Carrot Cake Snack Balls are filled with cinnamon, nutmeg, carrots and coconut. Inspired by the flavors of carrot cake, but in a much healthier snack form!
What’s your favorite snack?
Mine is usually something homemade. Like Vanilla Granola on top of Greek yogurt, breakfast cookies, or snack balls.
My daughter in particular loves to eat Snack Balls with me BUT only if they have chocolate in them. So, unfortunately for me, I’ve been eating these Carrot Cake Snack Balls all by myself! Darn! 😉
Some call them energy balls, protein balls, energy bites, etc. But, I like to call them Snack Balls. No rhyme or reason I guess, it’s just what I call them! 🙂
These Carrot Cake Snack Balls are inspired by the flavors of carrot cake: carrots, coconut, cinnamon and nutmeg. Plus, you can personalize them in a few different ways to your liking.
They’re made quickly in a food processor and that’s IT! No extra dishes.
And, hey, it might not be much but we’re sneaking in a little veggies and some extra protein too.
Let’s talk about Carrot Cake flavors first.
Typically, Carrot Cake features carrots, coconut, cinnamon, raisins (or nuts) and a cream cheese frosting. These Carrot Cake Snack Balls are inspired by those flavors, but with a healthy twist.
That means, there’s no cream cheese frosting. But, there’s a few ways to personalize them. Like:
- Dip or drizzle them with white chocolate. For extra sweet and frosting inspired flavor.
- Add raisins. Fold about 1/4 cup or so into the snack ball batter in the food processor.
- Add a little ginger or cloves to the batter.
- Chop up some dried pineapple and fold it into the snack ball batter in the food processor.
These Carrot Cake Snack Balls are gluten-free if you use certified gluten-free rolled oats and gluten-free protein powder.
To make these Snack Balls dairy-free, be sure to use a dairy-free protein powder (or substitute in more oats).
To make these vegan, use a vegan protein powder and maple syrup (instead of honey).
The ingredients in these snack balls are pretty simple and healthy too: carrots, oats, coconut, flax seed, protein powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, almond butter, honey/maple syrup and vanilla.
If you prefer not to use flax seed or protein powder, you can replace them with oats instead.
Also, use a natural almond butter. I think each company that makes almond butter tastes a little different (for whatever reason, I think the flavor differs more than peanut butter). Be sure to use an almond butter than you love, or you won’t like these snack balls!
Don’t use an almond butter you don’t like just to use it up, in hopes that the rest of the ingredients will make it taste better. These snack balls do taste somewhat like almond butter, so use one you love.
What else do I need to make these?
A food processor is a must-have. It makes shredding the carrots incredibly easy. And then, you just add everything into the food processor and blend it up a bit. That’s it!
Don’t you love a healthy, quick and easy homemade snack recipe?! I do.
After you make these, let me know what you think. I love to hear from ya’ll! Leave a comment and rating below, and/or find me on Instagram and tag me in your pic.
Before you go, you might want to check out my Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies, Carrot Cake Banana Bread, and Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies. Yum!
- 2 medium carrots (1/2 cup)
- 1 cup rolled oats (certified gluten-free)
- 1/2 cup coconut, unsweetened
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed
- 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder (dairy-free or vegan, if needed)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 3/4 cup natural almond butter
- 1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup)
- 1 tsp vanilla
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To begin, add the shredding blade to your food processor. Shred your carrots. Remove them and set aside 1/2 cup of carrots.
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Remove your shredding blade and add your s-blade to your food processor.
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To the food processor, add your carrots, oats, coconut, flax seed, protein powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, almond butter, honey and vanilla. Briefly blend.
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Using a small cookie scoop, tightly pack a full cookie scoop. Roll it till smooth. If the ingredients are not holding together well, place the snack ball back into the food processor. Add 1-2 tbsp of water, till the ingredients are sticking together.
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Scoop all of the snack balls out onto a plate. Next, I like to roll each ball between my hands to ensure they're packed tightly and they're smooth.
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Place in the fridge. Enjoy!
*Stored in the fridge, these are good for about a week.
*Each snack ball contains about 2 1/2 grams of protein each, depending on the type of protein powder you use. Without protein powder, they have only 1 gram each.
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