Chestnut and Quinoa Energy Balls

“These little beauties are pretty, powerfully flavoured and packed full of energy. You can vary the coating to suit what you fancy and what you have handy. The chestnut puree makes an excellent change from peanut butter to make the balls lighter and more freshly flavoured. The quinoa adds a great burst of protein and the coating an irresistible combination of crunch and chew.”

Serves 6
30 minutes
1 pan
Beginner

Suitable for dairy-free, gluten-free, vegans and vegetarians

Ingredients

1 x 250g Merchant Gourmet Simply Cooked Red & White Quinoa
100g Merchant Gourmet Chestnut Puree
150g dried apricots
60g goji berries
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
2 tbsp maple syrup or honey

Instructions

1.Put the chestnut puree, dried apricots, goji berries, vanilla extract and maple syrup into the bowl of your food processor. Blend to a rough puree. (If you don’t have a food processor, just chop all of this by hand)

2. Add the cooked quinoa. Pulse just enough to combine it. At this stage you can, but don’t have to, put the mixture in your fridge for 30 minutes to make it easier to roll

3. Separate the mixture into 26 pieces. Roll the pieces into balls between your palms. Toss them in a bowl of the seed and nut mixture then press each one lightly to make sure the coating sticks