I have a lot of blogs I follow and a lot of bloggers that I am friends with. Sometimes I can’t even remember how I connected with a certain blog and blogger, because it feels like I’ve always known them. Erin and her blog, Dinners, Dishes and Desserts, fall into that category for me. I really think I have been following her blog from almost the very beginning, although I could be wrong about that. I just know that it caught my eye somewhere along the way and that I became a fan. She is a great cook and she always seems so upbeat, you simply can’t help but want to read what she has to say. And yet again, another blogger friend stepped up and gave a shot at making a low carb, gluten free recipe for my blog. How can you not love that???
Hi! I am Erin, from Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts. I am so excited to be here today. I have been a fan of Carolyn’s since I first started blogging. She is so talented at converting traditional high sugar treats down to low carb, gluten free versions to fit her lifestyle. When Carolyn asked me to guest post for her, she said it didn’t have to be gluten free or low carb. But, I really wanted to try. She has faithful readers who come to her site because of the type of recipes she puts out there. I didn’t want to disappoint!
I struggled for awhile trying to figure out what to come up with. I have never had to think of restricting either of these things in my cooking or baking. I didn’t want to go invest in ingredients I wouldn’t use again, so I had to get creative. Oats? The right kind can be gluten free. Peanut butter? Gluten free. I can work with that! Throw in just a little bit of chocolate, because well…it’s chocolate 🙂
These little peanut butter balls are wonderful. I stored them in the fridge, and it was like eating cookie dough for a snack. They froze really well too (I have a few still in there). I plan on making these again, and taking them for treats on our hikes this summer. Nothing like a little bribery to get your kids to climb mountains!
Nutritional Info Calories: 61, Protein: 2 grams, Carbs: 4 grams*, Fat: 2 grams
Peanut Butter Protein Balls
Adapted fromBake Your Day
1/4 cup oat flour (I used quick cooking oats, and ground them up in the food processor)
1 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup sugar free maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
Cream together peanut butter, applesauce, syrup and vanilla until well blended. Stir in oat flour, oats and salt. Mix in chocolate chips.
Roll into balls, and place on lined baking sheet. I made 22 balls out of my dough. Place baking tray in fridge for 30 minutes. Once the balls are cold, you can store them in an air tight container.
*Erin used SparkPeople to calculate the carb count. When I did it by hand myself, I got 6g of carbs per protein ball. It probably depends on what oats, peanut butter and chocolate chips you use.
Caroline says
April 27, 2012 at 10:50 amThese are perfectly easy and I bet delicious! 😀
Emily @ Life on Food says
April 27, 2012 at 12:22 pmThese look like a dessert I would love to eat. You are 100% right about her upbeat personality. She does always seem so positive about everything.
bakeyourday says
April 27, 2012 at 2:12 pmThese are so great, I love the adaptations!
Jennifer Fabulous says
April 27, 2012 at 2:14 pmThese actually remind me of a snack my mom used to make when I was a kid. Except much healthier! Hehe. So I definitely can't wait to try this recipe out. And very coincidentally, I just bought a tub of old-fashioned oats a few days ago and was trying to find new/creative recipes to use with it! Yay! 🙂
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
April 27, 2012 at 2:43 pmHi Carolyn, new to your blog via Erin's blog, but excited to check it out. Eating cookie dough for a snack sounds fantastic!
Sandras Easy Cooking says
April 27, 2012 at 3:57 pmI love Erin's blog, and she seems really down to earth person..her goodies always make my mouth water. So happy to find here here on your site Carolyn! Two great bloggers teamed up..can't beat that!!!!
Erin those protein balls look really tasty!
Wishing you both great day!!
RavieNomNoms says
April 27, 2012 at 4:21 pmYay for guest posts. I always visit Erin's blog to see what she is up to. These look very tasty!
acommunaltable says
April 27, 2012 at 6:13 pmI bet these are wonderful – a great little snack to keep on hand!!
Hester @ Alchemy says
April 27, 2012 at 6:39 pmChocolate and oats and kinda healthy – I'm there!
Erin @ Dinners, Dish says
April 27, 2012 at 6:45 pmThanks for having me Carolyn! I had fun trying to make something to fit in with your site!
Georgia says
April 27, 2012 at 7:05 pmWhat a fabulous guest post from Erin! These peanut butter balls look so delicious and wholesome, and I love that they're packed with protein-rich ingredients. Thanks for sharing, Carolyn and Erin!
spiffycookie says
April 27, 2012 at 7:56 pmLove these, especially since I have been looking for a new version of cookie-ball things.
stephday says
April 28, 2012 at 1:22 amGreat guest post, ladies! These look so tasty, Erin!
Jeanette says
April 28, 2012 at 3:12 amSimply delectable! can't wait to try!
Jessy says
April 28, 2012 at 6:56 amSugar free maple syrup?
Nami | Just One Cookbook says
April 28, 2012 at 6:57 amHi Carolyn! Just popped over from Erin's' site. Hmm these are easy, yummy, and fun! Great recipe Erin!
Suzanne says
April 28, 2012 at 7:12 amHi Carolyn, love the title of your blog, I'm the same way 🙂 I came over from Erin's blog. Looks like you have many recipes for me to check out here glad to meet you and hope you drop by my site too.
Becky says
April 28, 2012 at 3:40 pmWow! This looks so yummy I can't wait to try!
Liren says
April 28, 2012 at 5:04 pmWhat a great idea – I could see eating this before a workout – who needs to buy those expensive protein bars?
Kathy says
April 29, 2012 at 6:35 amI agree with Liren – I wish I'd seen this earlier today so I cold make some to take with me to the airport tomorrow! That would be great travel food 🙂
Parsley Sage says
April 29, 2012 at 1:16 pmOutstanding! I always love to see Carolyn's creations and its even cooler to see her inspire you, Erin! And with such a yummy, lovely treat too!
Liz says
April 29, 2012 at 8:27 pmWhat a great guest poster!!! Erin, how wonderful you went low carb…these look delicious!!! Carolyn, so fun to see two lovely blogger friends collaborating 🙂
Magic of Spice says
April 29, 2012 at 9:07 pmHi Carolyn and Erin, great guest post! This are just delightful and such a great idea for a snack!
Alison Lewis says
April 29, 2012 at 10:41 pmThese are calling my name! Bookmarked
Russell says
April 29, 2012 at 11:07 pmOoh! It's like eating cookie dough! But healthy cookie dough> I can get behind that.
Baker Street says
April 30, 2012 at 2:39 amOh this is such a fabulous idea. Lovely guest post.
Angela Guptill says
May 3, 2012 at 11:38 pmThat's the first thing I noticed too. Pure maple syrup has NO added sugar. Maybe she talking about sugar free maple-flavoured syrup?
Deb says
October 29, 2012 at 9:07 amGreat recipe-I need a little more protein in my snacks so I add some vanilla protein powder to bump that number up…
Joanne says
November 28, 2012 at 2:32 pmCan you please give me more info about “sugar free maple syrup”. Is this something you can just buy anywhere? Thanks for your help!