No-Bake Gluten-Free Energy Balls

Today's post is a fast and easy one because you don't have to bake anything, it requires very few ingredients, and what you're about to devour isn't full of crazy preservatives so they're, dare I say, healthy! But be warned: they're very addicting. I won't tell you how many I ate in one day...

So here's what you'll need to make 8 energy balls:

* 1 cup of dry oats (which helps lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease)
* 1/2 cup of peanut butter (which has potassium, Vitamin E, and magnesium)
* 1/3 cup of honey (which is a natural source of carbohydrates which provide energy!)
* 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips (which improves your vascular functions and improves insulin sensitivity, though I suppose you could use raisins instead if you don't want chocolate)
* 1 teaspoon of vanilla (which, according to WebMD, can help stop tooth decay!)

So first, get a big bowl and add all the ingredients together. I recommend wearing gloves because this is going to get messy.

Once the dough is formed, then you're ready to make your energy balls! I decided to put them on a piece of parchment paper and put them in the fridge to harden. If you don't put them in the fridge, they'll stay very chewy but also greasy and a bit messy.

Mine didn't last very long in the fridge... not because they went bad, but because I ate them too quickly! Seriously, they're addicting. I recommend leaving them in the fridge, though, as the peanut butter tends to melt a bit once it reaches room temperature (or as soon as it's in your hand). Still, they're easy to make, they're good for you, and you don't have to turn on the oven on a hot summer's day - doesn't get much better than that!

TOTAL COSTS: About $12
$1.99 for oats
$2.79 for peanut butter
$4.29 for honey
$2.50 for chocolate chips
I used my own recipe for the homemade vanilla

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Less than 10 minutes

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5
These would be a great treat to make with your kids - they're as easy as baking cookies, minus the baking part! Now if you're excuse me, I have to go make some more... omm nom nom...

Vanilla Almond Granola

Let me start off by saying, mine did not turn out like the original. At all. Still, this vanilla almond granola is delicious and would make a great treat for cereal, trail mix, etc. I found the original post from MyGlutenFreeKitchen (they used gluten-free oats but I used old-fashioned). Along with 4 cups of oats, you'll need:


* 1 cup of sliced or slivered almonds (you can buy them pre-sliced)
* 1/3 cup of packed brown sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon of salt
* 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
* 1/3 cup of butter or vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup of honey
* 2 Tablespoons of sugar
* 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract (not imitation extract)

Start by preheating your oven to 300 degrees and laying parchment paper down on 2 cookie sheets.

Combine the oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, honey, and sugar. Whisk together until the sugar has completely dissolved. After about 30 seconds, remove the pan from the heat and add your vanilla.

Pour the butter/honey/sugar/vanilla mixture into the bowl of oats and stir thoroughly. Pour the oats onto your cookie sheets and bake. Now the original post says to bake for 25-30 minutes but after 20 minutes, my almonds were burning so I took them out. Be sure to stir them a couple times on the pans while they're in the oven so they're all baked evenly.

Now this is where my granola didn't follow orders... while it's cooling, it's supposed to clump up. If you stir often while it's cooling, it'll supposedly form smaller clumps. Mine didn't clump at all so I decided to add pretzel sticks, peanuts, and chocolate chips to make it trail mix. Perhaps you'll have better luck with the clumping but either way, it's still delicious!

TOTAL COSTS: About $25

$1.99 for oats

$3.99 for almonds

$.99 for salt

$4.79 for cinnamon

$.99 for butter

$4.29 for honey

$2.69 for sugar

$4.99 for vanilla

I made my own brown sugar - see my instructions here

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 1 hour

20 minutes to prep

20 minutes to bake

20 minutes to cool

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 3 out of 5

When I think of granola, I think of clumps of oats. I managed to get maybe 3 or 4 clumps in the entire batch. Perhaps it requires more of the butter/honey/sugar/vanilla mixture, maybe less time stirring while in the oven or while it's cooling, maybe less time in the oven, it's hard to say. There are a lot of different variables here so be prepared to do a little trial and error!

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars or "Why Didn't I Make These Sooner?!" Bars

I don't say this about many things, but I wish I had seen this recipe from MoneySavingMom years ago. It has absolutely everything a high school kid for a bake sale, a poor college kid, a mom, and ME could ever want: simplicity, no oven, and chocolate + peanut butter = the ultimate marriage of flavors. If you have a dinner party tomorrow night and want an easy dessert or maybe you just want to treat yourself, grab a pan, a measuring cup, and these ingredients and be prepared to have your mouth salivate in 3... 2... 1...

* 1 Cup of peanut butter (make sure you have an almost full jar, as you'll use almost 3/4 of the contents!)

* 1/2 Cup of honey

* 1/2 Cup of coconut oil (or butter, if you prefer)

* 2 Cups of old fashion oats

* 1 Cup of shredded coconut

* 1/2 Cup of chopped nuts (I used walnuts), raisins, or dried cranberries

* 1 1/4 Cups of chocolate chips (photo shows mini but I used semi-sweet regular chocolate chips)

* 1 teaspoon of vanilla

In a medium saucepan, melt the peanut butter, honey and coconut oil (or butter). Make sure it doesn't burn by stirring frequently (took mine about 4 minutes to melt completely).

Once it has melted, take the pan off the heat and add the oats, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, nuts/raisins, and vanilla. Stir until the chocolate has completely melted.

Pour the mixture into a greased 9x13 pan and set in your fridge to harden.

How long you ask? Good question. I found after two hours it wasn't quite hard enough, 5 hours was better, but overnight would be ideal. If you do leave them to harden overnight, be prepared to get a workout - these suckers were so thick they were difficult to cut out but so worth it!

There are so many different variations you could do - you could replace or add gluten free oats, flax seed, almond butter, salt, etc. Someone in the original post's comments said this makes 24 bars at 240 calories/piece, but really, who's counting? Just cut them up and enjoy. Life's too short to skip dessert.

TOTAL COSTS: About $30 if you don't have any of the ingredients

$2.69 for peanut butter

$4.29 for honey

$5.99 for coconut oil at Whole Foods (though really, you could use $1 butter from the store)

$1.99 for oats

$2.50 for shredded coconut

$5.99 for chopped nuts

$2.50 for chocolate chips

$4.99 for vanilla

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 20 minutes + at least 2 hours to cool

I still recommend you let these harden overnight but if you can't wait, I completely understand!

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5

The "hard" part might be making sure the peanut butter mixture doesn't burn but that's just a matter of keeping your eye on the pan and stirring. Really, it's not hard at all and I encourage everyone to make these!