The beauty about blogging is that you (i.e. the blogger in question) choose what content to share i.e. no one needs to know about the disasters and experimentation fails. That being said, I’m going to own my recent kitchen blunders.
Case 1: Sunday evening
I noticed a few black bananas in our fruit bowl that were begging to either be thrown out or turned into muffins. I hate wasting food so I went with the latter option. After spending 10 minutes throwing together the ingredients and another 20 minutes of baking time, it was time to taste. I’m not going to lie: I was pretty chuffed at my nonchalant domestication and efficiency. I was meeting a few friends for dinner shortly after, so I wanted to take some for them too. Although the texture of the muffins was perfectly moist, they tasted inedible. I misread my recipe and ended up putting too much salt & baking soda. In case you’re wondering, savory banana bread is no bueno. I don’t even have a picture to share as I immediately chucked them out…which is oh so ironic given my reasons to bake them in the first place.
Case 2: Monday evening
I’ve been craving granola bars for the past week so attempted to make some from scratch. I even bought parchment paper & a suitable baking tray. After browsing various recipes for inspiration, I decided to go down the no-bake route. The idea of throwing together a handful of ingredients, flattening them in a baking tray and then refrigerating seemed foolproof…and it was. Everything went dandy until it was time to cut them into individual bars. In theory these bars should have each been rectangular but in reality, they were a crumbly mess.
As the batter was essentially raw, fortunately these bars could be salvaged…which brings me to Case 3 a.k.a third time lucky
Case 3: Monday evening post-granola bar slicing
I transferred the granola bar mix into a large bowl, rolled it into individual balls, set them in the freezer to harden, and hoped for the best. Ladies & gentleman, we have a winner…finally: Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Balls.
Maybe I’m doing something wrong but “brownies” containing black beans do not taste like brownies. Frozen fruit blended with protein powder is not “protein ice cream”. These balls, however, taste legit like cookie dough. As they’re full of complex carbs, healthy fats & a decent amount of protein, these cookie dough balls are the perfect pre- or post-workout snack…or any-time snack for that matter. Oh and did I mention they require all of zero seconds in the oven?
Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Balls (Makes 10-12 balls)
Each ball contains 110 calories, 4g protein & 2g fiber
Ingredients
- 1 cup (=90g) rolled or quick-cooking oats
- 1/3 cup (=85g) natural peanut butter
- 1/4 cup (=35g) ground flaxseeds
- 2 tablespoons (=15g) chopped raisins
- 2 tablespoons (=15g) chopped hazelnuts
- 3 tablespoons (=50g) honey
Method
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix together until everything is thoroughly combined.
- Use your hands to roll dough into individual balls, packing them tightly. Freeze for an hour.
- Store balls in an airtight container in the freezer.
Notes
- If you’re allergic to peanuts, any other nut or seed butter would work just as well
- For gluten-free balls, use certified gluten-free oats
- Other ingredients I want to incorporate in future batches include chocolate chips, roasted almonds & sunflower seeds
So basically:
- Some disasters can be turned into something even better than what you initially had in mind
- These balls are delicious
- Go make these NOW- they take all of 7 minutes to throw together
- I wrote a whole post on nuts & balls without a single That’s What She Said…kudos to me?
Any recent kitchen disasters? Do share!
What’s your favorite cookie flavor?
These are just like my breakfast cookie dough recently posted- so good and the best thing it is no bake! Latest kitchen disaster was heavy handed on the salt….oops.
Clearly great minds think alike 😉
Khushboo – thanks for highlighting your kitchen blunders, lady – it takes balls to admit one’s blunders – and if balls like these are the result of your blunders – I say cheers to future blunderings!! 😉
Yes to incorporating chocolate chips into these balls! Do you think rolled oats are ok to use instead of quick cooking?
As for kitchen disasters, I have been experimenting with freekeh flour and have been trying to master a flipable pancake and have been so unlucky! If I mix it with a ton of other ingredients it is fine, but freekeh flour on its own – ugh! Oh well…but when I do get it right and post you have inspired me to post my failed attempts too.
I think rolled oats would work fabulously instead of quick-cooking. Have you tried freekeh in grain form? It’s yummy! I can’t wait to hear this pancake recipe- hopefully soon!
Gotta love it when kitchen distasters work out well! I remember making a batch of ‘protein muffins’ a month or two ago…ya no. Not good.
Haha glad I’m not the only one who hasn’t always been successful with protein baked goods 😉
My cousin was just asking me about granola bars that require minimal ingredients and are easy to make! I’m going to send her your recipe. Balls bars – same diff as long as they taste good!
Ah thanks for sharing- I hope she is a fan 🙂
My kitchen failures mostly include too long baking time. I always think it needs a LITTLE longer and then it turns out to be dry stone. I wait for me to get it and take the product out of the oven on time.
Love these balls! (haha.)
I need to stock up on nutbutter, I have this horrible situation of not having any at home.
Ohhh I feel you- that almost always happens to me when baking cookies….will we ever learn!! And shame on you for getting to such a disastrous low with nut butter ;)!
Yum! I have all the ingredients on hand to make these 😀 I never try throwing recipes together because it always ends up in disaster!
Woo hoo let me know how you like them- I bet Nutella would taste pretty kick ass in these too ;)!
I’m a sugar cookie with tons of frosting fan! I might have to try your balls. They look easy!
Mmmm sugar cookies
It’s so funny…my family purchases banana like they’re a staple, yet we only use them when we noticed them starting to go bad x-x
These powerballs look like a deeeeelicious snack for on the go!
If you ask me, bananas are best when black ;)!
Not gonna lie — the thought of savoury banana bread makes me kind of nauseous 😆 But the thought of cookie dough makes me all sorts of happy. I’m a huge fan of making no-bake bites, with [almond] butter, oats, chocolate, and honey being one of my favourite combos. Not surprising, since chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are my favourite of all time 😀
Note to self: salt + chocolate = delicious…salt + banana = FAIL! I can’t wait to try this next with almond butter!
I’m digging the use of hazelnuts in these. Very cool, so I’m really glad they turned out. My latest kitchen flop was my overdone sweet potatoes, and by overdone, I mean inedible.
Ohhh man it’s almost painful throwing out burnt food…actually it’s very painful!!
I LOVE these! It’s like how I make my overnight oats in a jar… but in ball form! Brilliant. 🙂
Woo let me know if you try them out :)!
i have gone that route where granola bars didnt stick together and had to turn them into balls – i love your version with peanut butter cookie dough…
I think I’m done with making granola bars..balls = same taste but with half the effort ;)!
I love peanut butter and cookie dough! Combined sounds amazing! And these dont require a food processor which makes them a bigger win as mine is dead!
Haha these balls are as no-fuss as it gets…hope you enjoy ’em!
These are very good! I used dark chocolate peanut butter and skipped the honey. Very tasty and so easy to make!!
I’m glad you enjoyed them, Meghana :D!
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Hey Khushboo! Your blog is so inspiring. Tried two of your recipes- Almond nut butter and the cookie dough balls! I went wild with the balls and added loads of black currants, M&M’s and dark chocolate compound. They taste incredible!!
My almond butter turned out perfect in the first attempt too. All thanks to your tips and tricks!
Thanks, I’m officially a fan!
Wow Aakriti, what amazing feedback- thank you so much! I am so pleased you are enjoying my recipes and your version of the balls sounds heavenly :)! Hope you continue reading!
I am making these tomorrow for my l’il flipper. Going to give him1 for breakfast with some greek yogurt and banana on the side.. Excited for him to have x
Hope baby boo enjoyed!!