This recipe for no-bake energy bites is the only one you’ll ever need. This is the magic formula to make your own flavor combinations and your own energy bite recipes! Can easily be made gluten-free and vegan.
So you may have seen many, many recipes like these. But I’ll tell you why this no-bake energy ball recipe is better. You can make it into anything you want!
Add in your own flavor combos and ideas. I’ve seen these kind of energy bites around forever now and all the recipes are very similar, but here is the formula to make your own recipe!
You see, even I never make these the same. The general amounts of things stay the same but the ingredients are always changing so I’ll tell you what are in these, but I’ll also give you my secret formula so you can make your own flavor combinations too 🙂
As you’ll notice, one of my favorite ingredients to add is coconut! Trust me, it’s soo good in these energy balls! 🙂
I originally got the idea from a blog that’s no longer up and running, years and years ago. A good friend of mine would come over to visit when we first moved into our house and we couldn’t keep our hands out of the freezer when there was a bag of these inside.
They are so good. Sweet enough to be dessert but they’re quick and easy and a great source of energy. Plus some healthy fats and a good amount of fiber to help keep you feeling energized and satisfied.
They keep indefinitely in the freezer and I find them so much more addictive when they’re frozen almost solid. But if you’d much rather be able to sink your teeth into them at a moments notice you can keep them in a sealed container in the fridge and I’m sure they’ll last quite a while.
Plus they’re much easier for kids to eat when they’re soft from the fridge. If you are making these no-bake energy balls for little kids I would recommend making them smaller than I did as they do begin to “melt” after a few minutes in warm little hands 🙂
To make these energy bites gluten-free, just be sure to use gluten-free oats. To make them vegan, you can use brown rice syrup instead of honey. And they’re already dairy-free (but check that your chocolate is dairy-free / vegan!).
Make sure to check out the notes at the bottom of the recipe for tips!
- 1/2 cup natural nut or seed butter (no added fat / sugar)
- 1/3 cup honey (or brown rice syrup for vegan)
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (use gluten-free oats for GF)
- 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1-2 teaspoons vanilla
- pinch of sea salt if using a natural nut butter with no added salt
- 1-2 teaspoons your favorite spices or spice combinations, optional
- 1/2 cup other add-ins (roughly chopped nuts or seeds, dried fruit, etc.)
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In a large bowl add the nut butter, honey or other sweetener, vanilla and salt if needed. Use less vanilla if yours is very strong or more if you really enjoy the vanilla flavor and don't buy an alcohol based kind. If all your ingredients are room temperature you should be able to stir to combine. If this is difficult you can warm in the microwave for a few seconds or even place the bowl in an inch or two hot water for a few minutes to soften everything. Once this is combined add the remaining ingredients.
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In this case I used almond butter and for my addins I used equal parts sesame seeds, poppy seeds and mini chocolate chips. Mix well. Once it's all combined place in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Then remove from the fridge, scoop out some dough and roll into a ball. I find it's much easier, and works better to squeeze the handful together to compact it and then roll it into a ball.
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If yours are too sticky you can considering adding more dry ingredients into them or rolling them in something like ground nuts, coconut, etc so they aren't as sticky. Place the balls in an airtight container either in the fridge or freezer for quick and easy snacks.
For the oats, you can toast them for a nuttier flavor at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes if you want.
For the coconut, you can substitute any dry ingredients for this, wheat bran or germ, oat bran, some ground flax seed, any kind of ground nuts or seeds. For a cookie dough type bite try adding a few tablespoon of your favorite whole grain flour.
For a chocolate option, go to my Chocolate Energy Bites recipe 🙂
The photos for this post were updated on February 4th 2016. This is what they looked like before:
{ 75 comments… read them below or add one }
Good to see a post from you again. These look tasty but not low carb enough for me right now.
These were too sweet for me. Cut the honey in half and it was better.
