Coconut Macadamia Energy Balls

 

I found this recipe and knew right away that I wanted to make it.  First of all, it has no added sweeteners, and it has only a handful of ingredients.  Also, it's filled with so much coconut goodness and I'm all about the coconut :)

The only downside I can find is that the recipe doesn't make a whole lot of servings.  Next time I make it, I'll double it for sure.  I opted to make my own coconut butter as I did in this post because it's just so darn easy (and less expensive) with a Vitamix.  I also used a whole vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract.

Here's what I did...

 I poured a couple of cups of unsweetened shredded coconut into the Vitamix and blended it for 45 seconds on #5 and then about 15-30 seconds on high

 I also used my Vitamix to grind 3 oz. of macadamia nuts.  Mine were roasted and salted.  Had they been raw, I would have added a little Celtic sea salt.

 I poured both of them into a bowl

Then I split a vanilla bean in half

 And scooped the insides into the bowl with the other ingredients

 I mixed it all together to make a coconut/macadamia soup of sorts.  Then I placed it into the fridge, stirring every 2 minutes

 Until it looked like this

 

Then I rolled them into balls (working quickly as they get quite slippery) and rolled them in shredded, unsweetened coconut

Then I placed them into the freezer for 10 minutes.  They do have to be kept refrigerated or frozen as coconut oil melts at room temperature.