Paleo Power Balls. You just hit the lottery! No, not the Powerball lottery, but the Power Ball lottery. And you didn’t even have to offer up any money.
I give you the perfect sweet enough protein “power” treat—Paleo Power Balls! You see … my need for chocolate treat recipes sans chocolate chips (recently demonstrated by my Flourless Chocolate (Cocoa) Cookies) continues.
And there’s a new component. I don’t know about you but personally, when I make chocolate treats without chocolate chips, I need some built-in portion control.
Power Balls (Paleo, Vegan)
Extracting the last little bit of almond butter from my jar and adding in a few other simple ingredients, including cacao (or cocoa) powder, I easily created these Power Balls.
Almond butter, cacao (or cocoa) powder, coconut flour, and honey (see notes for vegan options) make for Power Balls with a slightly bittersweet taste and creamy texture which I simply love. What’s not to love, right?
I ate both of my Power Balls midafternoon and my chocolate and sweet cravings were satisfied. Again, I loved that!
However, I think next time, I might just split up my treats … one for midmorning and one for midafternoon or maybe one for midafternoon and one for a late-night snack. Or maybe one for midafternoon and one for dessert after dinner.
Hmmm, maybe there’s just enough almond butter left in that jar for another Power Ball. Hey, I feel more powerful just thinking about these Paleo Power Balls!
![These Power Balls make the perfect pick me up! Paleo and vegan. [from GlutenFreeEasily.com]](https://glutenfreeeasily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/These-Power-Balls-make-the-perfect-pick-me-up-Paleo-and-vegan.-from-GlutenFreeEasily.com_.jpg "These Power Balls make the perfect pick me up! Paleo and vegan. [from GlutenFreeEasily.com]")
Paleo Power Balls Recipe
Power Balls (Paleo, Vegan)
I give you the perfect sweet enough protein "power" treat---Paleo Power Balls! They come with built-in portion control, too.
Ingredients
- 1 heaping tbsp almond butter
- 2 tsp raw cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
- 1 to 2 tsp coconut flour, sifted (more or less, as needed; see directions)
- ½ tsp raw honey (or other sweetener for vegan option--such as maple syrup, stevia, coconut sugar, agave nectar; adjust amount as needed)
Instructions
- Using a small spoon, mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Let sit about 2 minutes. See if you can easily roll the mixture into a ball. It should be only slightly sticky.
- If the mixture cannot be rolled into a ball easily, mix in up to 1 tsp more coconut flour and let the mixture sit again for about 2 minutes.
- Roll into two balls, each about the size of a nickel in diameter. Or make one larger than the other if you’ll need more of power hit at one time of the day than the other.
Notes
Makes two balls. One serving.
I used barely filtered raw honey from our bees, so mine had some beeswax in it and, therefore, was thicker than most honey. Therefore, I only had to add one tsp of coconut flour, but with thinner honey and/or thinner almond butter, you'll need more coconut flour to get the right consistency.
More Protein Ball and Energy Ball Recipes
~ Almond Butter Protein Balls from Gluten-Free Homemaker
~ Apple Pie Protein Balls from Better Batter
~ German Chocolate Fudge Bites from Chocolate-Covered Katie
~ Orange Creamsicle Protein Balls from Spabettie
~ Popcorn Energy Bites from Eat Good 4 Life
Originally published October 22, 2013; updated June 21, 2018.
SherriS. says
I think it’s fascinating that you have bees and honey “on tap!” I love the idea of making these…thanks for thinking it up for us:)
Shirley says
Hi Sherri–Good to see you again! 🙂 I like your phrasing “on tap”! LOL Mr. GFE, who does all the work with the bees, might get a chuckle out of that though. 😉 If only it were that simple to get their yummy honey! We do love it though, and I love these treats. A perfect little serving all at once or split up. 🙂
Shirley
Cheryl Harris says
This looks superbly simple and yummy! I love the idea.
Shirley says
Thanks, dear! I thought these would appeal to some of my best buddies as much as they appeal to me. 😉
Shirley
Molly (Sprue Story) says
Oh boy, I came to your site looking for the bread basket roundup and saw this instead. Dreams of whole grain rolls immediately trumped. 🙂
Shirley says
Haha! Molly, you always brighten my day! 🙂 I don’t know how many would agree with you on bread trumping power balls though. People flip out over bread, you know? But I’m glad that these health, tasty bites caught your eye. 😉
Shirley
Molly says
I’m glad! 🙂 I agree, bread is great, but nut butter + chocolate = !!!!
Shirley says
Molly–I have to agree that once one is introduced to the world of nut butter + chocolate, most other recipes and combos pale in comparison. 😉
Shirley
Susan says
These sound like a yummy treat to satisfy the chocolate cravings! Not sure I could stop at just 2 though.
Shirley says
Susan–That’s the beauty of these. You make two and then give them a try. I think you will be surprised at how satisfying they are. When protein (via the almond butter and coconut flour) is added to chocolate, it makes the resulting treat not only tastier, but far more satisfying. 😉 Hope you find that to be true when you give them a try! 🙂
Shirley
Linda says
You know that sounds like just the kind of thing I love. You’re always good at simplifying recipes, Shirley.
