Gingerbread protein balls
15 min · 12 g protein · 114 cals / serving
Every flavour of a Swedish pepparkaka in a soft, fudgy bite: oats, vanilla protein, almond butter, quark and a few dates blitzed with Swedish dark syrup, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom and orange zest, then rolled in crushed gingerbread biscuits. No baking, just a short chill, and they keep five days in the fridge.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp rolled oats
- 3 scoops (90 g) whey protein, vanilla
- 3 dried dates, pitted; soaked 10 minutes in hot water if hard
- 1 tbsp almond butter, smooth
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp quark, plus a spoonful more only if the mix is crumbly
- 2 tsp dark syrup (mörk sirap), Swedish dark syrup (mörk sirap), or molasses
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp cardamom, ground
- zest of 1/2 orange orange zest
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 thin gingerbread biscuits gingerbread biscuit (pepparkaka), crushed to crumbs
Steps
- Put the oats in a food processor and blitz to a coarse flour, about 20 seconds. Add the protein powder, dates, almond butter, quark, syrup, spices, orange zest and salt and blend until the mixture clumps together into a soft dough that holds when pressed, 30–60 seconds, scraping down the sides once.
- The dough should be soft but hold together when pressed, like thick cookie dough. Only if it is crumbly, work in a little more quark a teaspoon at a time. Cover and chill for 1 hour, until firm enough to roll.
- Tip the crushed gingerbread into a shallow bowl. With damp hands, roll the dough into 16 balls about the size of a walnut and roll each one in the crumbs; a light dusting is enough.
- Serve them straight from the fridge (they soften at room temperature), two per person. Keep them in a sealed box in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months and thaw for 10 minutes before eating.
Good to know
Can I skip the quark?
Yes: use 3–4 tbsp skimmed milk instead, added a spoon at a time until the dough holds, at about 52 instead of 57. Quark makes them softer and a little tangy, like a gingerbread cheesecake.
No dates?
Use 1 tbsp honey instead; the balls come out at about the same score. The dates add a caramel note and help the dough hold, so chill it a little longer before rolling.
Can I leave out the gingerbread crumbs?
Roll them in 1 tbsp cocoa instead for a darker, less sweet coat, at about 60 instead of 57. The crumbs add crunch and the most gingerbread flavour.
Alternatives
Per
- Calories
- 258
- Protein
- (43%)
- 27 g
- Fat
- (15%)
- 4 g
- Carbohydrates
- (42%)
- 28 g
- of which sugar
- 11 g
- Fiber
- 4 g
- Sodium
- 203 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 911 kcal goes into the pot and 354 g of ingredients comes out as about 353 g of food: 258 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.