Peanut Butter Banana Bites

Submitted by Mama Schmid

"These make a healthy snack that my family loves. I have adapted the original recipe to add a little Splenda to make them sweeter and we opt to roll them in miniature chocolate chips. It can be easily doubled to create more."

 

• Ready In: 21mins
• Ingredients: 5
• Yields: 12 bites

ingredients

• 1 small banana
• 3⁄4 cup wheat germ
• 1⁄2 cup natural-style peanut butter
• 1⁄4 cup Splenda granular
• 1 cup miniature chocolate chip

directions

1. Mash the banana in a medium-sized bowl.
2. Stir in the wheat germ, splenda and peanut butter.
3. Form the mixture into 1- to 1/2-inch balls.
4. Roll in chcolate chips, or if you prefer, nuts, coconut or another ingredient of your choice.
5. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Reviews

[nethope]

What I actually made is Family Fun's "Balls of Energy" recipe at http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/balls-of-energy-687869/ . Since a small banana is about 1/2 cup mashed, I love that the recipe is so simple: 1/2 cup each of mashed banana, wheat germ, and peanut butter! It's a no-brainer to scale up or down.<br/><br/>I used less wheat germ: 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup.<br/>I used natural peanut butter, and I think it would be more fun with more peanut chunks (so I recommend chunky over creamy, unless you prefer that smooth, boring texture).<br/>I did not use any Splenda or sugar, but since I only use over-ripe bananas (my kids go through phases of loving bananas, and then that phase turns off abruptly leaving me with going-black bananas) and those have a higher sugar content, I'm sure the extra banana ripeness helps not needing sugar. If I used bananas that were not almost-gone, I think I would want to add sweetness too!<br/><br/>I rolled some of the balls in mini chocolate chips, and some in coarsely chopped peanuts. Both are good! Both at the same time is good! Mix it up! If I had used chunkier peanut butter, I would stick with just chocolate chips for the rolling. I stored these balls in the freezer in an airtight container, and they kept well.<br/><br/>Originally I thought this was a 4-star recipe. It tastes OK, but we weren't jumping up and down for joy either. I usually grab two when I have the munchies watching TV before bed (which doesn't happen often). However, I noticed DH would always steal my second one that wasn't in my mouth, then go to the freezer to bring back two more for us. We *have* to share, and we *have* to have more than one each. (They're kinda filling to eat many more than two at a time!) It satisfies the munchies without being too sweet, we keep going back for more ... that's not a "mostly maybe" recipe, it's actually a keeper!<br/><br/>Kid-friendly to make and eat! My picky eater, age 5, won't eat them (no shock, since most "composite" foods are anathema), but once the energy balls are soft and defrosted, my good eater, age 2, will plow them down.