Shirley says
Awww, thanks for the kind words, Linda! I can’t/won’t spend tons of time in the kitchen or tons of time/money on lots of ingredients so simple works for me. 😉 I thought you might like these given your amazing grain-free chocolate date balls that you shared with us at our gfe retreat. There’s just something about these kind of healthy, chocolaty protein-rich treats that can be popped into one’s mouth on the go!
Shirley
Maggie says
Linda is so right, I love how you simplify things and you always stick with the GFE motto, no one does it better!
Shirley says
Maggie–You are so sweet! Those words make my day, dear. 🙂 It’s really so nice to know that I am setting a good example for gfe living!
Thanks so much! xo,
Shirley
Angela says
These have my name embedded in them! I must make them as soon as my detox is over – 10 more days and then hello kitchen – here I am!
Shirley says
Oh, Angela, you crack me up!! Don’t be surprised if a recipe that I think you will really like shows up in a photo with the intials A.S. embedded! 😉 Hope you enjoy these as much as you think you will when you make them! 🙂
Shirley
Heather @Gluten-Free Cat says
Oh I bet these would stop a sweets craving in its TRACKS! They sound absolutely wonderful! And I love the title too – Power Balls. I really need to do more with coconut flour. I just got a package from nuts.com and think this is just the recipe that will cause me to open it! 🙂
xoxo
Shirley says
Oh, Heather, embrace the coconut flour, dear! It’s a magical and delightful tool in gluten-free recipe creation! 🙂 I have not tried the nuts.com coconut flour yet. I wonder how it would compare to the Tropical Traditions coconut flour that I use. I love Tropical Traditions coconut flour’s fine consistency and I always get killer deals on coconut flour with them. Btw, there are more differences between brands than one might expect. Katie of Kitchen Stewardship did a comparison of three brands (including TT brand), which I really learned a lot from!
xoxo,
Shirley
Heather @Gluten-Free Cat says
Thanks, Shirley. I’m off to read Katie’s comparisons!
Shirley says
You’re welcome, of course. Maybe we can talk her into doing a review of the coconut flour from Nuts.com and updating her comparison? 😉
Megan @ Allergy Free Alaska says
These are so simple – I love that! And perfect for a snack for the girls. They would absolutely love these! 😉
xo,
Megan
Shirley says
Megan–Thanks! I hope they love them. 🙂 This Power Ball “Pack” will keep me from going through almond butter so quickly AND satisfy my cravings! 😉
xo,
Shirley
amber says
This is a winner recipe all around. Real food, easy to make, and healthy. And you know I love your bite size treats Shirley!!
xo,
–amber
Shirley says
Hi Amber–I’m so glad you approve! 🙂 This recipe will keep eating healthy while getting my chocolate/protein fix. 😉
xo,
Shirley
Julie@teachinggoodeaters says
I love that this recipe is for a small amount- the perfect quick treat. We used to make something similar with powdered milk. Now that we are partially dairy-free, I love the idea of using coconut flour! I think I’ll be making these tomorrow!!
Shirley says
Hi Julie–Thanks! That’s exactly what I was going for … the perfect quick treat. 🙂 I’ve used coconut flour in place of powdered milk in other “ball” recipes and it’s always worked great. Just remember that you don’t need too much of it because of its arsorbency powers! 😉 Hope you enjoy them!
Shirley
Regena says
Hi Shirley, Thank you for the great sounding recipe! Would you have any idea of the calorie count? I have never tried coconut flour, looking forward to testing it out.
Regena
Shirley says
Hi Regena–Welcome to gfe! 🙂 I don’t believe in counting calories because I think the nutritional value of a recipe is not often reflected in the calorie count (i.e., really healthy food can be high in calories and really crappy food can be low in calories), but you can use the website Calorie Count to figure out that info if you’d like.
Enjoy!
Shirley
raylene says
I just made these with cashew butter, as I was out of almond butter, added more agave as I like mine a bit sweeter, and rolled them in sliced almonds :-). Turned out nice:-)
Shirley says
Hi Raylene–Oooh, I love cashew butter, too, but don’t find it quite as sweet as almond butter usually so I understand your modification and love the idea of rolling them in sliced almonds. 😉 YUM! 🙂 So glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Shirley
Kate {Eat, Recycle, Repeat} says
Umm you have bees? You’re so cool
Shirley says
Thanks, Kate! We LOVE our bees … and their honey! 🙂
Shirley
Angela says
These are out of this world! Serious goodness all rolled up in a ball! I made several batches of these, after I scarfed down a test batch (all in the name of scientific research, right? 😉 )
And now my family and friends think I snuck out to some fancy coffee shop or artsy craftsy candy store – no matter how much I wave the printed recipe to them!
Either way, these are delicious, and they disappeared from the platter in an alarming rate! Hope you like the picture I sent you ! 🙂
Shirley says
Angela–You always say ALL the right things! Maybe I should market these little power balls, huh? 😉 Loved the photo and all the photos you sent, my friend! I sent you an email. Hope you got it!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, dear!
Shirley