Made a double batch of these tonight with peanut butter and chocolate chips. So yummy, even my 1 1/2 year old was eating them. I added some Chia seed and decreased the honey just a little bit. Thanks for the great recipe!
I don’t add any sweeteners to my baking (except stevia). I need a suggestion for how to compensate for this in terms of how to get the balls to hold together. I’ve tried using coconut oil but then it becomes quite challenging to get the mixture firm enough to hold together at room temperature.
These are great! I tried a chocolate mint variation with peppermint oil. So good! Thanks. Going to share this on my blog so others can enjoy! 🙂
I made these for my gluten free pup. I used 2 c oats and a quarter cup ground flax seed. Same on the peanut butter but molasses for the sweetener. I added a half teaspoon of cinnamon. They are her breakfast with a spoonful of non fat plain yogurt. She adores them.
Thank you for sharing this fabulous recipe. As add ins I used roasted hazelnuts, a small amount of cocoa powder and finely chopped dates. I seasoned with cinnamon, ginger and a dash of cayenne. I can’t wait for my morning snack at work tomorrow lol. I kept some in the fridge and froze the rest – away from my husband.
Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe! I made a few different combinations and posted them in my new food blog (I referenced your post multiple times). 🙂 I created a Cranberry Pumpkin Spice, Chocolate Cherry Almond, Sunflower Fig and Cinnamon Apple. Sooo good!
http://peasofcake.net/energy-bites/
Use Mila by Genesis Pure in place of flax! It has many more health benefits than just energy! The stuff’s AMAZING!
Oh my gosh I just made it with whips chocolate peanut butter. Yummy.
Would steel cut oats be ok instead or rolled oats? It would they be too hard/crunchy?
Hiw big do you make the energy bites??
I found a similiar recipe on FB. I almost didn’t get the balls made. I kept eating from the bowl. I just guessed at the size of the bites. The recipe I have called for ground flaxseed. I’ll let you know if I have to take unusual trips to the restroom. Lol.
Mine are: soynut butter, molasses, oats, seed mix (flax meal, chia & watermelon kernel), craisins I got about 25 pieces & spent the time on nutrition facts, so I’ll share for your reference. Per piece:
Calories – 102
Fat – 5g
Protein – 3g
Sugar – 3g
Fiber – 8g
Looks like mine are pretty high in: Calcium, Folate, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium
Results will vary depending on ingredients.
2-4 would be plenty (if you can slow down long enough to not eat more, 3 was a fair meal replacement).
Had these made with honey yesterday so I had to try. But I’m almost out of honey, so molasses won. I called them Molasses Granola Bites, so as not to surprise my family. (Still didn’t pass with the teens). I like molasses in things, and these were great, but if you hate molasses don’t do it. Made this way they will definitely be part of my training.
Thank you for the formula.
Thank you for posting this Amanda! Yours sound delicious 🙂
Can I use black strap molasses instead of honey?
If you really enjoy blackstrap molasses you can try it. I think it would work texture-wise but I’m not sure how good they will taste. Please let me know if you do try it!
I used PB2 (powdered peanut butter) and they turned out wonderful! Totally cut the calorie way down too! Loved them!
I bet a little almond flour would be tasty.
I used almond flour and it was a big hit in our house. Was my 1st time with recipe and hubby and kids love it.
Yummy!!!
Heidi, You provided us really healthy and veggie food. In India, We call it as Ladoo, and I really like Ladoo.
I am going to try this recipe with my mom.
Thanks 🙂
Have a Nice day!
I have made these many times, experimenting with different nuts and other add-ins while still maintaining a healthy snack. I’ve learned though that all those coarse “dry” ingredients (nuts, chocolate chips, rolled oats, etc) make it more difficult to shape into balls, so I’ve started patting the mixture out onto a shallow baking pan then cutting into bite-sized squares. Same great snack and cuts prep time significantly.
Any idea how many calories per snack ball there are?
