Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter Balls

I wasn’t sure at first how my girls would react to the coconut, but to my surprise they love it! The coconut flavor is pretty light in these, so even if coconut isn’t your thing, I encourage you to give it a try. And let’s be honest, they look real pretty rolled in coconut.

1. Mix the peanut butter, honey, coconut oil, and cacao in a small bowl.
2. Mix the oats, coconut, chia seeds and salt in a separate, larger bowl.
3. Add the peanut butter mixture to the oat mixture and stir until well combined.
4. Using about 2 tbsp. of “dough”, form into balls and then roll each ball in shredded coconut.

Peanut butter – look for natural peanut butter with only peanuts as the ingredients (peanuts and salt is okay too). Just stay away from peanut butters with added oils and sugars.

Oats – oats are a great source of whole grains. My favorite oats (and we go through a lot of them) are GF Harvest Gluten-Free Organic Rolled Oats.

Naturally sweetened – sweetened with raw honey, an all-natural sweetener.

Cocao – the yummy chocolate flavor in these comes from cacao NOT cocoa. Cocao is a much cleaner option…see below if you are curious as to why!

There’s a difference you say!? Oh yes, my friend… and it’s not just the spelling. I’ll keep it high level, but essentially they are both derived from the same place, the cocoa bean. However, how they are processed is very different.

Cocao – made from cold-pressing the bean (think less processing), which keeps the enzymes and higher antioxidant content.

Cocoa – treated with high temperatures (think more processing), which diminishes the nutritional value and reduces enzyme content.

Cocao is a true superfood, which is one of the many reasons I love it. It’s high in minerals like magnesium, zinc, iron, and calcium. I recommend buying certified organic raw cacao to ensure you are getting the purest, most antioxidant rich form, so you can reap the greatest health benefits.  

These peanut butter balls should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and will keep for about 5-7 days. You can also freeze them in an airtight container if you want them to last longer. I love Stasher bags for an eco-friendly way to store these!

Looking for more real food snacks? Check out the below:

• No-bake Peanut Butter Oat Bars
• Nut-free energy balls

If you make these chocolate coconut peanut butter balls, please let me know what you think! Leave a comment below and/or share a photo on Instagram and mention @CleanPlateMama!

Eat Clean.Be Healthy!