Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Balls - High in fiber and protein!

The other day a friend of mine shared this recipe on Facebook from Oh Sweet Basil. I thought it looked delicious to say the least. I'm always looking for granola bar or snack recipes to make homemade snacks because Oliver is always begging for granola bars....no seriously this happens at least 2-3 times a day. After taking a look at the recipe, I decided it looked pretty good but needed tweaking before even trying it. Alternative bar options are great for Oliver but I do not want something loaded in sugar for him. Vegetable glycerin is something I discovered a few years ago when I was on a Candida diet (no sugar allowed, not even most natural sugars). Vegetable glycerin was used as the sweeter in most of the baked goods in one of my cookbooks and was a lifesaver to have something sweet when on such a strict diet.  I'm not sure why it isnt more known and popular amongst diabetic cooking. With Oliver so imterested in snack bars, if this little picky eater is snacking on something I want it to have as much nutritional value as possible. The original recipe being in high protein was a good start but I wanted lower sugar, more calcium and more fiber! Whoalah! You have this delicious modification that even our friend, who was at our house today, enjoyed and he hates peanut butter! Just don't forget about how much protein and fiber these have in them when you are tempted to eat the entire batch! I buy my hemp protein powder, vegetable glycerin, and Enjoy Life chocolate chips from Vitacost. The Darifree milk powder is carried at my local food co-op.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Balls
Yield: 25 one rounded tablespoon sized balls

1/3 cup dried no sugar added apricots
1 1/4 cup gluten free oats
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup Vitacost Certified Organic Hemp Protein High Fiber Drink Mix
2 tablespoons Darifree milk powder
2 cups corn chex
3/4 cup JIF Natural Peanut Butter (Natural is soy free, regular is not!)
1/4 cup food grade vegetable glycerin (or agave nectar or honey if increased sugar is not an issue). I use NOW brand from Vitacost
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Directions: Place dried apricots in a bowl and cover with water. Let sit and soak for 30 minutes. Drain water. Place apricots in a food processor or chopper (I use my Ninja prep.) and finely chop, set aside. Place corn chex in a bag and crush into small pieces. Be careful not to over crush it or make it into a powder. Place chopped apricots, oats, cocoa powder, hemp protein drink mix, Darifree milk powder, crushed chex, peanut butter, vegetable glycerin, and honey in a mixer and mix well. Add the chocolate chips and mix until chocolate chips are evenly dispersed throughout the mixture. Scoop batter using a large rounded tablespoon and form into a ball. Place balls on a cookie sheet and cool in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Once hardened, place balls in an airtight container and store in the fridge.

So here's some of the nutritional information I was concerned about and checking in on.These values are based on the brands I used in this recipe.
Per Ball
Fiber: 2.2 grams
Sugar: 5.3 grams
Calcium: 5% of the daily value
Protein: 3.4 grams

I'm hoping to try this recipe again but I would like to see even less sugar and more calcium next time!

Disclaimer: It is always important to read labels because brands frequently change their ingredients. These ingredients and brands work for my family but some may be processed in the same facility as wheat, soy, dairy and/or eggs and therefore depending on your severity may or may not work for your family.