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!
Our family loves this protein ball recipe!!! My husband takes them to the gym for his post workout snack & my picky kids LOVE them as a treat.
Thanks for all of your great recipes! I suggest your website to many of my friends.
Thanks for sharing Sarah — we’re so glad you guys love these! :)
Do these have a prominent honey taste, as I am not a huge honey fan. If so what can i use as a substitute? Thanks in advance
We don’t think they do, but you could always use agave instead, if you’re not a big fan of honey anyway!
Hey what would you say the nutritional info is for a single ball? :) I made and love but am following a close diet regimen!
Hi Meagan! 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 amazing!! I made them today before our workouts and the boy’s absublutly love them. The health benefits are so good for you as far as all the ingredients you put into them. Chia seeds are great for energy and long stanima and peanut butter and oats are good carbs for lifting . just all around a good source of energy and great taste!! These are a must try for anyone looking for a quick burst of energy before working! ?
Thank you Renee! We’re so happy you and your boys love these (they’re definitely our favorite pre and post workout snack)! :)
I’ve made this recipe so many times we love it and i LOVE cookies so this recipe makes me feel better eating 2 than if i were to eat 2 cookies, delicious and nutritious :)
Thanks for sharing Meg — we’re so glad to know you’re a fan of the recipe! :D
Made these, amazing! But I only got 12 balls. Top tip: used an ice cream scoop and got lovely uniformed balls! Lovely!!
We’re glad you enjoyed them Rachel! It sounds like you might have made yours a bit bigger which is probably why you only got 12. Either way, we’re happy you liked them and appreciate you trying the recipe! :)
I’m so excited to make these. My sister is obsessed. Do you happen to have an idea what they’d be point wise on the weight watchers system?
That’s awesome Ashlee! Unfortunately though we aren’t sure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories or WW points 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!
What do you think of the idea of putting the mixture in the microwave for a bit then mixing the ingredients? Too messy when time to eat?
Hi there! Hmmm, we haven’t tried that, and while it might work well, we’re worried it might make things too sticky to work with and shape.
Okay, I ran this through myfitnesspal.com. I took the recipe and listed it as 8 servings meaning 3 per serving and it came out to 300 calories. This is pretty high, but I think next time I may cut the agave and up the peanut butter as it was a little too sweet for me anyway.
Hi Corrine! We’re not sure on the accuracy of this, just because different types of ingredients and brands all vary, but we feel like a serving size should probably be one or two of these. Anyway, we appreciate you giving the recipe a try, and definitely feel free to cut back on the agave and up the peanut butter! :)
Love these, but how many as a serving. These taste like cookies to me, so I can eat a ton if left unchecked!
Hi Corrine! We’re so glad you enjoyed these! Unfortunately though, we aren’t sure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories or serving size for 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. However, that being said, if we had to guess, we would say a serving size would probably be one or two of these. We hope that helps!