Weird.  The only word fitting to start this post.  If you have read about our Carrot Breakfast Protein Bars, then you know that this week I have been experimenting with energy, boosting healthy snacks as we head into a weekend of Water Polo Junior Olympics.  Well when I saw a picture of these Cranberry Pistachio Bites, I thought they were beautiful.  Yes, I’m odd that way.  I find food, especially colorful food, beautiful.

So the way this recipe rolls, there’s a point where you mold the “dough” into bite-sized balls.  I seriously almost chucked the entire thing down the garbage disposal at this point in the process.  It was just weird.  It felt weird.  It looked weird.  And it wasn’t holding together like I thought it would.  But I persevered.  I’m just wired that way with a lot of things  (can’t walk out of a movie theater in the middle of a bad movie, can’t abandon a bad book . . .)  I guess I  have a hopeless belief in redemption.

So I stuck with my sticky mess and completed all of these little Energy Bite Balls.  The Hubs tried one and appeared really impressed.  Was he just faking because he saw my “energy bite disappointment”?  I thought so.  I was definitely not going to ask the kiddos to taste one.  But, shocker of all shockers, they ASKED to try one.  I started with the 10 year old.  Thumbs up.  Next, on to the 8 year old.  Another thumbs up.  Gasp.  On to the 8 year old’s friend who had slept over last night.  Not a loving embrace, but . . .  she finished it.  Finally, the 4 year old.  Loved it.  Amazing!  They consumed 9 of them in a matter of minutes.  And to think that I had almost gifted the disposal with this “weird” yumminess.

So here’s the super simple way these little bites went together.

I started by putting chopped dates, honey, chia seeds, wheat germ and salt in the food processor.  This was seriously some THICK stuff to mix.  I pulsed until it was able to be stirred.

I transferred that mixture to a bowl and added in cranberries, pistachios, and white chocolate chips.

After this was all mixed well, I put it into the fridge and let cool for about 30 minutes.  This was supposed to make the batter easier to work with, but this is where the weirdness all came in.  It was really tricky to form them into bite-sized balls.  I stayed the course though, and they were basically done.

Voila – – – Cranberry Pistachio Energy Bites!  Who would have thought that they could be so good?