Healthy Snacking

15 Best Bliss Balls

15 Best Bliss Balls made with simple plant-based ingredients so you aways have a bite-sized snack on hand. Mix and match for meal prep!

POV: What exactly is a “bliss ball” anyway, and why do I have so many on my website?!

I can’t take credit for the term “bliss ball”, but I think it was a popular way to describe bite sized snacks around the time I started to share recipes on the Internet.

Think energy balls, energy bites, protein balls, etc., etc.

There was also the era of the “fat ball” around 2018…IYKYK.

Over the years, I amassed quite a collection of my favorite bite-sized balls.

Seasonal varieties, lazy no blender balls (my favorite), and balls with hidden veg.

We’ve got grain-free balls, oat-y balls, and even nut-free balls.

Basically, there’s a bite for everyone and for everyone’s pantry.

So I thought it would be nice to share this collection of all of my spherical favorites in one place.

Especially now, in January, when healthy snacking is something I’m consciously working on.

Because a homemade ball eaten mindfully is most certainly more satisfying than mindlessly grabbing granola.

These 15 Best Bliss Balls are made with simple plant-based ingredients so you aways have a bite-sized snack on hand.

Let’s have a ball!

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1-Bowl Blondies

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

1-Bowl Blondies with oat and almond flour sweetened with pure maple syrup. Top with Endangered Species 60% Dark Chocolate Baking Chips!

Thanksgiving came and went and now the world is hustling and bustling in a holiday craze.

I actually finished my holiday shopping early this year because I was overeager to buy gifts in October and November.

This feels like a major flex now, because I have more time for writing my Christmas cards and…baking.

Friends, ’tis the season for baking.

Baking all things, but mostly sweet things.

I’m excited to share my first December baked good with you.

I had my oven on every day last week working on different variations of blondies.

What I’m sharing with you today is my favorite; sweet, chewy, and chocolate studded goodness.

These 1-Bowl Blondies are made with oat and almond flour sweetened with pure maple syrup.

Top them with Endangered Species 60% Dark Chocolate Baking Chips and don’t forget to measure chocolate chips with your soul.

Make a pan of these vegan and gluten-free blondies for you and yours!

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Vegan Morning Glory Muffins

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Vegan Morning Glory Muffins made with shredded carrots, dried fruit, nuts, and Organic SunButter. Perfect for a quick breakfast or snack!

After daylight savings time told us to “fall back” (thanks, daylight savings!) I’ve been trying to use that extra hour to get an hour ahead…on life.

It feels like a cheat, doesn’t it?

Without missing a wink of sleep, I’m suddenly back to being a 6 AM-riser, something I haven’t been able to accomplish before we brought Flora home.

The past few months, I fell into an easy routine as a new dog mom of sleeping as long as Flora would let me, only getting up to her insistent barks at my side of the bed.

But this week, I’m back, baby.

I’m back to my early morning Pilates + strength workouts before breakfast.

Back to eating a protein-packed breakfast after said workout ends.

I’m also back to starting my entrepreneurial workday at a time I wouldn’t be embarrassed to share with you.

It’s funny how a singular hour can make that much of a difference in the day, isn’t it?

This hour gave me confidence, focus, and self back.

So, now the hard part…I need to hold onto that hour for dear life and not slip back into old patterns.

M and I just started rewatching the series “House”, and I know it would be all too easy to binge a few episodes and lose traction.

OR stay up all night reading this month’s bookclub book, a historical mystery that I cannot put down!

I also feel great because I’ve been enjoying these Vegan Morning Glory Muffins as a nutritious midmorning snack.

These Vegan Morning Glory Muffins are made with shredded carrots, dried fruit, nuts, and Organic SunButter.

They’re perfect for a quick breakfast or snack and would be lovely to bake for family for the upcoming holidays!

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SunButter Date Caramel Apples

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

SunButter Date Caramel Apples made with apples topped with homemade caramel and rolled in sunflower seeds and dark chocolate chips.

In the past week, Flora took her first 1-mile walk with us!

The walk, which should normally take about 20-ish minutes, ended up taking over 30 because of lots of…

“Leave it, Flora!”, zig-zagging, “Drop it, Flora!”, dragging, “Heel, Flora!”, pulling…you get the idea.

Long story short: we’re still working on leash walking, and it’s a PROCESS.

