Carob powder has frightened me for quite some time. Is it silly to be frightened of an ingredient? Probably. But I bought a carob bar that said it was like chocolate. It lied! It wasn’t! So, here’s the straight-up truth: these cinnamon & carob energy bites taste nothing like chocolate. They’re lightly spiced with cinnamon, sweetened with dates, and totally rocking that combo.
Tacking the carob powder fear
I suppose you’re wondering why on earth I decided to tackle my fear of carob powder! Well, I was challenged to make some awesome stuff by the lovely folk at Buy Wholefoods Online, and since I was already buying various nuts and seeds from them anyway, I figured hey! why not!
And so: carob powder. My research led me to the same falsehood that led to my fear of carob powder in the first place: it’s linked with chocolate. Or cocoa and cacao to be exact. But it’s not! I mean, yes, it is brown but to my mind(/tastebuds) that’s where the similarities end. It’s… milder, I guess. And has a slight extra taste to it that I still can’t put my finger on. It makes me like to put with things like cinnamon (hello cinnamon & carob energy bites) and ginger (coming soon, in a sugar-free cake!).
The trick to the cashews
I’ve shared energy ball recipes before, but I think I’ve forgotten to mention the trick with the nuts. Or, I have and I’ve just plain forgotten (more likely. I forget a lot). But anyway: make sure you do the nuts first, on their own. Otherwise, you’ll over blend the dates and be left with a sticky, lumpy mess.
Blend the nuts (cashews, in this instance) to a finer texture as you want first, then add the rest of the ingredients. In the pictures here, they’re still fairly chunky because
- a) Wy hates loud noises. This includes the processor (and drills, and the blender, and too-squeaky doors)
- b) I didn’t have a lot of time!
More vegan snack ideas
Not a fan of carob powder? Don’t panic, here are some more vegan snack ideas for you:
- Superpowered Cacao & Maca Oat Cookies
- Lemon Drizzle Energy Balls
- Mini Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies (gluten-free)
- Banana Flapjacks (sugar-free)
Carob and Cinnamon Energy Bites
Luci Rebecca, Made by Luci
Simple and quick energy bites with a slight spice and delightful sweetness.
- Prep: 5 minutes
- Yield 13
Ingredients
- 125g cashews
- 125g dried dates
- 2 tbsp carob powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp water
Directions
- Put the cashews in a food processor, or high powered blender, and blitz until tiny. For a smoother texture, blitz until a fine crumb.
- Add the remaining ingredients and blend until it starts to look dough-like, then stop.
- Roll the mixture into balls and keep in an air tight container for no more than a week.
