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!
Hi! Do you know roughly about how many grams of protein would be in one bite? Can’t wait to try- thanks!
Hi Natalee! 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 so yummy thanks!
You’re welcome Melinda, we’re glad you liked them! :)
Like this idea. 2 questions B4 I make these: 1) If I only have unsalted PB, how much salt would I add, & 2) Can I sub an equal amount of cacao bits? Thanks so much for all your time & energy in making life more beautiful! You are a lifesaver for people with special dietary needs. I found you only a short time ago & I have made 6-7 of your recipes but have yet to comment, though I have shared everything with family & friends who have grown to love you too! When I can breathe again (I suppose after Christmas) I promise to critique every recipe that I have made because they are soooo good! Your granola bars will forever be a staple in our home.
Thanks! Hmm, we haven’t tried these with unsalted peanut butter, so it’s hard to say. We would think 1/2 teaspoon, but you might need to start by adding a little less than that, and possibly add more to taste. And yes, you can use cacao bits in these! Thanks for your sweet words about the blog — we hope you enjoy these! :)
These are amazing. I make them all the time for my other half; he dreams about them. We even created a custom recipe on MyFitnessPal for them. Even my fussy stepfather and whole family loved them when I made some during a visit. Pure unadulterated bliss. A million thanks!
Thanks for sharing Steph, we’re so glad you and your family love them! :D
I love this recipe! Do you know how this would fit into the 21 Day Fix meal plan?
Thanks Dewayne, we’re glad to hear that! :) We’re actually not familiar with the 21 Day Fix meal plan, so we can’t say. We aren’t sure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe, and we currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate. 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!
I made these today with my 3 year old. We used chia seeds and hemp hearts ground in a blender instead of flax meal because I didn’t have any on hand, it worked well and was the same consistency as flax meal. I also used half peanut butter and half almond butter because I ran out of peanut butter.
Overall I thought these were too sweet and ended up picking out about a quarter of the chocolate chips. Next time I’ll halve the honey and halve the chocolate chips. My kids obviously love them because they are a very sweet treat!
Great basic and easy recipe to make with little ones, we enjoyed making these!
Awesome, so glad you enjoyed them! And sure thing, feel free to use as much honey and chocolate chips as you’d like. :)
Great recipe! I’ve also made them using “wow butter” instead of peanut butter, and they turn out great (and can be sent in school lunches since they’re nut-free).
Thanks Cheri, that’s good to know! We’re happy you enjoy these! :)
It seems like a lot of sugar. Do you have the nutritional break down for these?
Hi Maura! 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 are very tasty. Out first batch we followed the recipe except used almond butter. We calculated them to be about 160 calories and got about 30 from a double batch. Tonight we made another double batch but used the dates from the almond joy recipe for half and honey for the other half and are still quite tasty. This made about 10 more balls and dropped the calories to about 130 per. We are using these as a smart carb snack on the nutrisystem plan.
Thanks for sharing with us Jeff! We’re so glad you and your family enjoyed these! :D
What can I substitute for the coconut? Family doesn’t like it.
Hi Lindsay! You can leave it out, or you can leave it out and supplement with extra nuts and dried fruit. We hope you enjoy! :)