Whenever it was my turn to pick the cereal growing up, I always reached for Cinnamon Toast Crunch. My brother was more of a Honey Bunches of Oats kinda kid and I remember hating this cereal, but now I’d eat it. But maybe you shouldn’t trust me because I also like Raisin Bran and the Special K Strawberry cereal… These protein balls are almost as soon as the real Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
But now as an adult, I rarely buy cereal. And when I do have it, it’s usually when I’m visiting my parents. Like as I write this blog post, I’m enjoying Honey Nut Cheerios with banana and YUM!!
I’ve been craving something like cereal for a while now. I recently tried the Cinnamon Toast Crunch coffee creamer and it has amplified my coffee experience in quarantine. I finally found the creamer at the grocery story after searching for it for months, makes no sense that this happened when the grocery stores were thinning out but not complaining.
So I’d say this coffee creamer sparked my need to create a new protein ball recipe. This plus my constant sweet teeth now that I’m at home all the time. I can’t be the only one constantly wanting to snack and eat sweets during this time??
How to make protein balls? Honestly, it couldn’t be any easier. You’ll be adding all of the ingredients for the oatmeal protein balls in a food processor until smooth. The key to this recipe is getting the right texture of the dough. I opted to add a few tablespoons of water to get it to the perfect consistency instead of adding more maple syrup. If you are using a different protein powder than Quest Cinnamon Crunch, you may need to add or exclude water depending on how big the scoops are. If you have a food scale, I recommend measuring your protein powder this way to make sure you don’t have much more than 90 grams.
I love having these no-bake protein balls on hand for an afternoon pick-me-up snack that satisfies my sweet tooth or with greek yogurt for breakfast. There’s never a bad time to eat these. I can confidently say this recipe is BOMB after my picky boyfriend taste-tested and approved. Having a high protein balls recipe on hand is never a bad idea!
Enjoy!
MORE PROTEIN PACKED TREATS TO TRY:
Follow me on Instagram for more recipes & fitness content!
- Healthy & High Protein Greek Yogurt Cinnamon Apple Bread
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch Protein Bars
- 300 Calorie High-Protein Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal
- Chocolate Chip Protein Baked Oatmeal
Cinnamon Toast Crunch No-Bake Protein Energy Balls
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 1 cup old fashioned oats or oat flour
- 1/3 cup almond butter or any kind of nut butter
- 1 tsp cinnammon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 scoops Cinnamon crunch protein powder (about 90 grams), I used Quest can use another flavor of protein powder but it will take on a different taste
- 1/4 cup maple syrup, agave or honey
- 4 tbsp water
Instructions
- Pour oats into food processor and blend for 1-2 minutes, or until oats are finely chopped. If you are using oat flour, you can forgo this step.
- Add the nut butter, cinnamon, vanilla, protein powder and maple syrup to the food processor. Add the 4 tbsp water last.
- Blend for 1 minute, or until a dough is formed. You may need to use a spatula to scrap the sides of the food processor sporatically to make sure the dough combines everything equally.
- Use a spoon or tbsp to scoop out dough and roll into 1-inch balls. Place formed balls on a cookie sheet or plate.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, then transfer into a tupperware container for easy storage in the fridge.
Notes
If you try out this recipe, share on Instagram tagging @BreatheSweatEat and using #BreatheSweatEat!