Vegan Mommy Chef: Clif Meets Lara Cookie Dough Bliss Balls: 11 Fabulous Flavors

I have been missing in action for some time now because in June we decided to look into buying a house. Suddenly, all my free time was gone as I poured over real estate listings. After a pretty frantic, stressful time, we are finally almost all moved in to our new place and functioning again. So, friends, I am finally able to share my favorite creation ever with you: We call them "cookie dough balls" around here. I make a new kind almost every week, and the kids eat them up like they are, indeed, cookies. Theses energy bites have the fruitiness of a Lara bar paired with the toothsome texture of a Clif bar and are insanely delicious. Every morning when Emie wakes me up, long before I am ready to emerge from the covers, I am comforted by the thought that after I trudge down to the kitchen, I can look forward to gobbling one of these as my morning treat.

There are a lot of energy ball/ bite recipes out there, but what I love about these is the beans. I think the combo of beans, seeds, coconut oil, and dates gives the perfect texture. Of the many flavors I have created, I think our favorite is chocolate mint. These can be made with either oats or buckwheat (if you want gluten-free); I like both equally and cannot tell much of a difference.

In other news, my friend who also has a child with severe food allergies has started a company called Allergy Warning Wear, which sells super-cure t-shirts for kids like ours to wear as a reminder to others of the severity of their food allergies. One of the designs is even named after my son!

Classic Cookie Dough:

3/4 cup hemp, sunflower, or pumpkin seeds, or a combination thereof
3/4 cup cooked chickpeas (drained and rinsed, if canned)
3/4 cup rolled oats or raw buckwheat groats (You can sub 1/4 cup of this with chia seed meal.)
1/4 cup rice protein powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup pitted dates
1/4 cup sunflower seed butter or tahini
1-2 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4-1/3 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (I like min-chips, if you have them.)

In a food processor, pulse together the seeds, beans, oats or buckwheat, protein powder, and salt to form a fine meal. Add the coconut oil and pulse until evenly incorporated. Add the dates, seed butter, maple syrup (starting with 1 Tbsp.), and vanilla and buzz until evenly combined. If the dough is a bit dry and not yet perfect cookie dough texture, add a bit more maple syrup. Stir in the chocolate chips, form into golf-ball-sized balls, and store in the fridge.

Now the variations.....

Snickerdoodle:
Omit chocolate chips and roll balls in cinnamon sugar.

Cranberry Orange:
Replace the dates with dried cranberries, double the chickpeas, and take out the seed butter. Replace vanilla with orange extract. Omit chocolate chips.

Chocolate-Banana Brownie:
Replace chickpeas with black beans, 1/4 cup of the oats/buckwheat with cocoa powder, and dates with rehydrated dried banana.

Chocolate Mint:
Replace chickpeas with black beans and replace vanilla with mint extract. (Use tahini for the seed butter.)

Tropical:
Replace oats/buckwheat with banana chips, replace dates with dried papaya and/or mango, replace seed butter with coconut butter, and replace vanilla with coconut extract. Omit chocolate chips.

Chocolate-Covered Cherry:
Replace dates with dried cherries and vanilla with imitation almond extract or cherry extract.

Lemon Poppyseed:
Add 1/4 cup poppyseeds and the zest of one lemon to the mix. Add 3 tsp. lemon extract instead of vanilla. Increase chickpeas to 1 cup and reduce seed butter by 2 Tbsp, using tahini. Omit chocolate chips.

Sunflower Seed Butter and Jam:
Use sunflower seeds and sunflower seed butter. Replace dates and maple syrup with 1/4-1/3 cup of your favorite jam. Omit vanilla extract, maple syrup, and chocolate chips.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie:
Increase chickpeas to 1 cup and reduce seed butter by 2 Tbsp. Add 2 tsp. cinnamon and replace dates with raisins. Omit chocolate chips.

Pumpkin Pie:
Add 3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice and replace seed butter with pumpkin puree.

Enjoy!!!! Eat these, and maybe you'll be as cool as my kids....