Eat Clean Christmas Treats!

My all time favorite treat to make at Christmastime is Buckeyes! Delicious balls of peanut butter and powdered sugar dipped in chocolate. To. Die. For. I was lying in bed the other night thinking about Christmas treats and how I could make them clean. Buckeyes popped out in my mind as being ridiculously EASY to make clean. I decided I would just substitute the mounds of powdered sugar with protein powder. I turned to my good friend google and actually found quite a few recipes that were close to what I was looking for. One in particular called for oat bran or oats to be mixed in and that sounded really good to me! None of the recipes proposed that I dip the delish pb poppers in chocolate, but that part is easy peasy. I am going to use dark chocolate. What I have found is that even if the fam or friends don't like dark chocolate, they will still like this! The sweetness from the pb balls sweetens up the dark chocolate. I am so excited to try this!

Eat clean buckeyes

Ingredients

• 1 cup protein powder
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1/2 cup flax meal or wheat germ ( I used wheat germ)
  

Directions

In mixing bowl, combine all ingredients thoroughly. Roll 1 tablespoon of dough each into a walnut size balls and place on cookie sheet covered in wax paper.

You can roll the balls in extra protein powder, cocoa powder, or powdered sugar to make less sticky on the outside.

Place cookie sheet in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Alright...now here comes the chocolate! Melt 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips in a double boiler. Take the pb balls with a toothpick and dip into the chocolate. Place back on the wax paper and put tray back in the fridge when finished and let them harden for an hour or so.



And for my next treat...brownies. I have made some eat clean brownies before...they were good. I thought they were good, but they were VERY clean and not very sweet. I am excited to make these brownies. VERY excited!

Sweet potato and cinnamon brownies

Ingredients

Servings: 16

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup cooked sweet potato
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 egg whites
• olive oil flavored cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare brownies: combine flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. set aside. In a food processor combine cooked sweet potato, agave, oil, and vanilla. Puree until combined and smooth. Gradually mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, until just combined. don?t over-mix. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until fluffy. Then, using a rubber spatula, gently fold egg whites into batter. Lightly spray 9X9X2" baking pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool to room temperature (30 Minutes). Remove brownies from pan, cut into 16 squares, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

This recipe has cream cheese frosting for the brownies, but I left that off. I want simple and not too messy. Frosting and I never play well...it's always messy, never the right consistency and I always end up eating half of it before it get used.