Thursday, January 29, 2009

Oat and Nut Energy Bites - Sugar free

Snacks play a starring role in my day's menu. I would happily skip lunch if I was offered snacks instead. Items like bakshanam*, vadai* or samosa* immediately come to mind. Not that I ever do that, mind you, because my conscience would not let me get away with that. Knowing my weakness for snacks I take care that I never keep the items mentioned above at home and stock my pantry with healthy alternatives like dry fruits and nuts.

Having said that, there are only so many dry fruits you can snack on, before it starts to become a little boring. So when I came across this recipe  on Divya's site I thought it was an interesting and intriguing idea. I have now made these energy bites many many times and have changed some of the proportions along the way and have enjoyed it quite a lot each time. This energy bite is mildly sweet and with a combination of oats and nuts, is packed with nutrients, fiber and protein. This also makes a great snack when on the go, especially on long drives or even on the drive back from work :-)

 Sugar Free Oat and Nut Energy Bites-Oats dates ladoo


Ingredients and Method to make the energy bites
1 1/2 cups of one minute oats ( I used Quaker)
1 1/2 cups of mixed nuts ( I used a combination of raw unsalted peanuts, almonds and cashewnuts) (any combination of nuts works here, I have used almonds (badam), peanuts (mungphali) , walnuts (akhrot), cashew nuts (kaju)  to name a few over time in making these)
1 1/2 cups of dates
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2 tsp cardamom seed powder (elaichi)
1 tsp clarified butter (ghee/nei) (optional for additional flavor) (leave out for a vegan version)


Dry roast the one minute oats till it turns into a  creamier color ( about a minute or two) and keep aside.

Dry roast the mixed nuts either separately or together and keep aside.

In a food processor or blender grind the oats to a fine powder and keep aside.

Similarly grind the nuts to a fine powder and keep aside.

A food processor is my preferred gadget to make this because it really simplifies the process. If using a food processor, place the dates and raisins and process until the dates are much smaller and seem a little mushed up.

Add the oat flour and nut powder to this along with cardamom seed powder and process until all the ingredients come together.

It looks a little like thick and sticky breadcrumbs. You know it is done when you place a little of this mixture on your palm and make a fist, the mixture should bind and hold together.

If using clarified butter/ ghee add at this point and give it another turn. 
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Roll into little balls and store in an air tight container.

If using a blender then the best way to proceed is to powder each of dry ingredients separately and add to a large bowl.

Lastly grind the raisins+dates and add the crushed/ground dates to the rest and knead with your hand until the mixture starts to come together.

Proceed as above.

Notes:

You can use a combination of any type of nuts, I used these since they are my favorite ones.

You can change the proportion of oats and nuts slightly but the dates and raisins are essential because they impart sweetness and also provide binding to these bites so reducing or skipping one or both can impact the final product. 

The cardamom imparts wonderful flavor to these bites so I would not recommend skipping it.

* Bakshanam are deep fried snacks from Southern India, Vadai is a snack made from deep fried ground lentils and samosa's are spiced potatoes rolled in dough and what else....deep fried of course:-) 

55 comments :

anudivya said...

Wow Usha! Thanks! You really did try it!
I am so happy that you made it so many times and most of all liked it.
It is such a healthy power snack and could keep one energized for a very long time.
Looks very pretty too!

Yeah, I am due for my next post, have been slacking off, I am trying to get one done from morning, and still am at it! :(
I find it easier to see what others are cooking than do a post myself. He he.

Maria said...

Oh yum!! Looks good to me!

Anonymous said...

reading the word bakshanam made me feel hungry - muruku, thattai, seedai :)
lovely recipe ... more reasons to buy a food processor :)

Manju said...

thats is one healthy snack!!!

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

delicious fudge usha. i also like it.. am gonna make it today :)

Varsha Vipins said...

Wow..Thanks to u n Divya..bookmarked to try..:)

anudivya said...

Thanks for the push... just managed to post something. Or else I would have spent my time getting distracted.

Laavanya said...

THat's a healthy & yummy snack to look forward to.

suvi said...

thansk for the lovely entries usha! and more than that, thanks for sharing such a healthy snack.

suvi said...

never thought you could make masala peanuts in the MW...awesome idea :)

Cham said...

Looks absolutely delicous , I remember seeing at Audiv the power balls! Delicous looking

Sujatha said...

delicious snack! and healthy too..

Unknown said...

looks really good and nice healthy ingredients..

Shama Nagarajan said...

lovely ones...nice snack

Gita Jaishankar said...

