Healthy & Nutritious All Ingredients Chocolate Energy Balls for Kids

Makes 10 energy balls

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients (1/3 cup):

1. 1 almond
2. 1 cashew nut
3. 1 pecan
4. 1 walnut
5. 1 Brazil nut
6. 1 tsp sunflower seeds
7. 1 tsp pumpkin seeds
8. 1 tsp pine nuts
9. 1 tsp chia seeds
10. 1 tsp goji berries (optional)
11. 1 tsp ground flax seeds
12. 1 tsp hemp seeds
13. 1 tsp wheat germ
14. 1 tsp wheat bran
15. 1 tsp rolled oats
16. 1 tsp carob powder
17. 1 tsp skimmed milk powder (optional)
18. 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
19. 1/4 vanilla powder

Wet ingredients (1/3 cup):

20. 1 dried date pitted or 1/2 banana
21. 1 TBS homemade hazelnut butter

Dusting ingredients:

22. 1 tsp cinnamon powder, carob powder or wheat germ

Directions:

1. Combine and mix well wet ingredients and dry ingredients into a dough and form into balls.

2. Dust with cinnamon powder, carob powder or wheat germ (optional).

3. Let it set in the fridge for 30 minutes. Enjoy or store in fridge for 5 days or freeze the balance.

Additional Information:

This is a slight tweet to the All Ingredients Energy Balls. I have replaced the Nutella with hazelnut butter and carob powder, which does not contain caffeine and is a perfect cacao substitute, and more suitable for kids. It is naturally sweet and gives it a more chocolaty and caramel like flavor that is all natural.

Don't worry if it looks like there isn't sufficient wet ingredients in the beginning. Once you start massage the dough, it gives out more oil, and it will form into sticky dough. If not, adjust with more nut butter or just a dab of water.

When I have the time, I form it into different shapes such as flower, heart-shape, star, etc. You can also let your kids play with it as an kind of edible play dough.

Sometimes I don't add goji berries, if I feel that my kids have consumed too much of them.

 Add 1 teaspoon of wheat germ

 Add 1 teaspoon of wheat bran

 Add 1 teaspoon of hemp seeds

  Add 1 teaspoon of  ground flax seeds

  Add 1 teaspoon of chia seeds

 Add 1 teaspoon of carob powder 

 Add 1 pinch of vanilla powder

Add 1 pinch of cinnamon powder

 Add 1 teaspoon of sunflower seeds

 Add 1 teaspoon of pumpkin seeds

 Add 1 teaspoon of goji berries

 Add 1 teaspoon of pine nuts

 Add 1 teaspoon of skimmed milk powder (optional)

 Add 1 teaspoon of rolled oats

Add the nuts - 1 cashew nut, 1 Brazil nut, 1 walnut and 1 pecan, 1 almond. 

Include separately the wet ingredients - 1 dried date pitted and 1 tablespoon of homemade hazelnut butter flavored with carob powder

Chop the nuts and seeds (I use my nut chopper or you can chop with a knife).

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

The dry ingredients will fill a 1/3 cup. Add 1 tablespoon of homemade or store-bought hazelnut butter and 1 dried date pitted.

Mix in the wet ingredients and wet ingredients together into a dough

Form into balls.

Sprinkle with cinnamon powder, carob powder or wheat germ.

It is best to place in the fridge for 30 minutes and you are ready to enjoy :-)

15 June 2019:

15 June 2019 (3Y30D)

All Ingredients Chocolate Energy Balls

Makes 10 energy balls

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients (1/3 cup):

1. 1 almond
2. 1 cashew nut
3. 1 pecan
4. 1 walnut
5. 1 Brazil nut
6. 1 tsp sunflower seeds
7. 1 tsp pumpkin seeds
8. 1 tsp pine nuts
9. 1 tsp chia seeds
10. 1 tsp goji berries
11. 1 tsp ground flax seeds
12. 1 tsp hemp seeds
13. 1 tsp wheat germ
14. 1 tsp wheat bran
15. 1 tsp rolled oats
16. 1 tsp carob powder
17. 1 tsp skimmed milk powder (optional)
18. 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
19. 1/4 vanilla powder

Wet ingredients (1/3 cup):

20. 1 dried dates pitted or 1/2 banana
21. 1 TBS homemade Nutella

Dusting ingredients:

22. 1 tsp cinnamon powder, carob powder or wheat germ

Directions:

1. Combine and mix well wet ingredients and dry ingredients into a dough and form into balls.

2. Dust with cinnamon powder, cacao powder or wheat germ (optional)

3. Let it set in the fridge for 30 minutes. Enjoy or store in fridge for 5 days or freeze the balance.

Additional Information:

This is the energy balls where I have included all the nuts and seeds in the ingredients to include all the different nutrition, since all nuts and seeds have different nutrition strength. For example, just eating 1 Brazil nut a day covers more than 70% of the RDI for selenium, while sunflower seeds contain the highest amount of Vitamin E compared to other nuts and seeds.

