Nothing beats a homemade energy or protein ball as a quick, easy and delicious snack! With only five ingredients (and the optional added natural sweeteners), these protein balls are always one of my favourite frozen treats. Yes, you heard me, we’re chilling out with our protein snacks today, as these babies are made with a big whack of high protein, superfood quark cheese.
I’ve told you before how much I love quark and cottage cheese and it’s with good reason – they’re both high in slow-release casein and whey protein as well as calcium, riboflavin and B12. Pretty impressive right? It’s actually not the only superfood ingredient you’ll find here though, as this recipe also contains almond butter, oats and antioxidant rich cacao (or cocoa powder) for a truly delicious, frozen protein snack.
Now, if you’re going to get through these quark energy balls quickly, go ahead and keep them in the fridge for up to a week. Freezing however really allows these snacks to firm up for a denser, chewier and more satisfying texture – just remember to allow them to thaw slightly before chowing down! Pop some in your bag on the way to the gym for a perfectly thawed, chewy snack after you’ve finished your workout. Defrost a couple overnight and then chow down with breakfast for a morning energy hit.
Orrrrrr just eat one because you’re craving a natural snack bite filled with superfood wholegrain, nut and dairy ingredients! They are satisfyingly nutty, chewy and are only mildly sweet – go on, make a big batch and freeze these bad boys now!
- 250g quark or cottage cheese
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ¼ cup no additives whey protein powder
- 3 tbsp almond butter
- ½ tbsp cocoa/raw cacao powder
- optional: small amount of stevia, honey or maple syrup to taste
- Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, stir until well combined. Roll mixture into 12 balls and place on a baking paper lined baking sheet.
- Loosely cover with aluminium foil and freeze for 30 minutes. Store in fridge for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight container.
- Allow to thaw at room temperature for approx 5-10 minutes before eating from freezer,
Comments 18
These look very interesting. Not a fan of almond butter, but I imagine peanut butter would work. Good idea for a low carb snack. Am going to try this soon.
Author
Peanut butter would be a fantastic choice SandraM! I’ll update the recipe description and ingredient list so everyone knows they can swap nut butters 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Cottage cheese, eh? Gotta try these out! Looks great! You can never have enough healthy snack food around the house. I’m the opposite of Sandra, though. I LOVE almond butter… peanut butter is ok 😉
Author
Hahaha! I’m a fence-sitter, I love all nut butters equally 😉 It’s true about never having enough healthy snack foods in the house. I’m been craving sugar like crazy lately and it’s always great to have the better options within hand’s reach. Thanks for the comment Rose!
These look wonderful and I love that they are gluten free. I’ll be making up a batch and taking them with me whenever I think I’ll need a gluten free snack! Pinned!
Author
Thanks for the comment Savannah, I hope you like them. I’ve done a batch with pistachio butter yesterday and a bit of honey. Oh so good!
What a great recipe! Pinning.
Author
Thanks for the comment and pin Steph, I love this recipe 🙂
I love Almond Protein Balls! Your recipe is fabulous and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. Have a great weekend and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Author
Thannks for the comment and for hosting Full Plate Thursday Miz Helen! Hoping you have a great weekend too and glad to hear you love the protein balls:)
These Almond Freezer Protein Balls look fantastic. I love cottage cheese too. Quick question on the cottage cheese – how much do I use? I’m not certain about 250g ? Would you confirm please? I can’t wait to try these. Thanks! Marian
Author
Thanks for dropping by Marian! If you’re not keen on using the whole 250g of cottage cheese, you could use 150-200g and then add more nut butter and a little bit more oats. Using more nut butter might make them a little less firm, but freezing them will take care of this anyway. If you’re planning on eating them straight from the fridge instead then a tablespoon of coconut or almond flour will help with binding. Hope this helps!
Yum! What a great idea and such a convenient snack to have on hand. Can’t wait to try these!
Author
Thanks Brooke! I know I’m finding them to be really handy, I’ve been eating one later after dinner when my brain is feeling muddled after too much studying. If I didn’t have these I know I would be craving sugar like crazy…
We’ll have to give these a try with sunbutter. They would be great to have on hand for a quick snack. Thanks for stopping by Tuesday Greens!
Author
I think these would be lovely with sunbutter Becky, it’s been on my shortlist for variations to try 🙂 thanks for the comment and for hosting Tuesday Greens!
quark also works instead of cottage cheese – great recipe thanks for posting
Author
Great tip Billy! I love quark and it would be a perfect substitution 🙂