Cacao Bites

These cacao bites are one of my favourite snacks or desserts. They're really easy to make and offer a wide range of nutrients, including zinc, calcium and protein. They're also deliciously rich and satisfying, yum!

Makes about 14

½ cup plain or vanilla protein powder
⅓ cup pepita meal *
⅓ cup cacao
2 teaspoons baking powder
200ml almond milk or milk of choice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
A few teaspoons of LSA (optional)

 * I love baking with pepita meal and find it adds a delicious flavour and consistency. Here’s where I get mine, otherwise you could try grinding your own pepitas into a fine flour or use almond meal instead, but it might change the texture of the bites.

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celcius conventional
2. Lightly coat a mini muffin tin with coconut oil so that the bites don’t stick
3. Sift together the dry ingredients
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients
5. Gently stir the wet mix into the dry mix until just combined
6. Scoop into your muffin tin. If you like, sprinkle some in some LSA  on top of each one
7. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean
8. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling
9. Enjoy!

P.S. Just like dark chocolate, these bites are wonderfully bitter. If you like your baked goods a little sweeter, you could try adding a tablespoon of rice malt syrup or maple syrup and a little less milk, and see how they turn out!