Quinoa Hemp Snack Balls
You want these in your purse, your desk drawer, and your freezer. A quick way to get quinoa, hemp seeds, chia, and coconut into one naturally sweetened, no-bake snack.
If you're sitting next to me on the bus, these very well might be in my purse. And if you were on my recent flight, they were most definitely in my carry-on (along with three of these quinoa burritos) - laugh/cry. Snack balls, energy bites, zoom balls - these little bite-sized treats check all the boxes. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this version, in particular, is extra special because they're made with quinoa flakes - imagine rolled (or instant) oats but made from quinoa instead. A brilliant, super versatile ingredient I've been playing around with a lot lately. What else? Sunflower seed butter works as the binder for all sorts of other goodness including toasted coconut, and a good amount of hemp-derived CBD oil and chia seeds. To achieve peak hippie snack status, I rolled them in a bee pollen coconut blend! They're great! Here's the video of how they come together...
I mention in the video that you can certainly substitute oats if you aren't able to track down quinoa flakes. No big deal at all.
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Quinoa Hemp Snack Balls
Start with all ingredients at room temperature. Also, different brands of nut or seed butter yield slightly different results, you can adjust as needed adding more nut butter or flakes until the mixture holds together nicely. To make these vegan, leave out the bee pollen.
1 cup quinoa flakes
2 tablespoons chia seeds1/2 cup unsweetened, toasted coconut flakes, divided
1/4 cup hemp seeds (hemp hearts)
3 tablespoons coconut nectar (or maple syrup)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste
2/3 cup sunflower butter1 tablespoon bee pollen, (optional)
Combine the quinoa, chia seeds, 1/4 cup of the toasted coconut, hemp seeds, coconut nectar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl. Toss until well combined. Add the sunflower butter, and use your hands to really work the ingredients together. Adjust a bit if necessary, adding a bit more seed butter if the mixture won't stay in a ball shape. Alternately, add more quinoa flakes if the mixture is too sticky. Shape into balls by hand, and roll in a coating made of the remaining coconut flakes and bee pollen. Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet or plate, and refrigerate or freeze. Carry around in a small jar, or any small structured bento or container.
Makes 12-18 snack bites.
Prep time: 10 minutes
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Comments
Perfect use of the rest of my quinoa flakes! These were so tasty.
Able to find the quinoa flakes and Bee pollen in bulk at my local coop – this is a wonderful recipe. I need something sweet at work with protein for an afternoon snack and this fits the bill beautifully. Thanks again for another wonderful recipe, Heidi.
Heidi, can you tell me what is a serving size? Also, do you have the nutritional breakdown? My husband is diabetic and would like to have these as a nice snack for us, especially on trips.
I just made the snack balls. Omg they taste good. I wish i can post the picture. Every week I am looking forward to your videos now. You rock dear.
HS: Thanks Kayal! :)
This looks amazing. I cannot wait to make this! I will have to keep you updated on how it goes, thanks for posting!
I made these with millet flakes and almond butter. They are exceptional good and above all date free, so high-fructose intake with just a bite is no concern.
Longtime follower, first time poster -- it was worth taking a moment to say these are AWESOME and I want to tell everyone I know to make them. The video was particularly helpful - without it I might not have had the confidence to replace a bunch of ingredients based on what I already had in my pantry (I used peanut butter and quick oats instead of sunflower seed butter and quinoa flakes). With that encouragement, I did and they were super easy and delicious - the perfect portable protein-filled snack. They will definitely be in my regular rotation going forward. Thanks for all your great work, Heidi!
HS: Thanks Jenny! So glad you liked them, and went for it with the adaptations :)...they're super fun to experiment with. xx!
I used the almond butter I had on hand, and I didn't have any bee pollen, but these turned out delicious anyway. A nice healthy replacement for no-bake cookies, and a healthy, filling mid-afternoon sweet snack.
I broke down some oats a bit in my food processor to make these instead of quinoa , it worked fab!Sent them in kids lunch today,hemp seeds instead of bee pollen.Toasted coconut makes such a huge difference.Loving these ideas so much:)
I looooove the video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very nice! Can't wait to try them! Can you make samosa's next?!
Hi Heidi -- these look amazing! I have a quick question about quinoa flakes as I haven't used them before, but am interested in trying them: since they're just rolled out quinoa, is it ok to eat them raw? I can't seem to find a good answer on whether quinoa can be eaten raw. Thanks!
HS: This is a great question Natasha. I've actually been treating them a lot like rolled oats...my sense is that maybe they are steaming them before pressing (or rolling) into the flakes...but I'd have to look into it more. So while they might look raw, I'm not 100% sure they are.
Your videos make me smile, your recipes always inspire. I've been making your chocolate chunk energy bites and sharing the recipe with clients and my cooking classes. We all love them. I like yours in particular, because most (many) people here in Europe don't own a large food processor. So I stay away from sharing energy ball recipes that require processing nuts and dates. Thanks Heidi!
Love your posts! These seem delicious and I want to make them. However, I really don't like the taste of coconut, what would be a good substitution? Thank you.