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Apricot Coconut Energy Balls + a giveaway

Bet the title got your attention right? I made these and John asked if I was making meatballs... ummm not so much sweets. When I told him they were apricot coconut cookies he pretended to gag and fall over. Fine then, no cookies for you and more for me! Silly melodramatic husband.

These were inspired by lara bars and how they don't' have many ingredients and use dried fruit for the sweetness factor. The best part is they don't require an oven so make away on these hot sticky days!


The other inspiration for these was MaraNatha nut butters. The wonderful people there sent me a variety pack of nut butters to try and I can't wait to show you all the recipes I'm coming up with! The other bonus... they sent me 3 coupons for free jars of any variety of their nut butters to give away to my lovely readers!!! (How to enter at the bottom of the post)

I brought these into work and they came with rave reviews! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do :)


Apricot Coconut Energy Balls
recipe by steph chows
makes about 24 small balls/chunks

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup dried appricots
1/4 cup MaraNatha almond butter with a hint of sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Place dried apricots in a food processor (or blender if that's all you have). Process until pretty well broken up. Add in almond butter and pulse until somewhat smooth. Remove from food processor and into a bowl, stir in unsweetened coconut and cinnamon. With your fingers pinch off balls and roll between your hands. Chow!!! Place whatever you don't eat in the refrigerator for later!

Now onto the good part.. the giveaway! You have 2 ways to enter. (you can do either way or both!)
  1. Visit MaraNatha and tell me which variety you'd get with your coupon.
  2. For another chance "like" them on Facebook and then comment back here to let me know you did!
You have until Monday the 26th at 5pm EST to enter. Winners will be picked by random.org next week!

PS. More info about how to join in on the 2nd annual jam exchange coming next week!

70 chews:

Maria said...

Great little snack! And almond butter with sea salt-count me in!

brandi said...

Yum - those look great! I love having snack recipes like this. They're great for trips, too.

I'd LOVE to try their dark chocolate peanut!!! I love their almond butter, but I've never seen their pb or sunflower seed butters here.

brandi said...

oh, and I "like" them on FB!

Liked on facebook and I'd pick dark chocolate almond.

These look super portable and super delicious--and you could probably customize the flavors!

erl6286 said...

I'm going to make these soooon. :D As for the nut butters, I'd go for dark chocolate almond.. or cashew.. or macadamia..they all sound so good!

Jul said...

Love their honey almond butter. Yum!

What a great treat! I would love to try their cashew butter - I've had almond and peanut, but never cashew butter. I bet it's fantastic!

Lisa said...

I would get the cashew butter.

I love that these are no-bake treats, Steph. This is def. the right time of year for that!

I think I'd like to try MaraNatha's cashew or macadamia nut butter ... since I've never had either one.

Looking forward to the rest of your experiments!

Leslie said...

Cashew butter for me please. I liked them on FB already.

Anonymous said...

I would LOVE to try the Honey Almond Butter. I mean, how can you not love peanut butter and honey!! Yum!! :)

Sarah said...

What a great little recipe. This is something I can imagine eating for an afternoon snack at work. Thanks for the inspiration.

Nut butters are easy to make yourself: just whizz the nuts in a food processor, possibly adding a few drops of oil to help it come together as a paste. Nut butters were the Daring Cooks challenge last month, so you should see a few recipes around the blog-o-sphere. :-)

Jennifer said...

I LOVE larabars!!!! These balls are most perfect, cheaper and the sea salt is a winning addition!!!

I once found a jar of Maranthas dark chocolate almond butter...it didnt last long, it was to die for!!! I havent been able to find it since!

Meghan said...

I would LOVE to try the chocolate almond butter.... or the cashew butter.... Noms!!

Emily N. said...

I'd like the Creamy Organic Almond Butter - No Salt.
email in profile

Emily N. said...

I like them on FB.

~ Cee ~ said...

The Dark Chocolate Almond Butter sounds incredible, but I am also tempted to try the Natural Almond Butter No Salt Crunchy, as well as the Natural Tahini - with Salt (Roasted). Thank you! Cee
ceevegnashville [at] gmail [dot] com

jen said...

dark chocolate almond spread! can't wait to make these soon :)

jen said...

....and i FB like them :)

Barbara said...

Chew-sing is so hard to do! I think maybe dark chocolate almond, though.

The almond with a touch of sea salt sounds great. But I love macadamia nuts. Oh so hard to choose.

Natalie said...

I love larabars so these little balls would be perfect for me!

please enter me in the giveaway! I'd love to try the cashew butter or the dark chocolate almond. they have such great flavors!

Hannah said...

I would love to get cashew or macadamia butter- or maybe even cashew-macadamia butter! That sounds heavenly!

Lisa said...

what a great giveaway! I've wanted to try maranatha nut butters, but they are SO expensive whenever I see them! I'd definitely want to try the sunflower seed butter. It sounds so interesting to me!

Also, I love this recipe and I have to try it! Thanks for sharing!

Krista said...

I would try their dark chocolate PB. Peanut butter and chocolate are my fav's so this would be an easy selection for me.

thanks krista

Anonymous said...

raw AB obviously!

