Kids Eat by Shanai

Simple recipes that are fun, easy and mostly healthy food for kids

Lunchbox Energy Balls

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Lunchbox Energy Balls made with dates, puffed rice, seeds and cacao.

lunchbox energy balls Kids Eat by Shanai

It’s school holidays here at the moment so no one is thinking lunchboxes, but my two go to daycare twice a week so we are still packing them.  Constantly on the lookout for healthy and nut free treats to fill that extra little spot in the now so popular bento lunchboxes.  Not like the Vegemite sandwich and apple I used to get in my very simple red plastic lunchbox.  Now us Mum’s feel like we should be sending our kids with a perfectly rounded, super nutritious, sugar free, nut free, egg free (in our case) and an inclusion of all the food groups, while possibly still being judged for including sultanas instead of carrot sticks!  Phew!  I am exhausted just reading this!

My plan is to have a freezer full of ready to lunchbox friendly snacks and then top up with fruit and veg and even the good old Vegemite sandwich.  My kids would probably be happy with the same thing everyday, but I would get bored doing that.  Anyway, here is a recipe that’s great as a healthy treat, for a sweeter version you could replace the raw cacao with cocoa or any drinking chocolate you have in the pantry.

lunchbox energy balls

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Lunchbox Energy Balls

  • Total Time: 3 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
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Description


Ingredients

Scale
  • 80g Medjool Dates
  • 30g sunflower seeds
  • 20g puffed brown rice
  • 1 tsp raw cacao
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp rice malt syrup or honey
  • 1 orange

Instructions

THERMOMIX METHOD

Juice the orange and set aside.  

Place all ingredients and just half the orange juice, into TM mixing bowl and blend 1 min / speed 9.

Add more orange juice if mixture isn’t binding, but will still form balls even if quite crumbly, just roll together with wet hands.

Dust with a little extra cacao to serve.

NON THERMOMIX METHOD

Juice the orange and set aside.  

Place all ingredients and just half the orange juice, into a food processor and blitz for 2 minutes, it takes a while for the mixture to come together.  Add more orange juice if mixture isn’t binding after 2 minutes, but will still form balls even if quite crumbly, just roll together with wet hands.

Dust with a little extra cacao to serve.

Notes

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks, or freeze to store longer.

  • Prep Time: 3 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes