This No-Bake Energy Bites recipe is easy to make, full of feel-good ingredients, and irresistibly delicious!

Easy No Bake Energy Bites Recipe

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

Energy Bites Ingredients

No Bake Energy Bites Ingredients:

To make this no bake energy bites recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

  • Old-fashioned oatsAlso called rolled oats — these will serve as the base ingredient for our energy bites.
  • Shredded coconutWhich 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 butterI have used both traditional creamy peanut butter and natural creamy peanut butter in this recipe, and both work!
  • Ground flaxseedTo add some extra protein, fiber and omega-3s to our energy bites.
  • Semisweet chocolate chipsI photographed this recipe with standard-sized semisweet chips, but mini semisweet chips mix in easier.
  • HoneyTo add some natural sweetness and also help to bind the energy balls together.
  • Vanilla extractFor 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 Bites (Balls)

How To Make Energy Balls:

To make these energy bites, simply…

  1. Stir everything together. Stir all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl until thoroughly combined.
  2. Chill. Cover the mixing bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, or until the mixture is chilled.*
  3. Roll into balls. Roll into mixture into 1-inch balls.
  4. 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.

Healthy 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 barsPress 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.

Healthy Energy Bites with Chocolate Chips and Peanut Butter

More Healthy Snack Recipes:

Looking for more healthy snack inspiration? Here are a few of my favorite snack recipes!

No Bake Energy Bites

4.92 from 407 votes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Makes: 20 -25 energy bites
No Bake Energy Bites Recipe
This No-Bake Energy Bites recipe is easy to make, full of feel-good ingredients, and irresistibly delicious!

Ingredients

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

Prep Time: The prep time listed does not include time for the mixture to chill.  To speed up the chilling, I recommend spreading the mixture out on a small baking sheet and popping it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes until the mixture is cool.
Source: Recipe slightly adapted from Smashed Peas & Carrots.

Additional Info

Course: Snack
Cuisine: American
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!

About Ali

Hi, I'm Ali Martin! I created this site in 2009 to celebrate good food and gathering around the table. I live in Kansas City with my husband and two young boys and love creating simple, reliable, delicious recipes that anyone can make!

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4.92 from 407 votes

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Recipe Rating




2,367 Comments

  1. laboorsma says:

    I use crunchy peanut butter in mine.

  2. Lis says:

    I made these today without the chocolate and they were still great! I only had Jif and blue agave nectar. I will make these again and might add different nuts or dried cranberries next time. Thank you!

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      We’re happy you enjoyed them, Lis! :)

  3. Elizabeth says:

    These look great! I’d love to try them but the coconut kind of throws me off. Do you know of a good substitute for it? If I leave it out and add more oats, will the result be too dry? Or is the coconut needed at all?

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Thanks, Elizabeth — we hope you enjoy them! You can definitely just leave the coconut out and add more oats and nuts, and/or some dried fruit even.

  4. Conor Craig @ OvenCleanTeam says:

    This is ideal for people with a busy lifestyle that are constantly on the go(like myself…). How do you suggest storing them throughout the day, will a week in the fridge before get them hard enough not to fall apart?

    They look delicious as hell by the way.

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Hi Conor! These will definitely keep longer if you store them in the fridge (and especially if you store them in the freezer — they won’t take long to thaw since they’re so small). We hope you enjoy them! :)

  5. Roshani Khanna says:

    Mmmmmm…..yum. This looks totally amazing. I’m just starring at the screen looking at how delicious they look.
    Insanely adorable! I cannot wait to try it out!

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Thanks Roshani – we hope you enjoy them!

  6. Rhonda says:

    I worked this out and it’s about 110 calories per ball, if anyone was interested. 

  7. Elizabeth Spevack says:

    These look delicious! I was wondering – Is it okay to eat raw oats? I’ve heard varied opinions about this.

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Thanks, Elizabeth — we hope you enjoy them! We haven’t heard that it might not be okay to eat raw oats, but if it makes you uncomfortable, then these might not be for you.

  8. Erica says:

    I just made these as healthy sweet snacks for my husband and I as we start on our fitness kick! I followed the recipe exactly -using agave because I have some I needed to use up – and they turned out delicious! Just sweet enough and not too heavy on any specific flavour. Ie. not too much peanut butter, too much coconut etc. I forgot about the mix and left it in the fridge for a couple hours so it needed quite a bit more work and warming to actually form the balls but they ended up perfect. Sampled a few *ahem* and popped the rest in the freezer! Still good even frozen. I’ll likely put in just a tablespoon or two more liquid (maybe PB since I love!) to help them not crumble as you eat. Thanks for the recipe!

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Thanks for sharing with us, Erica! We’re so happy you and your husband enjoyed these! :)

  9. Bethany says:

    So,so,good!!!!i made these today and there the BEST!!!! Definitely making them again❤️❤️

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      We’re so glad to hear you enjoyed them, Bethany! :)

  10. Charlie says:

    These sound amazing but I am out of ground flax seed and oat bran. Is there anything else I can substitute for the ground flax seeds?

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Thanks Charlie — we hope you enjoy them! You could use ground chia seeds if you have those.