Cricket Protein Energy Bites

Cricket flour is a complete protein, sustainable to produce, and tastes like toasted nuts, not like what you're imagining. Dates, almond butter, dark chocolate chips, and oats turn it into a genuinely good, portable energy bite. We started making these during Adam's OCR training; one batch makes twenty and keeps for weeks. And when we serve them to guests, we tell people what's in them — partly because it's a great conversation, but mostly because cricket flour shares allergen proteins with shellfish, and that's information anyone with a shellfish allergy needs before the first bite (see the allergy note below).

Prep15 minutes
Cook0 minutes
Total35–45 minutes
Servings20

Estimated macros per serving

Calories ~130 · Protein ~4g · Carbs ~18g · Fat ~6g

Ingredients

1 cup Medjool dates, pitted (about 12–14 dates)
½ cup almond butter (no added sugar)
¼ cup cricket flour (available online from brands such as Entomo Farms, Aketta, or specialty health food retailers — for the gluten-free and dairy-free tags, choose one whose label says so; some cricket flours are processed alongside soy or grains)
¾ cup certified gluten-free rolled oats
3 tablespoons unsweetened cacao powder
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
⅓ cup dark chocolate chips (70% cacao or higher; for the dairy-free tag, check the label — many dark chips contain milk solids, and Enjoy Life is a reliably dairy-free brand)
2 tablespoons hemp seeds (for rolling, optional)

Method

Place the dates in a food processor and pulse 10–12 times until they form a rough, sticky paste. They should clump together when pressed between your fingers. If your dates are dry, soak them in warm water for 5 minutes and drain before processing.
Add the almond butter, cricket flour, oats, cacao powder, maple syrup, vanilla, and sea salt to the food processor. Pulse until the mixture comes together into a uniform, slightly sticky dough, about 15–20 pulses. Stop and scrape down the sides once halfway through. The dough should hold its shape when pressed but not be wet.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and fold in the dark chocolate chips by hand. Taste the mixture now; you're looking for the balance of sweet, chocolatey, and nutty. Add a pinch more salt if it needs it.
Refrigerate the bowl for at least 20–30 minutes to firm the dough slightly; this makes rolling much easier and less sticky. The dough is ready to roll when it no longer sticks to your palms when lightly pressed.
Scoop the mixture into generous two-tablespoon portions (a #30 cookie scoop is perfect — you should get about 20). Roll each portion between your palms into a smooth ball. If using hemp seeds, spread them on a plate and roll each bite through them to coat. The hemp seeds add a subtle crunch and look good.
Place the finished bites on a parchment-lined plate or container. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before eating to set.

Variations & Notes

Allergy note: Cricket flour contains proteins (including tropomyosin) that may trigger reactions in people with shellfish or crustacean allergies. If you or anyone you're serving has a shellfish allergy, use the hemp or pea protein substitution instead.
Vegan Swap: Cricket flour is an animal product: swap it for an equal amount of hemp protein powder or pea protein powder for a fully vegan bite with a similar protein boost.
Extra Hungry: Double the batch. These disappear faster than you expect, especially around anyone who works out.
Substitutions: Cashew butter or sunflower seed butter work in place of almond butter. Carob chips can replace chocolate chips. If cricket flour isn't available, hemp protein powder is the closest substitute in flavor and texture.
Storage: Keeps in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 10 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. They're actually great eaten straight from frozen: they firm up nicely.

# You Made It This Far

If you're reading this page, you cooked through this book — or you're about to. Either way, thank you. Cookbooks have a way of becoming wishlists. They sit on shelves, get earmarked, get photographed for an Instagram story, and then get quietly buried under the next one. We hoped Tasty but Whole would be different. We hoped it would actually get used. The most encouraging part of writing it has been imagining your kitchen with a few of these recipes already in rotation.

The whole point of this book was never to be perfect. It was to be useful — useful on a Tuesday when nobody has the energy to plan, useful on a Saturday when there's actually time to cook, useful on the hungry post-run nights and the kid-in-bed-finally nights and the okay-let's-just-meal-prep-on-Sunday nights. We wanted recipes that respect your time, your appetite, and the fact that real life keeps moving whether dinner is figured out or not. Whole food, not perfect food. Tasty first, ideology second. That's the standard we tried to hold ourselves to on every page.

