Rice Banana Avocado Baby Energy Bites +6M

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I love energy bites: small treat that you can indulge yourself with during the day as a light snack to recharge the energies. I like to prepare small energy balls for the kids to take to school and enjoy when they do sports. With that in mind I asked myself: why babies cannot have their own energy bite? That’s how I created these little sweet and delicate balls: soft enough for little palates and loaded with high nutrients and flavor.

The sticky brown rice gives body to the bites, dates and banana give natural sweetness and the avocado plays the superhero 🙂

I coated the mini balls with almond meal (aka almonds blended to flour consistency) so that they are easily handled by little ones without too much mess.

If you want to skip the almond meal and the rolling part you can have your baby simply enjoy the rice pudding loaded with Omega 3 fatty acids.

I used some brown rice (if you want to know a bit more about rice and arsenic, a very interesting topic, check out this post too) already cooked and left for a fried rice recipe. With the rice ready the recipe is ready in less than 10 minutes 🙂

I soaked the dates overnight in a cup of water but if you don’t have time (or forget) simply place the dates in the cup of water (glass or ceramic) in the microwave for 2 minutes. They will get soft immediately.

I removed the peel and the pit from the dates and placed the pulp in a medium bowl, added the banana and mashed everything with a fork creating a puree.

I added the rice and avocado and mixed everything.

I rolled in my hands a teaspoon of the mix to create a small ball and coated it with some almond meal simply rolling it in a small cup with the almond meal.

Serve the mini energy balls to your little one at room temperature.

Can I store the baby bites? And freeze them?

You can store the baby balls in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or even freeze it for up to 3 months. Be ready to observe a change in color, the balls will turn brownish, that’s the natural oxidation of the avocado and banana. The nutrients will not change, just the color.

Can I use quinoa instead of rice?

Of course, the final flavor will be slightly different as you will be able to taste the quinoa.

Is Avocado a baby super food?

I will never stop promoting avocado in babies/kids and adults diet. When I say that avocado has it all I’m not overestimating the green fruit 🙂 

Carbohydrates, good fats, proteins: they are all there and they are needed for a proper baby’s brain and physical development.

This is from the Avocado from California Association: “Sodium- and cholesterol- free, avocados contain valuable nutrients including 8% of the recommended Daily Value (DV) for folate; 4% DV for fiber and potassium, 4% DV for vitamin E; and 2% DV for iron. A serving of avocado also contains 81 micrograms of the carotenoid lutein and 19 micrograms of beta-carotene. Per serving, avocados have 3.5 grams of unsaturated fats, which are known to be important for normal growth and development of the central nervous system and brain.” http://www.californiaavocado.com/nutrition

I don’t have dates in the pantry…

It’s not a problem 🙂 You can switch dates with any other dried fruit of your choice. Dried apricots are a lovely substitution to give natural sweetness to the baby bites.