Don't worry if it looks like there isn't sufficient wet ingredients in the beginning. Once you start massage the dough, it gives out more oil, and it will form into sticky dough. If not, adjust with more nut butter or just a dab of water.

 Add 1 teaspoon of wheat germ

 Add 1 teaspoon of wheat bran

 Add 1 teaspoon of hemp seeds

  Add 1 teaspoon of  ground flax seeds

  Add 1 teaspoon of chia seeds

 Add 1 teaspoon of carob powder 

 Add 1 pinch of vanilla powder

Add 1 pinch of cinnamon powder

 Add 1 teaspoon of sunflower seeds

 Add 1 teaspoon of pumpkin seeds

 Add 1 teaspoon of goji berries

 Add 1 teaspoon of pine nuts

 Add 1 teaspoon of skimmed milk powder (optional)

 Add 1 teaspoon of rolled oats

Add the nuts - 1 cashew nut, 1 Brazil nut, 1 walnut and 1 pecan, 1 almond. 

Include separately the wet ingredients - 1 dried date pitted and 1 tablespoon of homemade Nutella

Chop the nuts and seeds (I use my nut chopper or you can chop with a knife)

Mix all the dry ingredients together

The dry ingredients will fill approx. 1/3 cup. Add 1 tablespoon homemade Nutella and 1 dried date pitted

Mix in the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients into a dough

 Form into balls.

Sprinkle with cinnamon powder, carob powder or wheat germ.

It is best to place in the fridge for 30 minutes and you are ready to enjoy :-)

Healthy Tasty & Nutritious Edible Playdough

Makes the size of 1 tennis ball

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup almond or hazelnut butter
- 50ml liquid honey or maple syrup
- 1/2 cup rolled oats ground
- 1 TBS of wheatgerm ground
- 1 tsp of brewer's yeast
- 1 tsp oil (optional: avocado oil or any nut oil such as walnut oil)
- 1 tsp carob powder (optional, to make it chocolaty)
- Food color (optional)

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, mix in almond butter and honey and mix well.

2. Add ground roll oats slowly in along with the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

3. Knead until smooth. Adjust with almond butter, ground rolled oats or honey accordingly.

How to play?
Here is one way.

Tips:
1. After playing with it, use it as spread on the bread for your child's lunch box, for example.
2. Bake it in the oven as cookies at 200 °C (392 ° F) for 5 - 7 minutes or
3. Simply eat it on its own by rolling it into small balls, refrigerate for 15 minutes and ready to serve as snack.

Additional Information:
I tried to research the internet for edible playdough, but only came across the tasty but rather unhealthy ones. Ok, given it is playdough and not dessert, it shouldn't matter much, but I just wanted to find something that is healthier.

Most of the recipes call for dry powdered milk as the replacement for flour in the playdough, which in my opinion is too much dairy. And for the Chinese, it will create too much heatiness in the child, eating milk powder straight!!!

The most popular edible play dough from the internet is peanut butter, but I am not a great fan of peanut butter. I like it, but not enough to want to eat it as playdough. However, I like hazelnut and almond butter.

So I have decided to experiment and make my own edible playdough that is fun, tasty and at the same time nutritious minus the dairy.

This can be an activity for a small children's birthday party, if one can ensure that the hands of the children are clean to play with edible playdough. I know I have classified this under the label "Inexpensive Birthday Ideas", even though this dough is a rather expensive dough. However, in comparison to the cost with the recent trend of Singaporean parents celebrating small children's birthday with hired chef in the form of prata man, balloon man, magician, etc. for small children birthday party, this idea is then indeed fun and a lot way less expensive! It is all relative I guess.

I woke up early this morning before Joshua woke up to make it. It is really tasty, and I hope I can wait till Joshua waits up to play with it and not eat it myself!

This is an activity you can do with your child.

Links:
http://livelearnloveeat.com/2015/02/13/healthy-naturally-sweetened-edible-play-dough/
https://youtu.be/b2eV2zkwAq4

Here are the steps in pictures:

Updates: 29 June 2014 (5Y3M24D)

It was a long time since we did this activity, when J was 2.5 years old. But he remembered it. J has been requesting to make edible playdough for sometime, and we made it together today. We made different color ones this time. He wanted to make his name too. I made the fruits. Then J got the idea to make lollipop with the playdough.

We are out of the normal routine today. That meant that we did not have a rigorious learning day (by that I meant writing Chinese character, piano practice, etc., but we did manage to write a page of Chinese character and a more relax piano practise), but it was only during the most unexpected time that memory is made. It has been very special and memorable one-to-one time. God is trying to speak to me and teaching me the balance of being more relaxed.