We're writing this from our kitchen in the Bay Area. Riley is coming up on two now and grabbing things off plates with real conviction — last week it was a roasted sweet potato wedge from the sheet pan chicken; the week before, half a banana-almond pancake she fully intended to keep. Mason is on the way, due later this year, which means by the time most of you are cooking from this book, we'll be back to the four-month sleep deprivation tour and writing recipes one-handed. Waffle, our dog, is asleep under the kitchen island as we type this, waiting patiently for something to fall. He's part of this kitchen too. He's part of why we cook at home so much. These recipes were built and rebuilt at this counter, with a baby in the high chair, a dog at our feet, and the lighting from the back window we wrote about somewhere a hundred pages ago.

What we wish for you is not that your kitchen looks like ours, or that your meals look like the photos. It's that one of these recipes becomes a Tuesday recipe in your house. Maybe two. Maybe ten. The sheet pan chicken, the post-run salmon, the meatballs in the freezer for the night you forgot to thaw anything, the no-bake cups for the chocolate craving that doesn't need to become a whole project. The ones you don't have to think about. The ones that just work.

This is what we mean when we say we wrote a cookbook for real life. Real life is not a clean kitchen and a slow Sunday. Real life is the in-between: half the groceries you meant to buy, a kid who decided green beans are a personal insult, a workout that ran long, an appetite that doesn't match the recipe yield. The recipes here are designed to absorb all of that and still feed people well. If something works for you, please change it. Swap the protein, double the vegetables, ignore the garnish, run with whatever your fridge actually contains. The point was never reverence. The point was dinner.

But — and this is the part we kept circling back to — we hope you also find the weird ones useful. The kimchi grilled cheese, the watermelon poke bowl, the chili-mango bark. Not because they'll become your weeknight defaults, but because they make the kitchen a more interesting place to keep showing up to. Cooking gets boring when it gets safe. The weird recipes are how we keep ourselves honest about that.

And if any of these recipes make it into your regular life — into the boring magic of your weekly rotation — please tell us. We mean it. The most rewarding part of putting this book into the world is hearing from you. What you cooked. What you swapped. What didn't work. What did. We read everything. We answer when we can.

Thanks for cooking with us. We'll see you in the next one.

— Adam and Kiana

# Acknowledgments

This book exists because of the people who fed us, cooked with us, tested half-finished ideas, and told us the truth when a recipe needed one more pass.

To our families: thank you for teaching us that food can be both care and routine, celebration and everyday work.

To our early recipe testers: every note, photo, text message, and honest correction made these pages stronger.

To Waffle: thank you for your unwavering commitment to cleanup duty and table-side morale.

To Riley, our daughter, and to Mason, the little one on the way: you are already the reason we think harder about what it means to feed people well.

# Connect With Us

We wrote this book to be used, adapted, and passed around the kitchen. If you make something from it, we'd love to see it.

Website: www.tastybutwhole.com
Instagram: @Tasty.But.Whole
Email: hello@tastybutwhole.com

Send the swaps that worked, the shortcuts that saved dinner, and the versions your household made its own. That is the part where the book leaves our kitchen and starts living in yours.

