HAVE THIS TERRIBLE habit of saving beautiful-looking recipes on Pinterest that I will never make. This recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Sea Salt Power Bites was one of them, but it differs from all the others in that I actually just made them today, and they were not just easy, but completely delicious. It took me over a week to gather all of the ingredients together―(being busy and all): dates from our local green grocer, organic natural peanut butter, etc., and ended up forgetting the sea salt flakes. But they still worked out in the end, despite our not having a proper blender and nearly getting everything clogged in the smoothie blender. The caramelly Medjool dates work really well with the rich peanut butter and protein powder. It’s a great filling snack with just the right amount of sweetness. Vegan, gluten-free, with paleo option.

Ingredients

• 1-½ cup Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped

• ¾ cups natural peanut butter

• ¾ cups plant-based protein powder

• ¼ cups dark chocolate chips

• 1 teaspoon coconut oil

• 1 pinch sea salt for topping

Preparation

Line a baking sheet or large tray with parchment paper.

Toss dates and peanut butter (or any nut butter you choose) into a blender and pulse to combine. Add protein powder, 1/4 cup at a time and continue pulsing to combine everything. You may need to periodically scrape down the sides of the blender to re-incorporate any powder or lumps.

When dough is sticky enough to hold itself together, roll into golfball-sized portions and flatten into 1/2 to 1 inch thick discs (should make about 16). Place these on the baking sheet/large tray and refrigerate while you prepare the chocolate drizzle.

Microwave chocolate chunks and coconut oil at 30-second intervals until completely melted. Take the sheet/tray out of the fridge and drizzle a spoonful of the melted chocolate over the top of each bite. Sprinkle each with just a touch of sea salt and refrigerate again until chocolate drizzle is solidified.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Recipe by Hungry Haley via Tasty Kitchen; variation here