She immediately came home and proceeded to lap water ferociously, lay down dramatically, and then initiated more play 10 minutes later.

Well, I guess we can’t tire her out.

With all this dog walking and dog training, I’m relying on healthy snacks to get me through this fall.

I’ve always been a sweet snacker, and this SunButter Date Caramel Apples hits just right for the season.

This good-for-you snack is made with your favorite apples topped with homemade caramel and rolled in sunflower seeds and dark chocolate chips.

It’s the best fall snack and a great way to use up all of those apples we collect this time of year!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Cake

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Cake made with rice cakes, creamy peanut butter, and melted cacao wafers. A healthy peanut butter cup snack!

If you’ve been around here a while, you also know that I’ve been dressing up rice cakes for years.

While some people see dry, boring, bland cakes, I see a neutral and nutritious vehicle for *all* of my favorite toppings.

I mean, the possibilities are endless, friends.

Which is probably why I was immediately taken with the viral TikTok Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Rice Cake.

(Well, that and the fact that my favorite dessert pairing in the history of dessert pairings is chocolate + peanut butter.)

Rice Cakes are also an amazing vegan and gluten-free substitution for toast, crackers, or anything wheat based.

It took me a while to finally try the recipe trending on social media, but now that I finally have, I *need* to share it with you.

This is my version of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Cake.

They’re easy to make for a solo snack or dessert with your favorite rice cakes, creamy peanut butter, and melted cacao wafers.

Basically, it’s a healthier one serving peanut butter cup, and I think we could all use one of those as Halloween creeps up!

Grab some rice cakes, your favorite jar of nut butter, and Semisweet Cacao Wafers and let’s make this sweet treat.

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Apple Pie Crumble Bars

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Apple Pie Crumble Bars with an almond oat crust and crumble topping with a stovetop apple pie filling. The best fall breakfast or snack!

I *love* apples, mostly because I can let them sit on the counter for a while and ponder delicious ways to use them.

They’re not fickle like summer berries, where you need to use them THE DAY you purchase them.

Or like Flora’s leash training, which some days feels easy and other days (read: most of the time) I think she’s the one walking me.

But, I digress.

We were talking apples, not Aussies!

One of M’s favorite recipes that I make this time of year is a vegan apple crumble.

It’s also one of my favorite ways to use up a bunch of apples that I got at the grocery store, farmers market, or apple orchard. This year, I decided to get a bit creative and turn his favorite apple recipe into…bars!

These Apple Pie Crumble Bars are made with an almond oat crust and crumble topping with a stovetop apple pie filling.

It’s still easy to make with simple ingredients, but crumble turned bars means they’re portable, concise, and convenient.

Slice them into squares and enjoy them for the *best* fall breakfast, snack, or dessert.

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SunButter & Jelly Energy Bites

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SunButter & Jelly Energy Bites made with oats, Medjool dates, No-Sugar-Added SunButter, and your favorite jam. The perfect snack!

It’s that time of year where healthy snacks are invaluable, am I right?

Seriously, what I wouldn’t pay for a healthy homemade snack when I’m running from dog mom-ing to teaching yoga to shooting recipes.

It’s the weeks where I don’t meal prep snacks where I stare at the open fridge between meals asking myself, “What do I even eat?!”

Usually after this question I end up opening my chocolate drawer and grabbing a block of chocolate and calling it a day.

And while chocolate is delicious and I eat it daily, I think we can all agree that it’s not super sustaining.

Hello, sugar crash at 11 AM.

Then I found these prepackaged peanut butter and jelly bites at the grocery store a few weeks back and I enjoyed them!

The snack concept is that jelly is in the center and the doughy ball surrounding it is made of peanut butter.

They were nice plop in my mouth after finishing up weighted dumbbell sets, or while running from Flora’s puppy teeth (ouch!).

However, I didn’t want to continue to pay for the packaging, so I decided to make my own at home.

They’re easy to make and store well in the refrigerator for an energizing lift.

These SunButter & Jelly Energy Bites are made with oats, Medjool dates, No-Sugar-Added SunButter, and your favorite jam.

They’re the perfect bite-sized snack packed with plant-based protein and complex carbs to fuel your goals and dreams.

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Vegan Walnut Coffee Cake

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Vegan Walnut Coffee Cake made with oat and almond flour with Artisana Organics Raw Walnut Butter and a creamy coffee frosting.

