My family loves this energy balls recipe! Chewy, nutty, and easy to make with 8 ingredients, these energy bites are a delicious healthy snack.
This energy balls recipe is my family’s favorite healthy snack. Adapted from my protein balls, it’s easy, delicious, and entirely no-bake.
These energy bites are chewy, nutty, and lightly sweet—and they also happen to be good for you. They’re made with simple ingredients like peanut butter, flaxseed, and whole rolled oats…with a handful of chocolate chips thrown in for good measure.
These no-bake bites keep well in the fridge for several days and freeze well for months, so they’re a great grab-and-go snack to keep on hand.
My son Ollie loves eating one after school, and Jack and I reach for them when we need a quick energy boost during the workday. Lately, we’ve been going through about a batch a week. I hope you love them as much as we do!
Energy Bites Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this energy balls recipe:
- Whole rolled oats – Also called old fashioned oats, they fill these bites with fiber and give them their structure. Readers often ask if they can substitute quick oats for old fashioned. I like the chewy texture of the rolled oats here, so I don’t recommend swapping them out!
- Creamy peanut butter – It gives the bites a delicious nutty flavor and helps them stick together. I always use natural peanut butter in this recipe, but I think conventional would work too.
- Ground flaxseed – It adds fiber and healthy fats and helps bind the balls together.
- Honey – For moisture and sweetness. Substitute maple syrup to make this recipe vegan.
- Chopped peanuts – For nutty crunch.
- Unsweetened shredded coconut – For chewy texture and buttery flavor.
- Vanilla extract – For warm depth of flavor.
- Mini chocolate chips – Use dairy-free chocolate chips to make this recipe vegan. I like the Enjoy Life brand.
- Optional: A pinch of sea salt – If your peanut butter is salted, you may not need this. But if it’s unsalted, adding a pinch of salt will make the rich, nutty flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Recipe Variations
- Make them nut-free. Replace the peanut butter with sunflower seed butter and omit the chopped peanuts.
- Use a different nut butter. Almond butter and cashew butter are great here too.
- Change up the mix-ins. Not a fan of coconut, peanuts, or chocolate chips? Replace any of them with chopped dried fruit like cranberries, cherries, or raisins. Other chopped nuts would also work in place of the peanuts.
- Spice them up. Add a pinch of cinnamon or ground ginger.
Let me know what variations you try!
How to Make Energy Balls
I have good news: you don’t need a food processor to make this recipe! It couldn’t be easier:
- Stir all the ingredients together in a large bowl. The mixture will be thick. If it feels too dry to come together, add water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until it holds together when pinched.
- Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion out the oat mixture, then roll it into balls.
- Chill until firm, 1 to 2 hours.
That’s it!
Tip: Because this recipe is so simple, it’s a great one to make with kids. Ollie and I love making it together!
How to Store Energy Bites
Store these energy bites in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Can you freeze energy bites?
Yes! These no-bake energy bites freeze well. Seal them in an airtight container or bag and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. They thaw in minutes at room temperature!
More Healthy Snack Recipes
If you love these peanut butter energy balls, try one of these healthy snack recipes next:
No-Bake Energy Balls
Ingredients
- 1½ cups whole rolled oats
- 1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
- ¼ cup ground flaxseed
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
- Pinch sea salt, optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, place the oats, peanut butter, flax seed, honey, vanilla, chocolate chips, peanuts, and coconut. If your peanut butter is unsalted, add a pinch of salt too. Mix to combine. The mixture will be thick.
- Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the mixture, then use your hands to roll it into balls.
- Place on a large plate or baking sheet and chill in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours, or until firm.
- The energy bites keep well in the fridge for up to a week. They also freeze well.
I made these balls , they are delicious but heavy on the stomach. I followed the directions but found it a bit hard to mix the ingredients and keep it moist. Any suggestions? Thank you
Sadly my family doesn’t care for coconut. Could I omit or is there a good substitution? Thanks!
Hi Kelly, I think omitting it would work fine! Otherwise you could use an extra tablespoon of peanuts or chocolate chips.
Am I going crazy or did this recipe used to include walnuts and dates and didn’t have honey, flaxseed or coconut? I have been making these every other week for work and I loved that recipe, I prefer date sweetened things over honey or maple syrup. Is that recipe available somewhere else?
You’re not going crazy. Yes. It used to include those things. Here’s the original:
1.5 C oatmeal flour
10 dates
1/3 C almond butter
1 C walnuts
1 t vanilla
1/2 t sea salt
2 T water
1/2 C mini chocolate chips
Excellent, thank you! I made it so many times I had it somewhat memorized so I winged it, I think the only thing I got wrong was the nut butter amount. Definitely saving this, TY again 🙂
Here’s where the old recipe is now, sorry for the confusion: https://www.loveandlemons.com/date-balls/
The old one is at this url now, sorry for the confusion! https://www.loveandlemons.com/date-balls/
Uh. You changed the recipe! Is there a way to get the original? Thanks!
I noticed that, too! I love the original recipe with walnuts and dates!
Hi Shelby. Here’s the original. A friend sent it to me. After I freaked out cuz I couldn’t remember it. 😜
1.5 C oat flour
1/3 C almond butter
10 dates
1 C walnuts
1 t vanilla
1/2 t sea salt
2 T water
1/2 C mini chocolate chips.
Hi! Can i use salted almond butter?
yep!
You could try sunflower seed butter.
I have made so many energy balls and I would say these are “ding, ding, ding”, the winners! So so good and something I can feel comfortable feeding my kids as a snack or special treat. I think the salt really brings the flavor out here. For the flour, I used 1 cup of almond flour and 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats that I didn’t pre-grind. I reduced chocolate chips to 1/3 cup. For the walnuts, I did 1/2 cup of walnuts and 1/2 cup of hemp seeds. My modifications were minor, I’m sure the base recipe is equally divine results. Thank you!
Thise were delicious and nearly had that cookie dough taste. I didn’t have almond butter so I used peanut butter instead and I rolled them in coconut to “pretty” them up.
Can’t wait to keep trying new variations
I’m so glad you loved them!
These are delicious. I did some substitutions peanut butter versus almond butter. Also added some hemp parts to replace some walnuts. And then I added one part mini M&M’s to an equal part of chocolate covered puffed quinoa in place of the chocolate chips.