Late last month Vega send me a MASSIVE box full of their newly formulated Vega One. I was completely surprised because it had been out of the blue because suddenly, BAM, I was inundated with Vega One samples. Now the use of the word “inundated” may seem like it was a bad thing but it was not. Not one bit- it’s my favorite kind of inundation: the delicious protein-filled, packed-with-greens kind.

While I always enjoyed the taste of Vega One, my only gripe with it was that being a body builder and the name of the game being “protein”, it just didn’t have enough to really satisfy my needs (thankfully Vega Sport was always there to help!). I was pleasantly surprised though to find that with with this new formula (which will be available for purchase January 2015) they added 33% more protein and doubled the greens per serving! SO MUCH LOVE!

So while I had been gulping down Vega One protein shakes with reckless abandon (you know, still “taste testing”- yeah…) another package arrived from Vega. This time, it was a special version of their Maca Chocolate Bars as a thoughtful “Happy Holidays” gift.

I was touched.

While I’m still playing around to come up with something very special with the Vega One, I was inspired by the Maca Chocolate Bar (probably has something to do with the holidays and sweets).

The version I received had fruits and nuts whereas the commercial version does not but I used that as the basis for my inspiration for the rest of the recipe. I wanted to play around with the idea of chocolate, sweet fruits and crunchy nuts. I wanted to make something that was tasty and sweet without being sugar-packed.

Something that could also be a fueling snack as well as an enjoyable treat.

And thus, the Maca Chocolate Fruit and Nut Energy Balls were born!

Ta-daaaaaaaa!

Oh my gosh, they’re soooo good! I hope you love them too!

But can we take a quick moment to talk about how messy food photography is? You know, to get those really “food porn” photos you have to make a mess. I don’t really like making messes but it’s been holding me back from getting a lot of the photos I’ve been wanting. I finally went for it with the whole “cacao splatter” and all that jazz and I think it really turned out well! Still learning but I was really happy with how this all turned out.

Guess I have to get messy more often.

Disclaimer: Vega sent me their products to sample and review for the purpose of making recipes- no other compensation was received.. All opinions are my own.

Maca Chocolate Fruit and Nut Energy Balls

Makes approx 8

30g Vega Maca Chocolate (a little less than 1 bar)

1/3 Cup Raw, Unsalted Almonds

3 Medjool Dates

1/4 Cup Dried Cranberries

1 TBSP Water

Cacao, optional

Pit the dates and roughly chop. Break chocolate into pieces and toss chocolate, almonds, dates, cranberries and water into a food processor. Process until a crumbly mixtures has been formed and sticks together. Carefully remove and form into 8 balls. Sprinkle with (or roll in) cacao.