Peanut Butter Protein Puffs (and an Instagram rant)
I follow a lot of healthy lifestyle instagrammers, and one thing I’ve noticed is that regardless of country, age or diet, EVERYONE posts pictures of balls. Bliss balls, protein balls, date balls, snack balls – whatever you call them, they all amount to the same thing: chuck 6-8 interchangeable ingredients into your food processor, combine, roll, refrigerate and voila! Raw, healthy snacks for days.
I also want to post pictures of my snack balls as I make a different kind every week, but I’ve run into a problem – they’re all just so brown! In fact, my whole instagram feed is rather ‘earth tone’, while my compatriots are posting pics of kryptonite green and radiation pink. It begs the question – what the hell is in that food?! And before you say it, I’ve looked at the filters and they can’t be solely responsible for these non earth spectrum hues.
Instagram food photography is a murky arena of higher grade editing, designed to make you feel bad when your cooking comes out looking like those classic ‘nailed it’ shots. When you make a lot of things with cacao and flax, you’re only going to get brown.It’s not pretty, but it’s real. I’ve decided maybe my purpose is to show people that healthy cooking isn’t always beautiful, and just because you don’t have the editing skills to make your photo look like food porn doesn’t mean your recipe isn’t amazeballs (see what I did there). And so, without further ado, I proudly present my recipe for my unashamedly brown and very tasty peanut butter protein puffs.
Peanut Butter Protein Puffs
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup dried dates, soaked overnight
- 3 heaped tbsp protein powder
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
- Handful of coconut flakes
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp natural peanut butter
- Handful of pecans or almonds (can omit)
- Puffed brown rice
Instructions:
1. Chuck all ingredients except puffed rice into food processor and combine (add a few drops of water if the mixture is too dry)
2. Mix through handful of puffed rice until evenly spread
3, Roll into balls
4. Refrigerate for at least an hour
5. Voila!