# Alphabetical Recipe Index

Almond Butter and Celery with Raisin-Cranberry Topping (The Grownup Version) (Snacky but Whole)
Almond Butter Banana Overnight Oats (5-Jar Batch) (Prepped but Whole)
Almond Date Energy Bites with Cacao and Sea Salt (Snacky but Whole)
Almond Flour Brownies with Cacao and Medjool Dates (Sweet but Whole)
Apple Slices with Tahini, Honey, and Cinnamon (Snacky but Whole)
Avocado Toast on Sweet Potato "Bread" with Poached Egg (Brunchy but Whole)
Avocado-Lime No-Cheesecake (Weird but Whole)
Baked Cinnamon Apples Stuffed with Walnut-Date Crumble (Sweet but Whole)
Baked Spaghetti Squash with Turkey Bolognese (Hungry but Whole)
Banana-Almond Flour Pancakes (Grain-Free, High-Protein) (Brunchy but Whole)
Banana-Berry Muffins (Almond Flour, No Added Sugar) (Prepped but Whole)
Beet and Black Bean Brownies (Weird but Whole)
Beet Hummus with Roasted Garlic and Lemon (Snacky but Whole)
Big-Batch Cauliflower Rice (Plain and Seasoned Versions) (Prepped but Whole)
Big-Batch Turkey Meatballs (Freeze-Friendly) (Prepped but Whole)
Bison and Black Bean Chili with Fire-Roasted Tomatoes (Meaty but Whole)
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesadillas with Mango Salsa (Quick but Whole)
Black Bean Tacos with Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle Cashew Cream (Planty but Whole)
Bone Broth and Vegetable Soup Base (Freezer Stash) (Prepped but Whole)
Chicken and Vegetable Coconut Soup (Hungry but Whole)
Chicken Liver Pâté Crostini with Fig Jam (Weird but Whole)
Chicken Tortilla Soup with All the Fixings (Soupy but Whole)
Chickpea and Sweet Potato Curry with Coconut Milk and Spinach (Planty but Whole)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie (Adam's Post-Workout Build) (Brunchy but Whole)
Coconut Chia Pudding with Passion Fruit and Toasted Coconut (Sweet but Whole)
Coconut Lentil and Vegetable Soup with Turmeric and Lime (Planty but Whole)
Coffee-Rubbed Ribeye with Blistered Shishito Peppers (Meaty but Whole)
Creamy Broccoli Soup with Cashew Base (No Dairy Needed) (Soupy but Whole)
Cricket Protein Energy Bites (Weird but Whole)
Cucumber and Smoked Salmon Bites with Lemon-Dill Cream Cheese (Snacky but Whole)
Dark Chocolate Avocado Mousse with Raspberry and Sea Salt (Sweet but Whole)
Dark Chocolate Chili-Mango Bark with Sea Salt and Lime Zest (Weird but Whole)
Egg and Vegetable Scramble with Whatever's in the Fridge (Quick but Whole)
Frozen Banana Nice Cream with Mix-In Options (Sweet but Whole)
Grain-Free Waffles with Blueberry Compote and Coconut Cream (Brunchy but Whole)
Grass-Fed Beef Burger Patties with Avocado, Pickled Onion, and Sweet Potato Buns (Meaty but Whole)
Green Protein Smoothie with Spinach, Mango, and Hemp Seeds (Brunchy but Whole)
Grilled Skirt Steak with Charred Corn and Lime Salsa (Meaty but Whole)
Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet with Avocado (Hungry but Whole)
Ground Bison and Sweet Potato Stuffed Poblano Peppers (Meaty but Whole)
Guacamole and Baked Plantain Chips (Snacky but Whole)
Harissa Lamb Meatballs with Roasted Zucchini and Tomatoes (Hungry but Whole)
Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb with Roasted Root Vegetables (Meaty but Whole)
Homemade Trail Mix with Dark Chocolate, Almonds, and Dried Cherry (Snacky but Whole)
Honey-Garlic Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Apple (Meaty but Whole)
Honey-Roasted Stone Fruit Parfait with Greek Yogurt and Pistachios (Sweet but Whole)
Italian Wedding Soup with Turkey Meatballs and Greens (Soupy but Whole)
Kimchi Grilled Cheese with Apple Slices (Weird but Whole)
Lamb and White Bean Stew with Rosemary and Preserved Lemon (Soupy but Whole)
Lemon-Herb Cod with Roasted Asparagus and Smashed Potatoes (Hungry but Whole)
Lemon-Herb Grain Bowls with Roasted Chickpeas and Tahini (5-Container Build) (Prepped but Whole)
