This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Quaker. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias #LoveMyCereal #QuakerUp

As the holidays draw near to a close, that is when my family starts gearing up for our next busy season. Volleyball season! If you are a “sports mom” then you know just how hectic those weekend tournament road-trips and practice schedules can be. Especially when you have more than one kiddo participating. This year I have two who will be playing club and will be in different locations every weekend (oh my!). To make our lives a bit easier, we look for easy snacks that are easy to make, but they must provide energy and protein to keep them going, and be easy to pack and keep well for a weekend trip, like these easy Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola Bites!

I’ve found that using “short cut” ingredients that are already a better for you option and taste great help to create delicious treats quick and easy. One of my favorite easy ingredients is Quaker® products including the traditional rolled oats and all of the wonderful cereal choices!

For this super easy recipe that only takes about 10 minutes to prepare, I ran down to my local Walmart store and found all the ingredients I needed. I chose Quaker® Real Medleys® Cereal with granola, cherries, almonds and pecans already added to flavorful crunchy cereal for my main ingredient. I then pick up some dark chocolate, flax, and puree’d dried cherries and then grabbed some Quaker® Oatmeal Squares for a bit of extra cinnamon flavor to top them off. SO easy!

Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola Bites

Yield: 20

Ingredients

5 oz. Dried Cherries
1/2 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips
1/4 Ground Flax Seed
2 Cups Quaker® Real Medleys® Cereal (cherry, almond, pecan variety)
1 Cup Quaker® Oatmeal Squares Cereal

Instructions

Puree dried cherries to form a paste and place in microwave safe bowl.
Add chocolate chips to paste.
Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until chocolate is melted and stirs smooth.
Add ground flax and Quaker® Real Medleys® Cereal and stir until mixed.
Refrigerate for 3 minutes.
Crush Quaker® Oatmeal Squares Cereal into small pieces to form a topping.
Remove mixture from refrigerator and roll into one inch balls.
Roll balls in crushed Quaker® Oatmeal Squares to coat.
Serve.

Notes

These keep fine at room temperature but taste great frozen as well!

I love how easy these are and the kids love how great they taste! Even better, the kids can make this recipe themselves to it’s fun time in the kitchen. The best part is my kids get a tasty treat with the benefits of being packed full of protein to give them energy to keep going all day long at their tournaments. Small bites let them grab and go between matches with no fuss!