pistachio goji berry amazeballs — tales of grit & grace

As some of you may know, I’m an endurance runner. I hopped on this bandwagon of insanity back in 2010 because a friend of mine was putting on a 24 hour event on some nearby trails and I thought it sounded like fun. I was just coming off of an almost year-and-a-half injury, so I was completely untrained. I’d never done anything like this before, so I showed up with a bag of roasted sweet potatoes (I’d read about that somewhere) and a bunch of peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and when I crossed the finish line for the last time the next morning, I left with all of it. This is where I learned that fueling these long events was going to be a problem for me. And, I. Was. Right.

The thing is, I don’t want sweet, and sweet is what gives you that quick energy, and sometimes you can’t wait for the saltier, more complex stuff to kick in, or you’ll never pull yourself out of the slog. Anyway, over the years, I’ve tried everything from green juice (which you can read about here) to Tailwind (a YES for so many runners, but a FUCK NO! for me) to watermelon (a definite yes, but not incredibly practical). Anyway, last year, I was training for the Moab 240 (and you can read about that here), when I started tinkering around with making my own energy bars. I needed them to have just enough sugars to be effective, but not enough to be off-putting, be calorically dense so they wouldn’t take up a lot of space in my stomach while still providing a dose of energy, and to be more portable than a watermelon. These pistachio goji berry amazeballs do all that and come with a stupid-fun name, to boot! And like so many of my others, this recipe is more of a template, so if you prefer a different nut or dried fruit, you can easily switch it out.

pistachio goji berry amazeballs
makes apprx 24 one inch balls

1/2 cup gluten free rolled oats
1 cup shelled, unsalted raw pistachios
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup dried apricots (soaked in warm water if hard)
1/2 Tbs honey or agave
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbs goji berries
1-2 Tbs water

1) Pulse oats in a food processor until slightly more coarse than oat flour.
2) Add pistachios and sea salt and pulse just until ground.

PistachioGojiBerryAmazeballsGroundPistachiosWeb6000.jpg — ground pistachios & oats

ready to roll into something amazing

3) Add apricots (drain if you’ve soaked them) and pulse until they are finely chopped.
4) Add honey or agave, vanilla, and goji berries, and process, adding the water 1/2 tablespoon at a time until it comes together and is moldable with your hands.
5) Roll into one-inch balls, and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

pistachio goji berry amazeballs energy bars — pistachio goji berry amazeballs

not too sweet & easier to carry than a watermelon

pistachio goji berry amazeballs
makes apprx 24 one inch balls

1/2 cup gluten free rolled oats
1 cup shelled, unsalted raw pistachios
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup dried apricots (soaked in warm water if hard)
1/2 Tbs honey or agave
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbs goji berries
1-2 Tbs water

1) Pulse oats in a food processor until slightly more coarse than oat flour.
2) Add pistachios and sea salt and pulse just until ground.
3) Add apricots (drain if you’ve soaked them) and pulse until they are finely chopped.
4) Add honey or agave, vanilla, and goji berries, and process, adding the water 1/2 tablespoon at a time until it comes together and is moldable with your hands.
5) Roll into one-inch balls, and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container.