Lentil Dal with Roasted Cauliflower and Crispy Shallots (Planty but Whole)
Mango-Coconut Sorbet (Two Ingredients) (Sweet but Whole)
Miso-Glazed Eggplant with Sesame Rice and Quick-Pickled Cucumber (Planty but Whole)
Miso-Peanut Butter Chocolate Shake (Weird but Whole)
No-Bake Peanut Butter Fudge Cups with Dark Chocolate Shell (Sweet but Whole)
One-Skillet Salmon with Wilted Spinach and White Beans (Hungry but Whole)
Orange and Almond Polenta Cake with Honey Glaze (Sweet but Whole)
Overnight Chia Seed Pudding with Berry Compote (5-Jar Batch) (Prepped but Whole)
Pellet-Smoked Chicken Thighs with Chimichurri (Meaty but Whole)
Prawn and Tomato Shakshuka (Quick but Whole)
Pumpkin Spice Protein Smoothie Bowl (Brunchy but Whole)
Quick Chicken and Vegetable Soup with Turmeric and Lemon (Quick but Whole)
Roasted Beet and Orange Salad with Arugula, Pistachios, and Balsamic (Planty but Whole)
Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Tahini Sauce and Pomegranate (Planty but Whole)
Roasted Spiced Chickpeas (Three Flavors: Smoky, Curried, Chili-Lime) (Snacky but Whole)
Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup with Crispy Chickpeas (Soupy but Whole)
Roasted Vegetable Medley Base (The All-Week Workhorse) (Prepped but Whole)
Sausage and White Bean Skillet with Kale and Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Hungry but Whole)
Seafood and Fennel Stew with Saffron (Cioppino-Inspired) (Soupy but Whole)
Seared Duck Breast with Cherry Sauce and Wilted Greens (Meaty but Whole)
Seed and Nut Energy Bars (No Bake, Honey-Bound) (Snacky but Whole)
Sesame Salmon with Quick Bok Choy and Brown Rice (Quick but Whole)
Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs with Roasted Sweet Potato and Broccolini (Hungry but Whole)
Shrimp and Zucchini Noodle Stir-Fry with Ginger and Lime (Quick but Whole)
Slow Cooker Beef and Root Vegetable Stew (Soupy but Whole)
Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken (Multiple Meal Base) (Prepped but Whole)
Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken with Mango Slaw Lettuce Cups (Hungry but Whole)
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Pickled Jalapeño Slaw (Meaty but Whole)
Smashed Cucumber and Chicken Salad with Sesame Vinaigrette (Quick but Whole)
Smoked Salmon and Avocado Breakfast Bowl with Soft-Boiled Egg (Brunchy but Whole)
Smoky Black Bean Soup with Avocado and Lime (Soupy but Whole)
Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai with Tempeh and Quick Peanut Sauce (Planty but Whole)
Spiced Ground Turkey Bowls with Cauliflower Rice and Tzatziki (Quick but Whole)
Spiced Lamb and Sweet Potato Protein Bowls (4-Container Meal Prep) (Prepped but Whole)
Spiced Pumpkin Seed and Coconut Granola (Low-Sugar) (Snacky but Whole)
Spiced Red Lentil and Carrot Soup with Lemon Yogurt (Soupy but Whole)
Strawberry and Basil Chia Jam (No-Refined-Sugar Spread) (Sweet but Whole)
Stuffed Bell Peppers with Herbed Quinoa, Black Beans, and Feta (Planty but Whole)
Sweet Potato and Egg Hash with Crispy Onion and Smoked Paprika (Brunchy but Whole)
Sweet Potato Toast with Sardines and Pickled Onion (Weird but Whole)
Thai-Inspired Coconut Chicken Soup (A Tom Kha Riff) (Soupy but Whole)
Tuna and Avocado Lettuce Cups with Sesame-Ginger Dressing (Quick but Whole)
Turkey and Avocado Collard Wraps with Almond Hummus (Quick but Whole)
Turkey and Vegetable Stir-Fry with Cauliflower Fried Rice (Hungry but Whole)
Turmeric-Black Pepper Golden Ice Pops (Weird but Whole)
Veggie-Loaded Frittata with Whatever Needs Using (Brunchy but Whole)
Warm Grain Bowl with Soft Egg, Roasted Beets, and Tahini (Brunchy but Whole)
Watermelon Poke Bowl (Weird but Whole)
White Bean and Kale Soup with Rosemary and Lemon (Planty but Whole)

# Key Ingredient Index