Cookie Dough Protein Balls

My cookie dough protein balls will satisfy that sweet tooth! This recipe was inspired by no bake granola bites which I love, but they are traditionally made with oats which are higher in carbs. So here is my keto version of granola cookie dough bites. It was a lot of trial and error with this recipe. I re-made it 3 times to really perfect it, so I hope you love them as much as I do. The first time they were too mushy and "wet" and the second time they were too dry. You know what they say, third times a charm! And boy were they right.

An added plus is that my daughters love these! It's even a perfect snack for my daughter, Raelyn, who has an egg and dairy allergy. It can be difficult to find dairy and egg free sweet treats or desserts for her. These are so fun and she loves to help me make them. Of course when we make them for her we absolutely have to add sprinkles.

DO I HAVE TO USE A FOOD PROCESSOR?

It's not absolutely necessary to have the food processor for this recipe but it definitely makes it a whole lot easier and quicker. Personally, I hate to get my food processor out because it's big and bulky but for this recipe I think it's worth it. Hashtag lazy? Kidding but not!

If you don't have a food processor, no worries! You can blend the nuts coarsely in a blender. From there, add them to a bowl and mix in the rest of your ingredients by hand. This will slow down the process a bit but they will still come out just as good!

SWAPS:

You can honestly take this core recipe and make it your own! There is so much room for spicing or sweetening it up to your liking, especially with different flavors. I can't wait to make more of these and have a bit more fun with it. I used pecans and almonds but you can use any nuts you want. I added milk chocolate chips for this recipe but again, you can use milk chocolate, butterscotch or dark chocolate. My favorite is Lily's chocolate chips that you can purchase at your local grocery store AND they're no sugar. For the extract I used vanilla, but there is also lemon, cake batter, almond, etc.

As always, don't forget to add sprinkles because your food always tastes better when it's cute.

WHERE DO I STORE THEM?

I keep them in my fridge or freezer depending on when I plan to eat them. If I make them for my daughter, I'll keep them in the fridge because she just devours them but for me I usually leave half in the fridge and half in the freezer. If they're in the freezer just take them out a few hours in advance before you eat them so that they can thaw out.