Piña Colada Energy Balls

Energy balls are compact sweet treats made from nutrient dense ingredients that are easily portable and provide a good dose of energy. Piña colada, or pineapple and coconut, is a delicious combination that can actually be pretty healthy and makes for slightly sweet and tropical tasting energy balls. Pineapples are great sources of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants but one of their biggest benefits is an enzyme they contain called bromelain, which has anti-inflammatory properties and helps with digestion. These balls use dried pineapple instead of fresh, unfortunately many dried fruits contain added sugars, poor quality oils and sulfur dioxide (a preservative that can be particularly risky for those with sulfite sensitivities), and the tropical fruits can be especially processed so make sure to get good quality options and check the label to see that the dried fruit is the only ingredient. I’ve been using the Level Ground brand recently for most of the dried fruit I get, their products are good quality, Fair Trade, and I think they taste better- an important consideration when there are only a few ingredients; they come in small brown paper bags. The second ingredient to get that piña colada taste is coconut, both the oil and dried flakes. It has a range of vitamins and minerals and the special type of saturated fat it contains is very beneficial, helping to increase HDL (the good one) cholesterol levels. The remaining ingredients are a bit of maple syrup for some added sweetness and cashews for more healthy fats, a delicate buttery taste and texture and even more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Raw cashews are best for this type of baking, the oils in raw nuts and seeds are mostly unsaturated so they are more fragile, thus the nuts will stay fresher for longer and the oils have much less chance of going rancid if they are refrigerated.