Matcha Energy Bites

Rachel Artus | August 25, 2020

prep time: 15 minutes
chill time: 45 minutes
total time: 1 hour
servings: 18 energy bites

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups oat flour
¼ matcha green tea powder
¼ cup water
1 medium banana, mashed
¼ cup oat milk
1 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp maple syrup
Pinch Kosher salt
Dash vanilla extract

Lightly garnish with green tea powder coarse sea salt (optional)

Instructions:

Combine oat flour, green tea powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mash a medium banana with a fork and then combine with the remaining wet ingredients.
Once wet ingredients are mixed, slowly add the dry ingredients into the same bowl while stirring with a wooden or rubber spoon.
As you stir, the mixture should eventually form a sticky green dough. Add more oat flour or oat milk as needed to achieve a consistency that will make for easy rolling.
Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Begin rolling out small balls with your hands, about the size of a ping pong ball.
Evenly space the balls on the baking sheet, sprinkle with more green tea powder and coarse sea salt (optional). After garnishing, place the balls in the refrigerator for 45 minutes to 1 hour to allow them to harden.
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one week.

These matcha energy bites were super easy to make. I adapted my own recipe from @nate.eats.world’s matcha energy bites—check out his Instagram for some beautiful food pics and yummy recipes.

Because I made my own oat flour (by blending old fashioned oats in a Nutribullet) and bought an affordable batch of green tea powder at Trader Joe’s, these energy bites didn’t break the bank. Oat flour is a great base for these energy bites because it’s safe for my gluten-free friends, can be easily made at home with oats on the cheap cheap, and oats are an awesome source of fiber. Check out my post about oat flour and gut health for more info!

Let’s talk about the green tea powder I used for this recipe. So, matcha is a fine powder ground from specially grown Japanese green tea leaves. I made these for the first time and decided to go for a cheaper brand from TJ (my matcha lovers know that the real-deal, ceremonial grade matcha can be a little pricey). I accidentally bought a pre-sweetened powder (about 16g sugar per serving) because it was cheapest, so I didn’t have to add a sweetener when I made these. However, I added maple syrup to the recipe above because green tea powder typically doesn’t come sweetened. It has a grassy, earthy flavor and any matcha-flavored foods and drinks definitely benefit from an added sweetener.

But if you go for the option I used, no harm no foul. Sugar is sugar, whether it’s added before or after you use the item in a recipe. You probably won’t need to add maple syrup to the pre-sweetened version, but you can always taste test to see what works best for you.

Based on my experience, here’s another tip: always read your Nutrition Facts Labels on the back of your products before you buy them to see if there are any added ingredients that may affect your recipe. As a dietitian, I should have done this… I’ll blame it on my boyfriend rushing me through the Trader Joe’s aisles because we were shopping on empty bellies.

My favorite parts about this recipe are the sweet and mild flavors coming from the matcha; the hint of flavor from the peanut butter, which adds a little extra protein and creaminess; and the steady, energized feeling that comes from the caffeine in green tea. And don’t forget the powerful antioxidant properties in green tea, which are even more amplified when drinking matcha because you’re consuming the whole leaf rather than just the water in which the leaves are steeped.

Next on my list of things to make with my can of sweetened green tea powder is a matcha crepe cake, because who doesn’t love crepe cakes. Stay tuned for that one.