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!
Oats should be roasted or raw??
We just use them raw.
Hi Tiffany , I also not keen on coconut ( unless it’s in a Malibu ) but I substituted with toasted Almond Flakes , delish………June X
These are wonderful. As mentioned i can’t keep my hands off of them. Do you have any idea of a calorie count? Ballpark?
Thank you Shannon — we’re so happy you enjoy them! We really have no idea how many calories each of these have, but if we absolutely had to guess, we’d probably guess around 80-100 — but don’t quote us on that! :)
Delicious!!! ?
Thanks — we’re glad you enjoyed them!
I’ve made these several times now and my family loves them. It isnt easy to find a healthy snack that will please my husband, pre-teen, and toddler, but these do it. I just break them into small pieces for my little one. I highly recommend these for short road trips or longer ones if you’re taking a cooler. I occasionally replace the chocolate chips with nuts for a fun crunch and to make them even more portable where the chocolate melting may be a concern. Thanks for the fabulous recipe!
Thanks Christy — we’re so happy to hear you and your family love these! :)
Thanks so much for the recipe. They were a little flakey but rolled okay. Everyone loved them even my boys aged 1 and 3. They were meant ro help roll them but they just ate each one I rolled. Thanks ✋?
You’re welcome Becky — we’re glad you enjoyed them!
Can the coconut flakes be substituted for something else? Or just left out?
Yes, you can leave them out! You might want to add some extra oats and/or nuts/dried fruit to compensate. We hope you enjoy! :)
Just made a batch for our upcoming camping trip! A previous recipe used more peanut butter and less oats and less flax, and they felt “off” to me. These were PERFECT. This will be my go to energy bite recipe.
Awesome Jocelyn — we’re so glad you enjoyed these! :)
Can I substitute hemp sends for the flax?
Hi Maya! We haven’t tried that, but we think you could — just note that the texture will be crunchier. We hope you enjoy! :)
I chilled the mixture but they’re extremly difficult to roll into a ball-shape. Should I add more peanut butter or honey for them to set better? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
We’re sorry to hear that Ingrid! To speed up the chilling, we recommend spreading the mixture out on a baking sheet, then covering it with plastic wrap and refrigerating (the longer, the better). If that still doesn’t work, you could try adding some more oats perhaps? More peanut butter or honey would probably make them even stickier to roll. We hope this helps — let us know how it goes!