A blueberrilicious treat! (Edited)

Recently, I found a recipe for "blueberry energy bites" and it sounded like a perfect summer treat (maybe even a breakfast or dessert). Since I've never made anything from the healthy maven's web site (where I found the recipe), I wasn't sure how they would turn out. OH MY GOODNESS--healthy maven said they were wonderful, but they are absolutely divine. My husband doesn't like blueberries and he thought these were tasty*. Blueberrilicious treats!

Of course, I had to modify the recipe a little. (That's my MO, remember?) I added chia seeds for a little extra energy and nutrition goodness. I also made these with walnuts rather than almonds as she suggested. Walnuts have lots of omega-3s and I'm all about omega-3s. Omega-3s help reduce the inflammatory process. Walnuts are the "healthy" nut. (They are still loaded with fat, so that's why healthy is in quotes. Some people don't want to consume very much fat, but my girls are growing.)

Note, walnuts are very "oily," and the picture shows the little treats looking very shiny. As you roll the balls, you will get a lot of oil on your hands.  You may want to put the mixture on paper towels to let it "drain" a little.  I'm going to play around with adding some oats, and using a few less nuts to figure this little problem out, but for now, I wanted to warn you that this could happen. On the positive side of things, if you get a lot of oil out, you can feel good that you won't be eating all the oil.

I think some of the problem with so much oil coming out is that I processed the walnuts for a long time; we like the texture smooth. I will keep you posted on what I do and you can let me know what you do to fix this--thanks if you do! (I need a recipe tester, apparently!)

EDITED 6/24/2013:
I removed some of the nuts from the recipe and added a few oats.  This time, it wasn't "greasy!"  Yay!  It was still was super yummy

1 1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup oats (these made it more "stiff"
1/3 cup Chia Seed
1  cup dates
1 cup dried blueberries
1.5 tsp vanilla extract (or seeds of 1 vanilla bean)
~3-4 tablespoons lemon juice (or juice from 1/2 lemon)
1/4 tsp sea salt

Process the nuts and dates in a food process until your desired texture. (We like things very smooth around here.)

(Be sure to check your dates for pits before you add them. It's awful if one sneaks into your food processor--you'll have to toss the mixture as you could break a tooth on a piece of date pit!)

Add in the  blueberries. Add chia and up to 1/4 cup of oats -- I often only add oats if the walnuts look especially oily.

Add the salt, lemon juice, and vanilla.

When it's all processed take it out of the food processor and make the little bite-sized balls--aim for 20-25.

Below are the nutritional stats for one ball (if you make 22 balls from this recipe).

We plan to make a second batch tomorrow.  At the risk of sounding trite, OMG, they are good! Thanks, healthy maven! You are awesome!

*Both my husband and our wonderful nanny thought the blueberry energy bites tasted chocolatey... I just thought it was the rich walnut flavor.