These 5-ingredient oatmeal energy bites are sweet, filling and a cinch to put together. They're perfect for a quick on-the-go snack!
Brett and I are in need of a lot of "energy" lately...a.k.a. calories! Since we moved to New York about a month ago, we've been training for a half marathon that will be held in Central Park in mid-October. It still seems surreal to me that I'm training for a half. I love the process of training for races so much. Four times in the past I've tried running half marathons, but sadly, due to injuries and poor running technique, I got injured right before three of those races and was only able to complete my first half just this past December.
It was at the beginning of this year that I decided to change the way I run. I use to run striking through my heels and now I run on the forefronts of my feet. This keeps me from putting too much pressure and stress on my joints. Changing my form wasn't easy though. I started out running too far and injured my foot early on in the process. After that injury healed I took things painfully slow, only running ½ mile distances at a time and gradually increasing.
Now I'm up to 9 miles!
During this training period I've realized an important thing about the way I train best. Some people love to get in lots of miles, running 5-6 times a week. Others, myself included, train best when we run only 3-4 times a week. I always thought I wasn't training enough if I didn't get in 5-6 runs a week, but my body would feel exhausted and I began to dread running. Now that I allow my body to rest for longer periods of time in between runs, my pace has increased and I look forward to each and every run. What a revelation!
Another thing that's different about training here in New York is that I'm training with people. Seriously, if you want to push yourself and get faster, run with people that are faster than you. I've been running with my husband Brett and our good friend Adrienne. Both of them are champs and are naturally faster than I am, so running with them has really helped me to improve my speed. I used to run between an 8:30-9:00 minute mile on average, but now I'm averaging closer to 8:00 minute miles! For me, that's huge!
All this training is making me (and especially Brett!) huuuuungry. Even if I didn't know Brett was running, I would be able to tell by the way his appetite spikes when he starts doing any kind of cardio. I swear the guy's always hungry. We are both such snackers too and we tend to eat smaller meals/snacks throughout the day. When we leave our apartment for the day we always take a big bag full of our lunches, snacks and fruit. And of course something sweet for Brett. Heaven forbid we'd be without food for a couple of hours!
These oatmeal energy bites are the perfect snack. You can pop one in your mouth for quick energy, or eat them slowly in bites to savor every morsel. They're sweet, but not overpowering. I consider them healthy enough for a snack, but they'd please my dessert tooth as well. And the best part...they only contain 5 ingredients! With a food processor, I can whip these up in about 5 minutes.
📖 Recipe
Nutella and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Bites
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup Nutella* OR ½ cup Peanut Butter
- 5 pitted medjool dates
- 1 cup oatmeal
- ⅓ cup shredded coconut
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup agave or honey*
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine the Nutella (or peanut butter) and pitted dates and process until the dates have broken up into chunks.
- Add in the oatmeal shredded coconut and sweetener and process until everything is combined and sticky. If the mixture forms into a ball that chases itself around the bowl, stop your processor, break the ball up into pieces, and process a bit longer.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Notes
Here's my recipe for your own homemade Nutella!
Sydni Jackson says
These look really good! I want to try them. So funny that you just shared about changing your running form - I just finished reading the Paleo Manifesto (it was okay) and learned about running with the forefoot vs. heel. Do you ever run barefoot? It's probably hard in NYC, but I have done it a little bit to try to get my body used to the technique. It KILLS your calves though, as I'm sure you know!! That makes me feel a lot better that you only started with about a half mile at first. It's weird having to go back to running such short distances (I only run about 2-3 miles anyway), but that's encouraging that you're up to 9 now! PS I have also started making my own almond milk/flour! And I recently made almond butter. Love that stuff!!
Faith says
Thanks! I haven't heard of the Paleo Manifesto. I've only run barefoot on grass, but yeah not yet in NYC! And oh.my.goodness. My calves killed (and still do!) when I made the switch. I can go longer now before they start hurting, but I finally got compression socks that help a ton. Definitely something to look into if you're gonna do a lot of forefoot running.
And cool on the almond milk/flour/butter!! Isn't it so satisfying? Do you use a blender or food processor for the almond butter?