This is such a healthy snack.. looks very delicious too :)

Shama Nagarajan said...

lovely ones...nice snack

Shama Nagarajan said...

lovely ones...nice snack

Priya Suresh said...

Wow, delicious with healthy stuffs in it, prefect for everyone..great work usha..

Chitra said...

Oh,wat a healthy snack!!do visit my blog at ur free time:)

Purva Desai said...

They look healthy and nut cracking

Sara said...

This looks delicious! I love cardamom, it's such a good spice.

Recipeswap said...

Healthy and delicious!

Jaishree Iyer said...

WoW! Healthy & delicious. Looks gr8 & yum usha

Trupti said...

what a lovely healthy snack Usha

Sharmila said...

Sugarless sounds good. :-) Good recipe.

Unknown said...

Nutritious snack..

Dershana said...

adding oats in there was a great idea, Usha. Looks great!

Malar Gandhi said...

Wow...looks perfect for me, nice one...

Deepthi Shankar said...

this is one healthy snack to munch on

Finla said...

Wowo they look delicious, and they are really healthy too.

AnuSriram said...

Thats a healthy recipe... I'm drooling here..

Anonymous said...

These do look great, healthy and something fabulous to munch on without the guilt!

Nithya Praveen said...

Wow did i read sugarless???? Ummmmyummy wonderful.Quite easy to make too,will make this and let u know.

Sum Raj said...

healthy and unique item...looks mouthwatering.

The Fit.Me said...

Yummy as always..and healty...will try it sometime..

Thanks for your lovely comments on my blog... :)

Adlak's tiny world said...

such a delicious and yummy dish... this looks diffrnt and tasty yar.

Vidhya said...

Perfecto Usha.. Bookmarked this one for my kiddos

Unknown said...

Such a lovely recipe. Shall try it out for my Dad

Rajee said...

Very healthy snack. I think it's hard to make into balls.

Uma said...

mmm. looks so yummy Usha! Nice and healthy. How are you doing?

Rajani said...

hi usha i love this nut fudge i have another version of a nut bar i have made - i like yours cos its sugar free. I am going to try and make the same. Ihave a sweet tooth but i am on a diet :p so its got to be sugarless!

Usha said...

Thanks Divya for your comments and your recipe, this is becoming a regular snack in my home these days:-)


Maria thanks for visiting...


Indhu,don't even remind me of murukku, thattai and especially seedai haven't had them for a long while now.....

Usha said...

Superchef and Mahimaa, Thanks!!


Varsha, do try and let me know when you do :-)

Laavanya, thanks for dropping by:-)

Usha said...

Aquadaze,looking forward to the roundup and yes microwave peanuts work out really well without compromising on the taste, do try them :-)


Cham, Sujatha, Sowmya , Shama, Gita and Priya, thanks for your comments and for visiting !

Usha said...

Chitra and Purva Thanks so much !


Sara, thanks. Cardamom is one of my favorite spices too :-)


N33ma, Jaishree, Trupti,Sharmila, Madhu, Dershana , Malar, Deesha, Happycook and Anu, thanks for visiting and your sweet comments !!

Usha said...

Girl Japan I love guiltless snacks..thanks for visiting hope to see you here again !


Nithya do try it and let me know when you do...thanks for visiting!


Suma, Jayashree, Hema, Vidhya and Ramya thanks!

Usha said...

Rajee it is quite easy even to give them the shape so long as you have enough dates/raisins it binds easily :-)

Thanks Uma :-)


Rajani hope you try it and like it as much as we did :-)

Anonymous said...

This is one of the healthiest sweets I've seen in a long time in the food blogosphere. It is ideal for children too so they don't get too hooked on chocolate. ;-)

ARUNA said...

wow yet another interesting recipe.....and the pic is so tempting!!Healthy dish too.

Unknown said...

hi..

i tried this recipe and it came out really well...i didnt have raisins..so i substituted them with dry anjeer and it tasted really good...Hatsoff to ur Oats recipes!!

Unknown said...

hello

can i use rolled oats and how to use them?

Usha said...

Thanks Michelle, I am glad you like it !

Thanks Aruna !

Usha said...

Thanks Sirisha ! I am so glad that you tried and liked this. I love the idea of using anjeer in this, I am sure it tasted pretty good with anjeer :-)

Usha said...

Rose I have not tried this with rolled oats. But I think you can use rolled oats in this recipe, you may have to roast rolled oats longer and powder it very fine. If you do try this with rolled oats, I would love to know how it turned out.....

gayatrii said...

Wow! This is so different and healthy. I love oats, I am definitely going to try this one. :)

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