Conscious Cravings: Pumpkin Vegan No Bake Protein Balls

Tastes like pumpkin. Looks like pumpkins.

The heck with that pumpkin spice latte; lets shake up our mornings, our post workouts, and our afternoon snacks with some great pumpkin energy.

All you need is a little time and some desire for fall. This is a fun one to do with the kids too.

Little Pumpkin Vegan No Bake Protein Balls

Ingredients:

1 cup instant oats

½ cup oat flour (you can make this by blending oats until finely ground in a high powered blender)

½ cup coconut flour

½ cup vegan vanilla shakeology

⅔ cup pumpkin puree

2 tsp pumpkin spice or cinnamon

⅔ cup nut/seed butter of choice

½-⅔ cup honey (or maple syrup for vegan)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

½ cup mini chocolate chips (enjoy life brand is my favorite)

½ tsp salt

Directions:

1. Using a food processor, mix all ingredients together until a dough forms. (Start with ½ cup honey and increase as needed to have the balls stick together).

2. Adjust spices and salt to desired taste. I personally add more pumpkin pie spice because I like them to SCREAM Autumn at me from across the room.

3. Roll into balls.

4. To be super cute, put the chocolate chips on the front of the protein ball in the jack-o'lantern pattern. You can also break a pretzel stick into small pieces and use it as a stem on the top. (if that’s too “Pinterest mom” for you, you can just mix the chocolate chips into the dough before you roll them into balls).

5. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.