Over the course of the last two weeks, I’ve road tripped from my home state of Michigan to Wisconsin, as well as New York. I have spent approximately 36 hours total in the car over the course of those trips. This amount of time in the car demands you really like who you’re traveling with, have similar tastes in music and have excellent snacks. Enter these power balls. I like them because they come together super easily during a time when you’re packing, can hang out in the freezer until you leave and simultaneously satisfy your car need for something sweet, something salty and a little protein boost.

Cacao-Coconut Power Balls 

3 c. blended oats
4 TBSP cacao powder
1 c. unsweetened coconut flakes
2/3 c. honey
1/2 c. natural peanut butter or almond butter
4 TBSP coconut oil
2 tsp. vanilla
heaping 1/2 tsp. fine grain sea salt
2/3 c. dark chocolate chips

Blend oats in your blender, so that some of them turn to a flour-like consistency, but you still have fragments of oats. You will likely have to do this in multiple batches. Mix the blended oats, cacao powder and coconut flakes in a bowl.

In a sauce pan over medium heat, stir honey, peanut or almond butter and coconut oil until just melted. Remove from heat and add vanilla and salt, stirring once more.

Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Add dark chocolate chips and stir again. Put the batter in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Pull the bowl back out, and roll into little balls. I like to use a cookie scoop for this. Store in an airtight container in the freezer (or the fridge, if you are making these for home snacking use!). Enjoy this salty chocolate treat on your next road trip!

A couple of notes – I have previously added 2/3 c. chopped dried cherries to these. I like this version, but my eldest has assured me these are WAY better without, so I’ve taken his advice on the recipe above. If you’d like to mix up the presentation, brush a little honey on the power balls, and then roll them in coconut.