These are toooooo good! I’m so stoked to have these for on the go snacks for my kids! Do you happen to know the nutritional content? Thanks so much!
Soooooo good! I used chopped dates and ground up sunflower seeds. These are now my new favorites!!!!!
Just made ’em. I used 1/2 cup of walnuts and 1/4 cups of chocolate chips as my mix in and they turned out great!
I know the recipe doesn’t state chia seeds, but the pic looks like they might be in there. Are they? Also, I’ve heard chia seeds absorb a crazy amount of liquid and should be followed by big glasses of water. Have you also heard this?
I can’t remember what I added to this particular batch, but sometimes I add chia seeds or sometimes poppy seeds. Chia seeds do absorb quite a lot of water considering their size, but if you’re properly hydrating anyways eating a few of them mixed into something like this shouldn’t be a problem 🙂
What would pumpkin taste like in there- maybe instead of the nut butter??? Or half nut butter and half pumpkin???
I saw a recipe on Pinterest with pumpkin. Just FYI.
Hello,
I just made these, and they are wonderful. I am a runner by nature, and training for a marathon. Do you happen to know the protein count on the recipe and serving size? I guess what would be the easiest if you have the nutrition info.
Any idea how many grams of protein?
I made these today with crunchy peanut butter, chopped walnuts, porridge oats (old fashined oats, wheat germ and flax seed) with cocoa and cinnamon. Great breakfast and snack item!!!!!
These were terrific! We made two batches of these already.
Way better for you than a red bull!
This is one of my favorite recipes. I eat them after a long run. (Or short one). They are my favorite pick me up after a hard workout. Little sweet and a lot delicious! 🙂
I made these and thought they were really good except that for me, 2 teaspoons of vanilla is waaay too much vanilla. I cut back to 1/2 teaspoon and liked these so much better that way.
Thanks for the recipe…I blogged about it today, actually!
Just finished a batch. They taste great but they’re really crumbly. I’m hoping they firm up a bit in the freezer. Maybe they needed a bit more honey.
These look awesome! I’m trying to make some in hopes that they will be good car food. I added a teaspoon of cocoa powder instead of spices and they taste like a peanut butter cup!
Mmm, that sounds delicious! We love taking them places so hopefully they’ll work well for you too – they travel to well and the kids always love them as a snack 🙂
Wow I just made these, they are amazing. I was picking at them (eating them) while balling. I added protein scoops to them for a little extra protein for after workouts! Thanks for the recipe.
These look like a great breakfast item for my husband and seem like they can freeze well! Excited to make them!
I made these and my family is addicted!!! I have shared this link all over facebook. Thanks much!!!
I can’t wait to make these!! Easy and faster than granola bars and way more fun!!
Just whipped up a batch and they are chilling in the fridge.
I used sunflower seeds/ butter. Thanks for the great recipe!
P.S. Found you on MSM
Any estimate of a calorie count?
Thanks for this recipe! Will oat bran flour work in place of the coconut? It’s all I have in my pantry….I put in 1 cup, but I think it turned into too much dry ingredients..I’ll have to wait and see! It’s going in fridge now..! Thanks!
oh my goodness. These things are AWESOME. The eat bran flour works, I just had to keep my hands wet so they would stick together better. they are soo yummy. Now I have to make sure I don’t eat too many of them!!! Thanks for recipe, can’t wait for hubby to try them when he gets home!
This would also be a good way to use up leftover cereal–like the good 1/2 cup of shredded wheat that is inevitably at the bottom of the bag.
I live in a country where I cannot get old fashioned oats, only the quick cooking. Does anyone know if that will work? If not, what else could I use?
Absolutely! The quick cooking oats will work just fine 🙂 For something different you can really use any dry ingredient similar to oats like oat bran, wheat germ, any kind of ground up nuts, or even shredded coconut.
Where do you live where you can’t get old fashioned oats and why?
These look so easy to make and yummy also. I think 5 out of my 6 children would eat these. My oldest does notlike nuts. I need to make some w/o just for him. thank you for sharing!
