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!
The total calories in those entire recipe exactly as listed is 2575 so divide that by however many bars or balls you make for an exact calorie count. I calculated the calories directly from the package ingredients for the amounts. I pressed mine into a 9×9 pan to make 12 bars so i could use them more as a breakfast than a snack and they were 215 calories each and i pair with a fruit to stay full until lunch. At 25 balls which it suggests they would be a little over 100 calories each.
These are amazing! I just made them yesterday and every member of my family loved them (even my 14 month old)!! I added a little bit of granola for extra crunch. Will definitely be making these again! Did you use sweetened or unsweetened coconut?
I used sweetened, but unsweetened is great too!
Can you refrigerate these for extended use throughout the week? Also, do these freeze well if you want to do this as a make ahead for future dates? Cooking for one can sometimes be a daunting task …
Hey Amanda, yes, you can most definitely freeze or refrigerate these, they hold up really nicely!
I accidentally bought milled flax seed instead of ground flax seed. Do you think it will work the same?
Hey Brooke! Ground flax works better (and is easier to digest), but in this recipe, it’s not a huge deal, so I should think you can still use the milled flax seed.
I’m trying to pin your No Bake Energy Bite recipe so I can find it later. I LOVE them! Pinterest is telling me it can’t be pinned because it may lead to spam. Love your site and would love to pin your recipes but can’t. Just thought I’d let you know so you can check into it.
Thanks Christy! I’m not sure what’s going on with Pinterest, that’s really strange. I’ll look into it and hopefully it will be resolved soon — thanks for the head’s up!
how to make no bake energy bites keto friendly
I made these today…what was I waiting for?!?!? They are delicious! Thank you for the recipe!!
Thanks Elena, so happy you liked them!
I like to make the original oatmeal coconut version, but with natural peanut butter and unsweetened untoasted coconut. Also, I leave out the chia, use half the amount of flax, add a sprinkle of cinnamon and about a teaspoon of salt. Then I form into a log, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to slice into 1/4″ thick cookies. My mother-in-law is addicted to them! (She’s kinda not the only one, though!!)
Thanks for sharing Jen, those sound amazing!
These look so wonderful and not very difficult to make! Definitely will be making these and the others listed!
I’ve made these several times and love them each time. I actually experimented with different extracts and found that banana and almond are just as good too. :) Also, when I first made these, my mom had punched some raw honey so we only used a tablespoon of it since it was pretty thick.
I do have a question in regards to it. Since I don’t use the coconut flakes or the flax seeds (found that the chia seeds made it filling on their own), would making this without the chia seeds still be just as filling? The reason I ask is because I want to make these for my oldest son (10 yrs old), but he could do without the boost of extra energy when he gets home. The purpose of the question is because he is always hungry from the medication he takes for his ADHD, but they wear off once he’s home and he gets really rambunctious.
Thanks for sharing Jayden! I think you could skip the chia seeds. You could always add some extra oats, or even some cooked quinoa, to make it more filling. I hope that helps! Let me know how it goes if you try them that way!