Energy Balls

The past few weeks have been completely dominated by preparing for and then having a new kitchen fitted. First there was the task of emptying all the kitchen cupboards, lugging all the loose furniture upstairs to the spare room and taking everything off the walls - curtains, pictures, the clock and the calendar, the latter two meaning I've been a bit lost; then there was setting up a makeshift cooking station in the laundry room; and that was before the contractors arrived to create more dust that I could really cope with. I'm sure you can picture the scene: you glance down at your leg in the middle of an important work meeting and notice that there is an unmissable smudge of white dust all the way down your right leg!

All this has required boundless energy so I've been keeping a good stock of 'energy balls' in the fridge to keep me and everyone else going. Fortunately they don't require any cooking and can be rustled up in a fairly small space. When I say, don't need any cooking, I guess I should qualify this. The recipe does ask for 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil, but fear not. Coconut oil has a very low melting point so placing your oil on a radiator, boiler top, sunny windowsill, even in the hands of a very warm-blooded person should do the trick, particularly for such a small quantity.

The original recipe is from the Sainsbury's Magazine and made with dates and cashews but I've also been experimenting with other combinations and shapes.

The first of these was to substitute the dates with dried apricots and the cashews and cashew butter with almonds and almond butter.  The results were just as delicious.

Apricot and Almond Energy Balls

I've now just made up 1.5 times original recipe and pressed it all into a rectangular tin, rather than shape the mixture into balls. It's a lot less messy than making the balls but a top tip, should you choose to make the balls, is to ensure you have wet hands.

Once set, I cut the slab into cubes, which I'm hoping will be easier to pack into a lunchbox (less prone to rolling around!)

Cashew and Date Cubes

Once this batch has been consumed I've already decided on the next flavour - hazelnut and dark chocolate, inspired by a visit to friends the other weekend. I'll stick with the dates but use hazelnut butter and chopped and toasted hazelnuts rather than the suggested cashews but will also sprinkle in some dark chocolate chips. I'm also considering something with lemon zest in but will mull that idea over a bit more.

Right, time for a cup of tea and a cube of energy I think!