Recipes

Old-Fashioned Homemade Gingerbread Paleo Energy Balls

By Harper

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I have this very specific memory as a child of the first time I tried blackstrap molasses. I couldn’t have been much older than five or six years old and I was helping my mom make gingerbread for my sister and I to make gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve (which was the following day). Gingerbread house making was a holiday tradition in our house and I always helped my mom mix all the ingredients together and fill the gingerbread house molds with cookie dough (that was my favorite part). I remember always telling my mom that gingerbread was my favorite kind of cookie because it tasted so much different from all the other cookies.

Gingerbread Energy Balls

These paleo gingerbread energy balls are to die for.

She told me that she adds molasses to give it that specific taste. She brought the bottle out for me to dip my finger in and try the molasses… all by itself… And let me tell you it was not what I was expecting. My mom laughed as I choked on the earthy, bitterness of that thick, black syrup. Heed my warning: molasses is not good licked off of your finger. Molasses does not taste like honey.

I still get the shivers when I think about straight molasses. Now days, I love cookies made with that bitter-sweet sugar and thoroughly enjoy making (and eating) gingerbread houses but I have never again licked straight molasses. I did, however, make molasses energy balls to keep me satisfied until it’s time to bust out my gingerbread molds and giggle as I talk my nephews into trying a teaspoon of molasses. Muahahah!

Gingerbread Energy Balls
Gingerbread Energy Balls
Gingerbread Energy Balls

I recently learned that molasses has the lowest sugar content of any sugar cane product. Now I know why molasses doesn’t taste very sweet. It does however, contain lots of vitamins and minerals to make up for what it’s lacking in sugar. Some of which include: calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper and iron. When you pair molasses with walnuts, you get healthy alternative to the molasses cookie and when you add dates to your walnut-molasses pairing, you get the most decadent treat that’s so healthy you could eat it for breakfast. That’s my favorite kind of treat!

Gingerbread Energy Balls

If I can eat a sweet bite while getting all my vitamins and minerals first thing in the morning, then I am a very happy girl. Until it’s time to make and decorate those candy houses in a few months, I’ll just be munchin’ on these molasses energy bites.

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Ingredients

    • 1 cup walnuts
    • ½ cup dates, pitted
    • 1 tbsp. molasses
    • 2 tsp. cinnamon
    • ½ tsp. nutmeg
    • Almond flour for rolling

Directions

  1. Place all ingredients in a food processor on high until a dough forms. You may need to stop and scrape the sides and bottom.
  2. Separate dough into eight evenly sized balls.
  3. Roll balls in almond flour until completely coated.
  4. Store in an airtight container.

Servings

Serving Size

1

Servings/Recipe

13

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