I have no intention of claiming this recipe as my own creation – as it is not. But I made this snack/run food a few days ago and not only was it EASY and fun but has good potential for decent distance running food. So I am going to rave about it.

Beardy’s Musli-Peanut Butter-Chocolate-Chia Balls

Ingredients:

1 cup Muesli

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/3 cup honey

1tbsp Chia seeds

Utensils:

1 mixing bowl

1 wooden spoon

1 cup

1 table-spoon

Tweaks From The Original

The original recipe had Oats. But oats are not something I usually buy, plus my storage space is limited and I was about to run out of muesli. My thought process was:

“There are oats in  muesli, and that’s easier than having to deal with a 1/2 bag of old oats in 3 months”.

I also struggled to find chocolate chips out here in Doha, but I CAN get all manner of chocolate – even decent dark stuff – and I have a smoosher device at the apartment. So I made my own smooshed hard chocolate flakes out of some 70% dark chocolate. Half a cup ended up being about 1/3 of a big bar (don’t freak out, this mixture makes about a dozen balls).

Method

1. Get Your Cup!

Frying In The Face Of Controversy

OK. No actual frying involved, but cooking/baking/food prep is an art as well as a science. True that the measurement of 1 cup does have actual numeric value, but often (when the mixing of different ingredients is involved) it is more about proportion than exact measures. So as long as your cup or mug is used as the basis for all your measurements, even if the exact grammage or millileterage is incorrect, your proportions will be right.

2. Stick It & Mix It

The order in which you add is not really important, usually dry ingredients first, followed by wet is a good way to go. Don’t be afraid to tweak too. I found, once I had started mixing that my chunky muesli was making it a bit dry so I added another dollop* of peanut butter . Mix until your arm gets tired!

*Dollop is a highly scientific & technical term applying the “hmm a little bit more” and “that’ll do” principles of baking.

3. The Fun Messy Part

With clean hands (and something to put your balls in). Scoop a dollop up using the tablespoon (just seemed like a good idea) and then shape into something spherically inspired. Then place your balls in a container and jam it in the fridge for at least an hour.

4. Some Time Later

Take them out. They should have hardened up enough that they will not bind with your fingers. Then store in the fridge, in an air tight container, and eat at your leisure.

Yummy!

That Food Runs…..

I am going to do a super long run at the weekend so will take 3 or 4 balls, individually wrapped in Aluminium Foil (like kinda healthy Ferrero Roche). Will let you all know how they hold up as running food.

Some Boring Nutritional Information Which Is Mostly Accurate

This is based on 12 balls, from a website based on nutritional info supplied by big brands. It is not 100% accurate but it’ll be close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, 1 ball has just under 300 calories and contains a decent amount of carbs and protein. I could probably get away with 1 – 2 balls an hour, with a water chaser as they have some salt in there too.

There You Have It!

No baking required! Takes about 20 mins to make and they really really nice!

Give them a go, let me know what you think.