The move is official! I’ve been wanting to expand my blog a little bit and have more control over how it looked, so I transferred my blog from wordpress.com to wordpress.org. I’m not the most tech-savvy person, so I can’t exactly tell you what the difference is other than I now have to use a web host and I can use plugins to make my posts cooler. For example, I now have cool “recipe cards” in my recipe posts that will allow you to print out just the recipe!! I’m so giddy.
So, what better way to try out my recipe card plugin than by posting a new recipe? This is a recipe I’m really excited about, too! Over the last few months, my sweet tooth has been on overdrive, so I knew that giving up sweets for Lent needed to happen. It didn’t really matter if I was bored, happy, or sad, I was starting to reach for sweets more often than I should’ve. I can happily report that I’ve successfully gone all of Lent without a sweet, and it hasn’t been as bad as I anticipated. I didn’t cut out all sugar, so technically I’m still taking in some sugar, but it’s exponentially less than it was a month ago!
Now, this recipe is probably something that some people might consider a “sweet”, however I beg to differ. These oatmeal almond butter balls are made with all-natural ingredients and are only sweetened with honey, which could even be omitted. These are a perfect after-dinner treat, and have successfully satisfied my sweet tooth in a healthier way. Best of all, they only take 10 minutes max to whip up!
I’ve seen so many variations of “energy balls” like these on Pinterest and Instagram that I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to join the bandwagon, but better late than never, right? I had most of the ingredients in my pantry already, I just had to pick up a new jar of almond butter at the store! You could always use regular peanut butter, but I saw this jar of Maranatha maple almond butter and couldn’t say no.
This recipe also calls for a ripe banana. I got a little sad at first because all of my bananas were super green and I couldn’t wait a week for them to ripen up, but then I stumbled across what is arguably the most useful piece of kitchen advice EVER that changed my life. Want to know the quick fix for ripening up bananas? Like, even quicker than sticking them in a brown bag for a few days? Okaaaaay okay, I’ll tell you. Put it in an oven at 350*F for 20 minutes. Boom. Ripe. You’re welcome.
- 3/4 cup quick cooking instant oats
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 ripe banana, mashed
- 1 tablespoon raw honey
- 1/2 cup Maranatha No-Stir Maple Almond Butter
- Empty oats, cinnamon and chia seeds into a large mixing bowl.
- If banana isn't ripe, place in oven at 350*F for 15-20 minutes. Peel banana and mash in a small mixing bowl.
- Transfer mashed banana into large mixing bowl, add in raw honey and almond butter, and mix all ingredients together until well combined.
- Using a spoon (or your hands), spoon out roughly 1-1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture and form into small golf-ball sized ball.
- Store in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow mixture to set. Eat and enjoy, and store any leftovers in fridge for up to a week.
- Can sub in a different nut butter of your preference.
- Likewise, you could also add in chocolate chips, cacao powder, flaxseed, raisins, or even protein powder to create hundreds of flavor combinations!