Do you know of any sprouted recipes like this? Or any Energy bar variations? I’m going to try this one, thanks!
30 yrs. ago when my kids were little I made a similar treat we called energy candy. Differences were half and half molasses and honey for the sweet (these were really sweet) and I used a product i am not sure is still available called Protein Powder by Shaklee, also i added raisins my original recipie did not have the oats ….wish I had thought of that then.
Adding cinnamon would help take out the sugar spike in the body’s metabolism. I am thinking of grinding dried apricots in place of the honey and making this for my Grands.
What could be an alternative to the nut butters, as we have allergies at our house?
You can use sunflower seed butter if no one is sensitive to that and if you enjoy the taste. I know if can be kind of bitter and not everyone enjoys it on it’s own, but you could also try tahini if no one is sensitive to sesame seeds. Also, if you can find it there’s also a nut butter substitute called SoyNut Butter made from soybeans.
Do you know approximately how many calories are in them? They look yummy!
I’m sorry I don’t. There are a lot of variables in this recipe as well so if you do decide to make them you can google “recipe calorie calculator” to find a site that will calculate it for you and exactly for the recipe that you’ve made. I believe I’ve used one from spark people before. It’s very simple, just type in the amounts of each ingredient and the number of servings and it will tell you the exact calorie count.
I’ll tell you a place you can go to find out the calories to any recipe. You just have to put in the ingredients. Here:
http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
so given the ingredients and dividing it by 24 balls…it’s about 55 calories a ball…that’s pretty good!
That’s awesome, thank you so much for figuring that out 😀
I made them with 1/2 C PB, 1 C Oats, 1/3 C Honey, 1 C Sweetened Coconut, 1/4 C Mini Choc Chips, 1/4 C Craisins, 1 tsp Cinnamon, 1.5 tsp Vanilla, & 1 tsp Sea Salt. They are 88 calories
I made these today with lots of sea salt and nutella. Fantastic! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I was reading your recipe and thought it sounded so yummy … so as I’m looking through to see what all I currently have on hand I got to the spice/spice combination part … I’m looking for suggestions of what you or any other readers might suggest. All I could think of off hand was cinnamon. What are your suggestions for spices/spice combinations?
You can absolutely use cinnamon. You don’t have to add any spices if you don’t want to but I especially like adding pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice is great too. Even if you just want to add a pinch or two of cinnamon(or if you like them, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, or maybe even a pinch of cayenne if you like heat or any other spices you like) that would taste great 😀
Look great. Love the name too – energy bites! I love making little balls or bite-size treats with ingredients I have on hand 🙂
Yes, yes, yes!!! We make these…(not exact recipe) and I never make mine the same either….I usually use whatever I have in the house….I have even ground up gluten free organic graham crackers to make a flour that I used in the recipe!!! And adding vegan chocolate chips is always fun!!! 🙂
Mmm, those graham cracker crumbs sound awesome in there! I’m going to try that next time I have homemade graham crackers! Yummy 🙂
YUM! These look delicious. I would probably add too many mix ins to make them healthy, but oh well. 🙂
Your pictures are amazing and making me want one of these right NOW! I wish I had a batch already made. 🙂 I love your formula!
I really need to make these already! Your basic recipe looks perfect.
They look addicitve! I would not be able to keep my hands off either!
These look great! I’ve seen lots of energy bite/ball recipes, but nothing quite like this…though I hear you on the whole “this recipe is everywhere” thing! haha. I thought I was so clever with one of my more recent recipes and a google search led me to discover I’m a little late to the party 😉 ah, well.
Like you, though, I love having a template for something and just being able to adjust it to what I have and what flavors I’m craving.
Haha, that’s exactly what I mean. Although I know at least a couple of my readers don’t read too many blogs(yet!) so I don’t feel too bad about sharing something that’s been shared by a lot of other people.
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