind.
Soak the dates in hot water for 30 minutes. Blend all of the ingredients. You may cover them with almond powder. Keep in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Coconut and cocoa balls with maca
Soak the dates in hot water for 30 minutes. Blend all of the ingredients. Cover in coconut flakes. Keep in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Why the dates are soaked
Thirty minutes in hot water turns dates into a paste that binds everything else. Dry dates stay in pieces, the mixture will not hold a shape, and the balls fall apart in your hand no matter how long the blender runs.
Drain them before blending. A wet date paste makes a mixture too soft to roll, and the usual fix, adding more coconut flakes, changes the taste of the batch. Medjool dates need less soaking than the small dried ones, so check after 15 minutes rather than waiting the full half hour.
Why plant protein rather than whey
Plant protein powders absorb liquid and thicken the mixture, which is exactly what you want in something you then roll by hand. Whey behaves differently here: it stays looser, and in a no-bake mixture it tends to go chalky once it has been in the fridge.
Vanilla is the flavour to reach for because it sits under the cocoa without fighting it. If your protein is already sweetened, take one date out, or the balls come out sweeter than the recipe intends.
What actually holds them together
Two things: the date paste and the fat from the tahini or the cashew butter. Everything else, the seeds, the coconut flakes, the cocoa, is dry weight that those two have to carry. That is why the quantities of tahini and cashew butter look small but cannot be cut.
If the mixture crumbles when you squeeze it, add one more soaked date and blend again. If it sticks to your hands instead, a tablespoon of coconut flakes fixes it. Chilling the mixture for 20 minutes before rolling makes both problems easier to judge.
Coating, chilling and keeping
Roll the balls first and coat them straight after, while the surface is still slightly tacky. Ground almond and coconut flakes both stick this way; once the balls have set in the fridge, nothing does.
The two hours in the fridge are what turns a soft mixture into a snack you can put in a box. They keep a week in the fridge in a closed container and freeze well for three months, straight from the freezer to a gym bag. If you would rather have snacks like these planned into the week along with your training, that is what the Diet & Training by Ann app does.
After-training protein power balls
Ingredients
Method
- Soak the dates in hot water for 30 minutes, then drain them.
- Blend all of the ingredients into a mixture that holds its shape when squeezed.
- Roll into balls and coat them in almond powder while the surface is still tacky.
- Keep in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
Frequently asked questions
Soak the dates in hot water for 30 minutes, then blend them with plant protein, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, tahini and cocoa. Roll the mixture into balls, coat them, and chill for at least two hours before eating.
A plant one, vanilla flavoured. Plant powders absorb liquid and thicken the mixture, which is what you want in something rolled by hand, while whey stays looser and tends to go chalky in a no-bake mixture after a night in the fridge.
Any smooth nut or seed butter, cashew and almond being the closest. What matters is that it is smooth rather than crunchy, because its fat is one of the two things holding the balls together, alongside the date paste.
Add one more soaked date and blend again. If the opposite happens and it sticks to your hands, a tablespoon of coconut flakes fixes it. Chilling the mixture for 20 minutes before rolling makes both easier to judge.
A week in the fridge in a closed container, and three months in the freezer, where they go straight from the freezer into a gym bag. Snacks like these come planned into the week alongside your training in the Diet & Training by Ann app.
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