Delicious Cranberry Chocolate Protein Bites

I’ve been baking cookies since I was at least ten years old.

I might have been even younger, but by the time I was ten, I was baking them on my own — nice, warm cookies for winter. Nice, warm cookies in the middle of summer. I love to bake, and I’ll do it anytime (I can cook when I have to, but I actually like to bake. Because cookie dough, of course.)

But in the summer, it gets so hot I don’t like turning on the oven if I can help it. We love our treats, and we love our chocolate, but not enough to swelter when it’s already a hundred degrees out.

So I look for no-bake recipes that produce nice, chilled snacks and treats instead. You can keep the chocolate chip cookie taste (actually, more like the chocolate-chip cookie dough taste…even better!).

This cookie recipe is a great one for summer because it doesn’t require firing up the oven. And the cookies have protein in them for plenty of energy while swimming, hiking, biking, or whatever it is the kids are up to that day. Make them up and store them in the fridge for a sweet, cool treat. You could even make a double-batch and freeze some. Pack them up for a picnic and by lunchtime they’ll be nicely defrosted and ready to go!

Yum

Delicious Cranberry Chocolate Protein Bites

Yield: approximately 24 cookies

Delicious Cranberry Chocolate Protein Bites

Ingredients

1 c peanut butter
1/4 c honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c granola
1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 c white chocolate chips
1/4 c dried cranberries
1/2 c shredded coconut

Instructions

Stir the peanut butter, honey, and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl.
Add granola, chocolate chips, and dried cranberries, and mix together.
Refrigerate for at least 30 min (preferably an hour).
Pour coconut into a shallow bowl.

Using your hands, form cookie mix into small balls. Roll them in coconut to coat.
Store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to eat.