Anonymous said...

oh and I liked maranatha on facebook!

Kayley said...

Dark chocolate of course! And yep, I'm a fan on f/b too :)

Dora J Crow said...

Hi Steph! I 'like' Maranatha on FaceBook. If I could win a jar, I would like to try either Sunflower, or Macadamia Butter, because they are both low in sodium. (I have little high blood pressure, gots to watch the sodium intake)

I also would like to ask, can you make Apricot Coconut Energy Balls, with different fruit? I have never eaten apricots, and fear I might not like them, my father despises them. Have you tried other fruits? any advice would be welcome, thanks. You have a wonderful blog! Dora J Crow
Montgomery, Alabama

Reeni said...

What yummy little treats! Healthy truffles! Delicious.

stephchows said...

Thanks everyone for entering, posted the winners this am!

Dora- wonderful to meet you and I'm so glad you like the blog! As for using something else, I'd give dates a try, I bet it would be delicious! You could also try making a super small batch with apricots to give it a try too. My mom hates mangos but I love um :) so you never know you may love them!

Dora J Crow said...

Thanks, Steph! I totally forgot about dates. I LOVE DATES! When my mama was alive, we used to make date nut balls, back in the day, ooh, rum balls too, and they were SOO scrumptious! I will have to try them. (You are so right about the mangos, I HATE them, the dad totally will eat them UP~~I should try the apricots!)

Dora J Crow
Montgomery,AL

ylastima said...

I liked them on facebook.

ylastima said...

If I had the coupon I would choose the macadamia nut butter. I have been wanting to try that for a while now.

Anonymous said...

i liked them on FB and can you believe i've never had the raw almond butter?! just the crunchy! i'm really looking forward to try i'm an addict!

I would try the sunflower seed butter! Mmm. Sounds so tasty.

Liked on facebook! :)

Lena said...

I would try the cashew macadamia butter!

Lena said...

I "liked" Maranatha on facebook!

Red said...

I "liked" them on facebook!

Red said...

I'd really like to try their Tahini

Brittany said...

I would like to try their sunflower butter! Looks yummy!

Brittany said...

I "liked" them on facebook. :)

Jennifer said...

I like them on FB! And, I would love to try the dark chocolate nut butter! Yummy!

Amber said...

I liked them on facebook!! I would love a chance to try the coconut butter! I hear it is to die for!

Elliott said...

I would love to try the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter... What's not to like?!

Elliott said...

I like them on facebook!

N.D. said...

I'd want ti try the crunhy roasted almond butter or dark choc almond!

kickpleat said...

My husband is going on a 2 week long bike trip and I've been wanting to make a larabar type snack for him. This looks perfect...except that I don't have a food processor. Maybe I'll manage with my blender and see what happens. Looks good!

Emma said...

The almond butter looks amazing! ANY of the almond butters!

Emma said...

I like them on facebook!

Emma said...

The almond butter looks amazing! ANY of the almond butters!

Kassi said...

I would try the sunflower seed butter! Mmm. Sounds so tasty.

Elliott said...

I like them on facebook!

Dora J Crow said...

Thanks, Steph! I totally forgot about dates. I LOVE DATES! When my mama was alive, we used to make date nut balls, back in the day, ooh, rum balls too, and they were SOO scrumptious! I will have to try them. (You are so right about the mangos, I HATE them, the dad totally will eat them UP~~I should try the apricots!)

Dora J Crow
Montgomery,AL

Amber said...

I liked them on facebook!! I would love a chance to try the coconut butter! I hear it is to die for!

Kayley said...

Dark chocolate of course! And yep, I'm a fan on f/b too :)

Krista said...

I would try their dark chocolate PB. Peanut butter and chocolate are my fav's so this would be an easy selection for me.

thanks krista

Hannah said...

I would love to get cashew or macadamia butter- or maybe even cashew-macadamia butter! That sounds heavenly!

The almond with a touch of sea salt sounds great. But I love macadamia nuts. Oh so hard to choose.

~ Cee ~ said...

The Dark Chocolate Almond Butter sounds incredible, but I am also tempted to try the Natural Almond Butter No Salt Crunchy, as well as the Natural Tahini - with Salt (Roasted). Thank you! Cee
ceevegnashville [at] gmail [dot] com

Emily N. said...

I like them on FB.

Meghan said...

I would LOVE to try the chocolate almond butter.... or the cashew butter.... Noms!!

sarah said...

What a great little recipe. This is something I can imagine eating for an afternoon snack at work. Thanks for the inspiration.

Nut butters are easy to make yourself: just whizz the nuts in a food processor, possibly adding a few drops of oil to help it come together as a paste. Nut butters were the Daring Cooks challenge last month, so you should see a few recipes around the blog-o-sphere. :-)

Leslie said...

Cashew butter for me please. I liked them on FB already.

Lisa said...

I would get the cashew butter.

erl6286 said...

I'm going to make these soooon. :D As for the nut butters, I'd go for dark chocolate almond.. or cashew.. or macadamia..they all sound so good!

Kari said...

Liked on facebook and I'd pick dark chocolate almond.

Maria said...

Great little snack! And almond butter with sea salt-count me in!

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