When people ask how things are going, I *try* not to default to “Good, but busy”; as my standard response.

It feels true, but I’d like to get a little more creative.

Because busy has a connotation of the mundane, the dragging, the blah.

And truthfully, my “busy-ness” is completely comprised of things of my own doing and choosing.

I’m spending a lot of time in the kitchen creating fall recipes for YOU, friend! A job that doesn’t always feel like work and definitely never tastes like it.

When I’m not in the kitchen for work (read: you!) , I’m in the kitchen for us (read: me!) meal prepping so the fridge isn’t *only* full of the treats I’m testing.

My days are also peppered with puppy training, articulating “Touch!”, “Let’s Go!”, and “Down!”, with an encouraging lilt and a bag full of homemade dog treats.

Then I have the hours devoted to sequencing my next Saturday yoga class; noting the shapes, the breath, and the themes.

I always squeeze in non-negotiable movement into my days, whether it’s yoga, climbing, running, or just a long neighborhood walk.

All in all, these are problems that past Lauren would have *loved* to have had.

Yes, my days are exhausting and full, but I’m usually smiling at the end of them.

So, friend, if you ask me how I’m doing, I’m going to smile and shove a piece of Vegan Walnut Coffee Cake in my face.

How’s that for a response?

This Vegan Walnut Coffee Cake made with oat and almond flour with Artisana Organics Raw Walnut Butter and a creamy coffee frosting.

You’re going to want to enjoy a slice later with a mug of something warm.

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Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Bread

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Bread made gluten-free with almond flour and oats. Super moist and chocolate-y with pumpkin puree and dark chocolate!

Don’t mind me while I ease into stew, casseroles, and baked goods.

This week we had Flora in the kitchen while I opened the oven and slammed the fridge and rattled pots and pans.

If there’s one thing you can count on me for, it’s to make a *lot* of noise while I’m baking.

Luckily, Flora seemed more curious about what everything was than scared by the clatter.

(Unfortunately, this recipe is not pup safe, but you can bet more homemade dog treats are coming!)

My first bread of the season turned out to be a wild success, and M and I have enjoyed slices all week long for breakfast and snacking.

It’s not chocolate, it’s not pumpkin, it’s Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Bread.

And if that wasn’t enough to entice you, I added dark chocolate chunks to really seal the flavor profile into something irresistible.

I *love* baking with pumpkin because it makes your baked goods moist and rich without a ton of oil.

In fact, this bread is baked with no-added-oils and instead relies on healthy fats from nut butter and almond flour.

This Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Bread is also made gluten-free with almond flour and oats!

It’s super moist and chocolate-y with pumpkin puree and dark chocolate for a healthy snack, breakfast, or dessert.

I love it sliced straight from the fridge as a mid-morning snack topped with peanut butter.

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Vegan & Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Vegan and gluten-free chocolate chip muffins with superfine almond flour, oat flour, and vegan chocolate chips. Perfect for a sweet snack!

I first made these Vegan & Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins the day before we went to pick up Flora.

Luckily, I had the foresight to do some hefty meal prep because we brought the new pup home.

These muffins were a recipe founded on a craving in the midst of packing pee pads and toys and two sizes of crates (we weren’t sure which would fit!).

I had no idea how the muffins turned out as I threw them in the car for a healthy snack along with our Tupperware lunch and multiple Nalgene water bottles.

Our Aussie pup was a long 4 hour car ride away, but it was worth every mile.

About an hour before we scooped her up, I unwrapped a muffin from it’s liner and sunk my teeth in.

There weren’t a lot of things at this particular moment that could excite me more than the prospect of meeting my new doggie, but these muffins came close.

They’re fluffy, moist, and dotted with the perfect amount of dark chocolate.

“Oh my god. These are SO good!” I turned towards M in the driver seat, excitedly waving my muffin missing a big bite.

(M agreed later in the week that the muffins were indeed, delicious!)

It was a pleasant surprise and pick-me-up right before the biggest surprise of the year:

Meeting our Australian Shepherd girlie named Flora, who melted our heart at first glance, lick, and sometimes even now, affectionate nip.

I’m so excited to share these Vegan & Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins with you this fall!

They’re the perfect sweet snack to fuel you for back-to-school adventures, whether that is with or without four legged fur babies.

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Healthy Snacking

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