You know when you make a recipe and it turns out exactly how you wanted it to without having to adjust it 1,000 times?

THAT is what my five year old son did in this recipe.

On the first try I nail about 25% of my recipes and the others either flop or need much doctoring and sometimes a redo. It is a great learning process and for me and the mess-ups are what make cooking enjoyable because I get better the next time.

That is not to say I don’t LOVE when we get it right on the first try. It saves a lot of time!

My kids love the kitchen

I am so very thankful for that. My daughter cooks frequently, mostly baking, and mostly with chocolate, flour, yogurt, more chocolate, brown sugar, chocolate chips, and apples. We get a variation of a recipe with all of those ingredients at least once a week. Though it is usually sweets, I never discourage it because it helps teach math (fractions), patience, and keeps them off electronics.

Sweet Success!

The other day my five-year-old son put on his sister’s play chef hat and told me he wanted to make peanut butter protein balls. He was adamant that they would be “super peanut buttery” and round. He and I grabbed some ingredients and got to work.

They turned out delicious on the first try so I must share!

Grab a food processer (I love this one for projects like this) and the following ingredients and get to let’s get to it!

• GLUTEN FREE OATS (We used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Old Fashioned Oats)
• PITTED DATES
• PEANUT BUTTER (the creamy kind you have to stir, just peanuts and salt for ingredients)
• COCOA OR CACAO POWDER
• HONEY
• MAPLE SYRUP
• SALT

Follow along with the recipe and have some fun in the kitchen with your kiddo!

*FYI – I just HAD to roll these balls for the picture, though over time I have learned to let the kids make them their way messy and fun! We ate the batch Dax rolled as I wrote this.

Print Recipe

Daxton's Peanut Butter Protein Balls

Sweet & comforting peanut butter balls. A great treat to grab instead of a Reese's peanut butter cup!

Course

Sides

Cuisine

snack

Prep Time

5-10 minutes

Servings

Balls

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Glutten Free Oats
• 4 Pitted Dates
• 1/3 Cup Peanut Butter The creamy one you have to stir works best
• 1 tsp Cocoa or Cacao Powder
• 1 Tbsp Honey
• 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
• 1 Pinch salt

Course Sides Cuisine snack Prep Time 5-10 minutes Servings Balls Ingredients 1 Cup Glutten Free Oats 4 Pitted Dates 1/3 Cup Peanut Butter The creamy one you have to stir works best 1 tsp Cocoa or Cacao Powder 1 Tbsp Honey 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup 1 Pinch salt

Instructions

1. Add the oats to the food processor and chop until fine.
2. Empty the chopped oats into a bowl. Set aside for step 4.
3. Chop the pitted dates in the food processer until fine.
4. Add the oats back into the food processor with the dates. Mix as best as you can. *If the dates are clumpy you may want to open up the food processor and spread them out before you add the oats to mix.
5. Add the peanut butter, cocoa, and salt. Mix
6. Take the mixure out and put into a bowl. Add the honey and maple syrup. Mix by hand or with a spoon.
7. Form 1" balls and place on a baking sheet. You can eat these right away or put in the freezer to let set for later.
8. ENJOY!

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