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!
Mine are not forming together what can I add
Great recipe. Instead of honey I used a fruit syrup that I make myself. Highly allergic to honey. My customers love these raw bats. TY.
Can these be frozen? I will be the only one eating them and don’t want them to go to waste. Halving the recipe? Will it work out the same?
I did 1/2 cup almonds and 1/2cup pistachios instead of all pistachios. I also did a few TBSP of coconut oil instead of the honey to limit sugar and they turned out great- sweet enough with dried fruit and chocolate chips. Thanks:)
Really love how easy these are to make. Perfect for an afternoon pick me up at work. However, they are that little bit too sweet for me (I know, I know, is there even such a thing?! Hehe). I think it’s the combination of dates + honey. Next time, I am going to substitute the dates for peanut butter, and the honey for maple syrup (but reduce it to half). Otherwise, these are wonderful!
These came out delicious.. I soaked my dates for a few minutes in couple tbl spoons of very hot water to soften up the dates as I thought that they would be too thick to process them and that worked out fine. Added a extra 1/4 cup of oats to soak up the juices dates. Used dried cherries as I did not have the cranberries
Delicious!!!! The best snack ever!
My little one is hooked on these but the daycare is nut-free. Have you done any successful substitutions for the pistachios?
So read where a lot of people want to reduce the sugar or carb load from the honey & dates..
The only thing I came up with requires baking for 8-10 minutes on 350. Substitute 1 banana or 1/2 to 1 cup natural unsweetened apple sauce
– obviously not the same consistency but way less calories and sugar
My last suggestion is if you don’t mind added fat use a 1/2 c of a nut butter ( 1 cup oats, 1/2 c nut butter(almond,peanut,etc), 1/4 cup honey and this usually works in leu of the dates)
I made the Cranberry Pistachio Energy bars and everyone loved them. This is the best recipe for
a great snack. Thanks