Naughty or Nice Granola Drops

Balls of granola come together with nut butters, honey and applesauce (or mashed bananas) to create a lovely treat perfect for after a workout, a day on the go or packaged up with a Christmas bow for the holidays! Start with a homemade granola or your favorite store-bought brand. This link has a few lovely homemade granola recipes for this time of year. While these are a rather ‘nice’ unprocessed treat, these drops can even be dipped in melted chocolate to make them a bit more ‘naughty’ for the Holiday Season. Start with this base recipe and make these your own.

For more Food Gift Recipes from Lilly’s Table that are both sweet + savory, check out this link for granolas, crackers and more.

Recipe
1/4 cup oil, coconut or olive both can work
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup applesauce or mashed banana
1/4 cup peanut butter, or almond or even sunflower butter
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups granola, store-bought or homemade (the picture shows Lilly’s Table’s Seeduction Granola)
1/2 cup brown rice puffs, or other puffed cereal (find this in health food style groceries for only a couple dollars for a giant bag)

3/4 cup ground flax meal, or more as needed (this helps the mess stick together well)
Melt together the oil, honey, applesauce and nut butter. Pour the granola, shredded coconut, and brown rice puffs in a large bowl. Pour the warmed gooey liquid over the top of the dry ingredients and fold together. Fold in the flax meal, add more until the mixture feels a bit less sticky.

Roll it into balls about 1-2 tablespoons big. Slightly wet hands makes this rolling process a bit easier. Store and place in the fridge until they are just hard and less likely to lose their shape when you touch them.

To serve, they can be brought up to room temperature for a few hours, but they keep best in the fridge for up to about a week.

Want chocolate? Make sure the Granola Drops are in the fridge or even freezer until they are nice and cold. Warm about a ½-1 cup of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bar in the microwave in 10-20 second spurts. Stir and continue to heat in spurts until the chocolate is barely warm and becoming liquid like. Dip the chilled Granola Drops into the chocolate, rolling about to evenly coat. Scoop
them out with a fork and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Repeat with the remaining drops until they are all evenly coated. Place the cookie sheet in the fridge or freezer to finish cooling the chocolate.

To gift, place each drop in a mini muffin paper and place in little truffle boxes or wrap up a few in a little cellophane with a sweet bow and beautiful label hanging off (link to your gorgeous labels here?)

Gift your favorite bunch of ladies with Lilly’s Table seasonal meal planning service. Pay for four gift certificates, but receive five. Or buy eight gift certificates and receive three gift certificates for free