This No-Bake Energy Bites recipe is easy to make, full of feel-good ingredients, and irresistibly delicious!
Friends, have you tried this no bake energy bites recipe? ♡
It’s one of my all-time favorite recipes here on the blog, and one that I’ve personally made about a zillion times since I first published it here eight years ago.
I love these little energy bites because they are easy to make with simply pantry ingredients that I almost always have on hand. They are super easy to mix up and roll into cute little energy balls. (Or if you would like to save time, you can press the mixture into a parchment-covered baking dish, and then cut them into energy bars.) They are the perfect make-ahead recipe to keep on hand for healthy snacking or breakfasts. And most importantly, they are just irresistibly good.
Over the years, thousands of our readers have made and loved this classic energy bites recipe too. So I wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try!
No Bake Energy Bites Recipe | 1-Minute Video
No Bake Energy Bites Ingredients:
To make this no bake energy bites recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
- Old-fashioned oats: Also called rolled oats — these will serve as the base ingredient for our energy bites.
- Shredded coconut: Which I highly recommend toasting — either briefly in the oven or in a sauté pan — before adding to the energy bites. (Just be sure that the coconut has cooled before adding in the chocolate chips or the chocolate may melt.) Feel free to use either sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut.
- Creamy peanut butter: I have used both traditional creamy peanut butter and natural creamy peanut butter in this recipe, and both work!
- Ground flaxseed: To add some extra protein, fiber and omega-3s to our energy bites.
- Semisweet chocolate chips: I photographed this recipe with standard-sized semisweet chips, but mini semisweet chips mix in easier.
- Honey: To add some natural sweetness and also help to bind the energy balls together.
- Vanilla extract: For a touch of extra flavor.
- Chia seeds (optional): Feel free to skip the chia seeds if you do not have any on hand. But I love adding in a tablespoon or so when I do!
How To Make Energy Balls:
To make these energy bites, simply…
- Stir everything together. Stir all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl until thoroughly combined.
- Chill. Cover the mixing bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, or until the mixture is chilled.*
- Roll into balls. Roll into mixture into 1-inch balls.
- Serve. Then enjoy immediately! Or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months.
If you have trouble getting the energy balls to hold together, I recommend adding in more peanut butter to make the mixture a bit more sticky. Or if you would rather, you can also just press the mixture into a square baking dish to make flat energy bars instead of round energy balls.
Possible Energy Bites Variations:
There are all sorts of ways that you can customize this energy bites recipe, so feel free to get creative! For example, you are welcome to…
- Make energy bars: Press the mixture firmly into a parchment-lined 8×8-inch baking pan, chill, and then slice into energy bars (instead of rolling the mixture into energy balls).
- Use a different nut or seed butter: Use almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter, or any other nut/seed butters that you prefer in place of peanut butter.
- Omit the coconut: I’ve heard from many of you over the years who don’t love coconut. If that’s the case, no prob, just omit the coconut and add in an extra shake of oats instead.
- Add spices: If you would like to give these energy bites some extra flavor, feel free to add in a few pinches of ground cinnamon or some pumpkin pie spice.
More Healthy Snack Recipes:
Looking for more healthy snack inspiration? Here are a few of my favorite snack recipes!
- Chocolate No Bake Energy Bites
- Seed Cycling Energy Bites
- Easy Refrigerator Pickles
- Nooch Popcorn
- Beef Jerky
- Sea Salt and Vinegar Kale Chips
No Bake Energy Bites
Ingredients
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 2/3 cup toasted shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or vegan chocolate chips)
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Stir everything together. Stir all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl until thoroughly combined.
- Chill. Cover the mixing bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, or until the mixture is chilled. (This will help the mixture stick together more easily.)
- Roll into balls. Roll into mixture into 1-inch balls.
- Serve. Then enjoy immediately! Or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
I have been eating these for months and absolutely LOVE them! Quick question… do you think I could use steel cut oats instead of rolled oats? Steel cut oats are far heavier and denser, so I’m not sure how it would balance. Thanks!
I love this recipe!!!! These are a huge hit in our house, and I love that they’re so flexible.
Does anyone have the nutrition facts on these energy bites?
Hooray! I LOVE these little guys. I have made them a few times with different combinations of nut butters and sometimes replacing chocolate chips with raisins or dried blueberries. They are so good. Even my roommate, who normally turns her nose up at my “weird hippie food”, loved these.
The only thing I wish is that I could make them without traces of nuts. Any suggestions for replacements? I am a teacher and I hesitate to bring these to school because of allergies, but I love them sooo much.
@Hilary, my husband is allergic to nuts and we use a peanut butter substitute such as sunbutter, wow butter, or soy nut butter, then check all the ingredients to make sure none of them say they are processed/made in a shared facility or on shared equipment with peanuts/tree nuts. it takes some footwork, though, to make sure you have safe brands. Hershey’s chips (the last I checked) are safe for nuts, and oats usually are too, but the chia seeds/flaxseed meal/wheat germ can be trickier.
I would suggest that you make your own sunbutter as the stuff I found at the store (Winco) showed that it might have traces of nuts. (sunflower seeds+ olive oil in a food processor=sunbutter). I read that using raw sunflowers is better because the roasted ones are already cooked and that prevents the creaminess.
However, I prefer the taste of roasted!
I have made these energy bites 4 times in the last week. They are gone with in a day and a half. They are that good.
The photo should be titled “Courtney and me on the slopes” , to be grammatically correct. Love the recipe!!!
These turned about pretty amazing. I totally forgot the flaxseed, but they were still great. I’m taking them to work tomorrow to share :)
I just made 2 batches of these and loved both of them! For the first batch, I used: oats, maple syrup, honey, ground flaxseed, chopped almonds, peanut butter, vanilla extract, & chocolate chips. For the second batch, I used: oats, honey, toasted coconut flakes, white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, chia seeds, & vanilla extract. I calculated the nutritional value of each to be an average of 120 calories, 5 grams of protein, 15 carbs, and 4 g fat. My favorite were the ones with dried cranberries! Thanks for the recipe!
I just made these and they are so good! I am on a healthy eating and calorie counting eating plan. Any idea of the calorie count on these? I am so excited to make these my go to when I have a sweet craving! Please help me on this so I can keep track of what I’m eating. Thanks!
I made these, my sister and husband love them as well. I made a few switches/additions. I toasted the oatmeal in a dry skillet until golden brown and sprinkle with cinnamon and let cool. I added sunflower seeds/no chia. I did mostly wheat germ and the remainder flax seed. Will be making these often. I am going to try pumpkin, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds. Yummy. Thanks.