Recipe: Caramel Latte Protein Bites (Grain Free & Vegan)

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These protein bites are what I liked to call a happy accident. 

You see, I was fumbling around the kitchen on a lazy Saturday afternoon when I decided I needed to create a recipe that used both my GIANT Costco sized jar of Almond Butter and my new coffee blend and since I just finished up a sweaty zumba class, it may as well pack a protein punch too. 

So I got out my food processor, grabbed my protein powder, almond butter and coffee and decided that I was going to make protein bites. 

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Add a little coconut flour, some almond meal to make sure they weren't too dry and crumbly and some maple syrup to sweeten things up and bind it all together and heyyyyyy mama, you've got protein bites. 

Before I exerted any more energy rolling them, I had to make sure they were worth it though - so I pinched together some of the dough and popped it in my mouth. 

Chew... 

Savour... 

Caramel latte. 

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With just the right amount of coffee flavour, the caramel like taste of the maple syrup and the creaminess of the whey protein powder (though there's a vegan option below that's just as good!), these little bites tasted very much like a caramel latte - only in a portable, no-risk, ball shaped package. 

No risk because we live in a world where coffee cups contain "Warning! Hot!" labels and these are definitely not hot.... though they probably need a "Warning! Addictive!" label. 

I'm pretty sure I ate half the batch in a day, making a double batch the next day to store in the fridge in my favourite Babushka Doll container.

But let me share the recipe with you! >> 

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Healthy No Bake Caramel Latte Protein Bites Recipe

makes 9 medium sized bites or 18 small bites (as pictured) 

gluten free, grain free, paleo, vegan option, refined sugar free,

clean eating recipe, peanut free, egg free, soy free, dairy free option

1/2 cup (50g) almond meal/almond flour 

1/3 cup (35g) coconut flour 

1/4 cup (30g) unflavoured whey protein or your favourite protein*

1-2 tbsp ground coffee (or instant coffee) 

1/3 cup (80g) smooth almond butter 

1/4 cup (or 4 metric tbsp/3 imperial tbsp) maple syrup 

• Place your almond meal, coconut flour, protein powder and coffee in your food processor and process until combined. 
• Add your almond butter and maple syrup, processing until your mix starts to come together. 
• If needed, add a few drops of water (or a little more maple syrup if you'd like your bites on the sweeter side) to bind your mix together. Add only 1/2 tsp at a time and stop as soon as your mix can be pinched together. It will look quite crumbly, however, your mix should clump together when pinched. 
• Pinch and roll your mix together to form it into balls and place each ball onto a clean plate or container. 
• Enjoy immediately or chill in the fridge.
• These balls will keep for 1-2 weeks in the fridge in an airtight container or can be frozen to defrost and enjoy whenever you like!

Notes:

• For the Protein Powder: If using a flavoured protein, you may find you end up with a sweet protein ball. If you don't want them to be too sweet, take out 1-2 tbsp maple syrup and add in extra almond butter to bind everything together.
  
  You can use any protein powder in this recipe, however, keep in mind different protein powders will have different tastes. If you're not needing these to be vegan/dairy free, we highly recommend either an unflavoured or vanilla whey protein powder (concentrate or isolate) or try a plain or vanilla vegan protein blend instead.

But tell me, do you experiment with food too? 

And what's your go-to order at a cafe/coffee shop? 

Around 90% of my recipes are created based on ingredients I want to use up, haha! And as for a coffee shop order - peppermint tea or a latte for me!

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