Dark Chocolate Espresso Bean Energy Cookie Balls

These energy balls are sure to wake you up.  These taste like chocolate chip cookies, but instead of chocolate chips I used dark chocolate espresso beans.  Yum!!

Ingredients:

1 cup old fashioned oats

2 scoops chocolate protein powder

1 tablespoon flax seeds

1/3 cup peanut butter (I used BetterNButter)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 large Mejdool dates

¼ cup lite maple syrup

¼ cup dark chocolate espresso beans

Directions:

1. Add oats, protein powder, flax seeds, and cinnamon to a food processor.  Pulse to mix.
2. Add dates, vanilla extract, and peanut butter.  Pulse to mix.  Scrape down the sides as needed.
3. Drizzle the maple syrup around the food processor before you pulse.  Pulse to mix.  Add more peanut butter or maple syrup if mixture looks too dry.
4. Add espresso beans sprinkling around the food processor.  Pulse quickly to mix in.
5. Use a cookie scooper to form balls.  I was able to get at least 1 espresso bean I could see in each ball.  You could always press an extra espresso bean into the ball too.
6. Store the energy balls in an air-tight container in the refrigerator until they disappear.