With lifting weights and gaining lean muscles come the inevitable quest to eating more lean protein. Eating tons of meat is probably the best thing to do, but for this petite girl with a tiny stomach, it's not really possible (or comfortable). Drinking whey protein shakes is certainly one way to go, but it gets boring. FAST. And eating commercially produced protein bars gets expensive. Plus you never really know what's in them. I did find a brand I really like called Builders made by CLIF.
However.
I love to cook, and love to experiment. So from this basic recipe for protein bars I found on this protein powder recipes I have made a few different kinds of protein balls (easier to shape them in balls than in bars!) From this basic recipe, you can make tons of variations. Just remember that those balls are NOT COOKED or baked, so whatever you throw in need to be edible raw.
Also, keep in mind that NONE of those balls are sweet. I suppose one could add sugar, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, stevia, whatever sugar you want to the recipe. I didn't, because I wanted to keep them as healthy as possible.
(top left-Basic, top right-Hazelnut Almond, middle-Chocolate Coffee, bottom left-Mint Chocolate, bottom right-Vanilla Oat)
Here are all the recipes (with comments):
Basic Chocolate Protein Ball (adapted but pretty darn close to the recipe from this website)
~1/2 cup chocolate whey powder
~1/2 cup coconut milk
~1/2 cup coconut flour
~1 tbsp cocoa powder
~semi sweet chocolate to roll the balls in
Melt chocolate in a bain-marie. In a bowl, mix all remaining ingredients together using a fork. Use a bit of vegetable oil on your hands and form balls out of the mixture (I made about 12 smallish balls). Dip them in chocolate. Place in the fridge to harden. Enjoy!
Verdict: chocolaty, good, solid protein bar. Nice basic recipe to tweak to your taste. Add chunks of almonds (or any other nuts), roll the balls in unsweetened shredded coconut, add raisins, whatever your heart desire. just keep in mind that those are NOT COOKED, so whatever you add in needs to be edible raw.
Almond/Hazelnut Chocolate Protein Ball
~1/2 cup chocolate whey powder
~1/2 cup almond meal
~1 tbsp coconut flour
~1/3 cup crushed hazelnut
~1/4 cup water
~1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (to roll the balls in).
In a bowl, mix all remaining ingredients together using a fork. Use a bit of vegetable oil on your hands and form balls out of the mixture (I made about 12 smallish balls). Roll them in the shredded coconut. Place in the fridge to harden. Enjoy!
Verdict: good, a bit too soft for my taste as far as texture. Next time, I might add in a bit of almond extract, or a tiny bit more hazelnut, as well as almond milk rather than water. I would also use sweetened shredded coconut.
Vanilla Oat Protein Ball
~1/2 cup vanilla whey
~1/2 cup of ground rolled oats, or oat flour
~1/4 cup almond meal
~2 tbsp coconut flour
~1/4 cup milk
~1tsp vanilla extract
~1 tsp brown sugar
~unsweetened shredded coconut mix with some cocoa powder
In a bowl, mix all remaining ingredients together using a fork. Use a bit of vegetable oil on your hands and form balls out of the mixture (I made about 12 smallish balls). Roll them in the shredded coconut mixture. Place in the fridge to harden. Enjoy!
Verdict: Meh. More vanilla extract perhaps, maybe add almond extract as well. next time I'll use coconut milk, or even almond milk rather than cow's milk. I would also ground the oat a little less to add more texture. and perhaps replaced the vanilla whey with chocolate whey instead. It's not bad, but it's definitely missing something to make it extra good.
Chocolate Coffee Protein Ball
~1/2 cup chocolate whey powder
~1/2 cup coconut milk
~1 tsp instant coffee
~1/2 cup coconut flour
~1 tbsp cocoa powder
~semi sweet chocolate to roll the balls in
Melt chocolate in a bain-marie. Mix instant coffee with coconut milk and stir until the coffee is dissolved. In a bowl, mix all remaining ingredients together with the coconut milk/coffee using a fork. Use a bit of vegetable oil on your hands and form balls out of the mixture (I made about 12 smallish balls). Dip them in chocolate. Place in the fridge to harden. Enjoy!
Verdict: YUMMY!!! The coffee makes the chocolate flavour pop. It adds so much to the taste. Really really good. I think next time I make these, I'll roll the balls in shredded dark chocolate instead of dipping them in melted chocolate.
Mint Chocolate Protein Ball
~1/2 cup chocolate whey powder
~1/2 cup coconut milk
~1/2 cup coconut flour
~1 tbsp cocoa powder
~1 1/4 tsp mint extract
~semi sweet chocolate to roll the balls in
Melt chocolate in a bain-marie. In a bowl, mix all remaining ingredients together using a fork. Use a bit of vegetable oil on your hands and form balls out of the mixture (I made about 12 smallish balls). Dip them in chocolate. Place in the fridge to harden. Enjoy!
Verdict: Another big huge WIN! This was SO good. I made the mistake of mixing half the mint extract with the chocolate, which made it harden. So instead of dipping the balls, I flattened them a bit and used the mint chocolate as a spread on top. Worked well, but I would definitely mix ALL of the extract with the whey/flour mixture instead of putting some in the chocolate. One could most likely rolled the balls in crushed candy canes, but that would make them a little less healthy (but I bet really freaking yummy!)
There are SO many different variations for these. You can add chopped nuts of any kind, dried fruits, any extract (chocolate orange anyone?). I wonder if lemon or orange rind would work? I bet it would. You could also use quinoa four (so full of protein!) but be careful - the taste of quinoa flour is STRONG, so it would have to be covered up by something else. One could also use any flavour of whey - I'm thinking berry flavoured whey, cocoa powder, dried cranberries/blueberries/cherries. YUM!!!
