The no-bake energy bite love continues!
After so many of you readers ate up (ha – literally!) the recipes for classic No Bake Energy Bites and Pumpkin No Bake Energy Bites, I thought it would be fun to make a red and green “holiday” edition of the favorite with these Cranberry Pistachio Energy Bites!
Like the others, these quick and easy little balls are packed with great flavor and nutrition. But there is no baking required! You just need the quick pulse of a food processor (which I happen to be giving one away right now!), or the willingness to do some chopping and stirring to whip these up. And the final result will be delish! I loved the sweet and slightly salty combination of the fruit and nuts. And for fun, I also threw in a few white chocolate chips to brighten things up.
Feel free to play around with the recipe and include what works for you. And hopefully these can provide some extra delicious energy to make it through the holidays!
Cranberry Pistachio Energy Bites
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (about 1 packed cup) chopped dates
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 Tablespoon chia seeds (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats (dry, not cooked)
- 1 cup shelled pistachio nuts
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup white chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the dates, honey, chia seeds, flax seeds and salt in a food processor, and pulse until smooth and combined. You should be able to stir the mixture — if it is too thick, add in another tablespoon or two of honey.
- Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, and stir in the oats, pistachios, dried cranberries, and white chocolate chips until evenly combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Once the mixture is cool (and easier to work with), use a spoon or cookie scoop to shape it into your desired size of energy balls. (Mine were about 1-inch in diameter.) Alternately, you can line a small baking pan with parchment paper, and press the mixture evenly into the pan, let it cool, and then cut into bars.
- Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. (Storing them in the refrigerator especially helps the energy bites hold their shape.)
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Can you use anything besides dates in this recipe? Not a big fan of them.
Hi Lisa! You could try raisins, figs, or prunes instead. We hope this helps!
This looks delicious, but I don’t like dates :( any ideas for a substitution? Thanks!
Thanks, Amanda — we hope you enjoy these! As for the dates, we haven’t tried a substitute with this recipe, but we think you could experiment with raisins, dried prunes, or dried figs. We think any one of those three (or even a combo) might work just fine. We hope this helps!
Hi Ali.
I just recently discovered your blog and I’m very thankful for the great work you do and share. I tried and love your original no bake bite recipe with the peanut butter and chocolate chips and the whole family loved the energy bites. My wife asked me if I could make them a little less sweet. I saw on your recipe page that you had a pistachios and cranberries recipe. I bought the ingredients but I wonder if the bites would taste better if I toasted the pistachio nuts first. I find them a little blahhh in their raw state. Would that ruin the recipe?
Thank you for your sweet words, Michael — we’re so happy you enjoyed the no bake energy bites! And yes, we think you could definitely toast the pistachios a little bit first — that won’t ruin the recipe at all! :)
Nutrition information?
Hi Tina! We’re sorry but we are unsure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!
Silly question: Are we using dried dates or fresh?!
Hi Mel! We used dried. We hope you enjoy!
These are absolutely fantastic. However, I must mention, my Ninja Bullet did not appreciate it. It actually started smoking when I tried to blend the first part of the recipe, so I ended up having to transfer the date mixture before it was completely smooth. My recommendation: Blend the dates and seeds before adding the honey. I think the honey grinded my gears and it could hardly move, thus, blowing out the motor. Or you know, don’t use a Ninja Bullet. ;-)
I added a little dark chocolate instead of the white chocolate and it’s fantastic. The recipe is a big hit in my house right now. Thank you!
We’re so glad you enjoyed these! And as for your Ninja Bullet — yikes, that’s no good! We’re glad these still worked out for you, considering. :)
I’ve made these twice. I find it easier to mix ingredients in the food processor as indicated and then add all the other ingredients except the oats so that those items are well blended. Then, add the oats.
If the mix is too thick, I’ve thinned it with water so it’s not over the top sweet.
I’ve added mixed dried fruit instead of only cranberries and have rolled them in a bit of coconut to finish.
Nice recipe!
Thanks for sharing your tips with us Christine! We’re glad you enjoy these! :)
Hi, do you have the nutrition info for this recipe?
Thank
Hi Elizabeth! We’re sorry but we are unsure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!
These were fantastic! I substituted apple butter for honey since I am vegan, subbed raisins for cranberries (because that is what I had on hand), and subbed sesame seeds for flax seeds (also what I had). Otherwise I followed the recipe and these turned out fantastic! Thank you SO much!!
Thanks for sharing Lacey — we’re so glad you enjoyed them! :D
I made these energy bites over the weekend and they were FABULOUS! The only change I made was using the Agave instead of honey because I thought they may too sweet. It was the perfect mix with everything else. My dates were room temp so they were easy to cut and they minced up just fine in the food processor. Once everything was mixed, I placed in a 8×8 pan w/parchment paper and left overs I made into little balls. Stick them in the frig for 30 and then I wrapped up in wax paper. Will definitely make these again!
Thanks for sharing Valerie — we’re glad to hear you enjoyed these! :)
I didn’t see where you listed the nutritional value to the recipes.
Per serving – how many calories / fat / carb, etc. Thanks.
Hi Kim! We’re sorry but we are unsure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!