HAVE FUN!!!!!
However.
I love to cook, and love to experiment. So from this basic recipe for protein bars I found on this protein powder recipes I have made a few different kinds of protein balls (easier to shape them in balls than in bars!) From this basic recipe, you can make tons of variations. Just remember that those balls are NOT COOKED or baked, so whatever you throw in need to be edible raw.
Also, keep in mind that NONE of those balls are sweet. I suppose one could add sugar, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, stevia, whatever sugar you want to the recipe. I didn't, because I wanted to keep them as healthy as possible.
(top left-Basic, top right-Hazelnut Almond, middle-Chocolate Coffee, bottom left-Mint Chocolate, bottom right-Vanilla Oat)
Here are all the recipes (with comments):
Basic Chocolate Protein Ball (adapted but pretty darn close to the recipe from this website)
~1/2 cup chocolate whey powder
~1/2 cup coconut milk
~1/2 cup coconut flour
~1 tbsp cocoa powder
~semi sweet chocolate to roll the balls in
Melt chocolate in a bain-marie. In a bowl, mix all remaining ingredients together using a fork. Use a bit of vegetable oil on your hands and form balls out of the mixture (I made about 12 smallish balls). Dip them in chocolate. Place in the fridge to harden. Enjoy!
Verdict: chocolaty, good, solid protein bar. Nice basic recipe to tweak to your taste. Add chunks of almonds (or any other nuts), roll the balls in unsweetened shredded coconut, add raisins, whatever your heart desire. just keep in mind that those are NOT COOKED, so whatever you add in needs to be edible raw.
Almond/Hazelnut Chocolate Protein Ball
~1/2 cup chocolate whey powder
~1/2 cup almond meal
~1 tbsp coconut flour
~1/3 cup crushed hazelnut
~1/4 cup water
~1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (to roll the balls in).
In a bowl, mix all remaining ingredients together using a fork. Use a bit of vegetable oil on your hands and form balls out of the mixture (I made about 12 smallish balls). Roll them in the shredded coconut. Place in the fridge to harden. Enjoy!
Verdict: good, a bit too soft for my taste as far as texture. Next time, I might add in a bit of almond extract, or a tiny bit more hazelnut, as well as almond milk rather than water. I would also use sweetened shredded coconut.
Vanilla Oat Protein Ball
~1/2 cup vanilla whey
~1/2 cup of ground rolled oats, or oat flour
~1/4 cup almond meal
~2 tbsp coconut flour
~1/4 cup milk
~1tsp vanilla extract
~1 tsp brown sugar
~unsweetened shredded coconut mix with some cocoa powder
In a bowl, mix all remaining ingredients together using a fork. Use a bit of vegetable oil on your hands and form balls out of the mixture (I made about 12 smallish balls). Roll them in the shredded coconut mixture. Place in the fridge to harden. Enjoy!
Verdict: Meh. More vanilla extract perhaps, maybe add almond extract as well. next time I'll use coconut milk, or even almond milk rather than cow's milk. I would also ground the oat a little less to add more texture. and perhaps replaced the vanilla whey with chocolate whey instead. It's not bad, but it's definitely missing something to make it extra good.
Chocolate Coffee Protein Ball
~1/2 cup chocolate whey powder
~1/2 cup coconut milk
~1 tsp instant coffee
~1/2 cup coconut flour
~1 tbsp cocoa powder
~semi sweet chocolate to roll the balls in
Melt chocolate in a bain-marie. Mix instant coffee with coconut milk and stir until the coffee is dissolved. In a bowl, mix all remaining ingredients together with the coconut milk/coffee using a fork. Use a bit of vegetable oil on your hands and form balls out of the mixture (I made about 12 smallish balls). Dip them in chocolate. Place in the fridge to harden. Enjoy!
Verdict: YUMMY!!! The coffee makes the chocolate flavour pop. It adds so much to the taste. Really really good. I think next time I make these, I'll roll the balls in shredded dark chocolate instead of dipping them in melted chocolate.
Mint Chocolate Protein Ball
~1/2 cup chocolate whey powder
~1/2 cup coconut milk
~1/2 cup coconut flour
~1 tbsp cocoa powder
~1 1/4 tsp mint extract
~semi sweet chocolate to roll the balls in
Melt chocolate in a bain-marie. In a bowl, mix all remaining ingredients together using a fork. Use a bit of vegetable oil on your hands and form balls out of the mixture (I made about 12 smallish balls). Dip them in chocolate. Place in the fridge to harden. Enjoy!
Verdict: Another big huge WIN! This was SO good. I made the mistake of mixing half the mint extract with the chocolate, which made it harden. So instead of dipping the balls, I flattened them a bit and used the mint chocolate as a spread on top. Worked well, but I would definitely mix ALL of the extract with the whey/flour mixture instead of putting some in the chocolate. One could most likely rolled the balls in crushed candy canes, but that would make them a little less healthy (but I bet really freaking yummy!)
There are SO many different variations for these. You can add chopped nuts of any kind, dried fruits, any extract (chocolate orange anyone?). I wonder if lemon or orange rind would work? I bet it would. You could also use quinoa four (so full of protein!) but be careful - the taste of quinoa flour is STRONG, so it would have to be covered up by something else. One could also use any flavour of whey - I'm thinking berry flavoured whey, cocoa powder, dried cranberries/blueberries/cherries. YUM!!!
HAVE FUN!!!!!
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