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
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 0 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 20-25 energy bites
Description
This No-Bake Energy Bites recipe is easy to make, full of feel-good ingredients, and irresistibly delicious!
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
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.
So crumbly, even after adding in more PB. The flavor was great, I just don’t see how you can successful roll these into balls.
Get your hands wet with cold water then you can squeeze them into balls!
You don’t actually roll them, it’s more like press them. I start by pressing them into a cookie scoop and then press a little tighter in my hand. A wet hand works best to avoid it sticking to your hand. And I rinse my palm off a lot while doing it, as it gets a build up of the dough, the balls will stick to the palm even wet. Hope this helps. It was frustrating in the beginning (I make these all the time and keep in the freezer). It took me a while to learn the “trick” 💗
I didn’t have honey so I used maple syrup (1:1 substitution) and I completely forgot to add peanut butter 🤦🏻♀️ but these still came out amazing! I made them, husband ate the all within a couple hours, and had to make more at his request the same day!
I like the bones of this recipe, but it was far, far too sweet for our preference. I love the chia add-in, though, along with the peanut butter and mini choc chip combo, of course!
I made these using almond butter and adding a few dried cranberries to the mix. I also whirled the oats in my Vitamix to break them up a bit to make it easier to form balls that won’t crumble. They were very good and will make again, and adding some toasted chopped almonds .Great with a cup of tea when you need a mid-afternoon pick me up!
Love these! I only had flaxseeds, not flaxseed meal, and was too lazy to make a trip to the store so I thought – what the heck. It adds a crunch to them that my husband and I really enjoy and I didn’t have any trouble forming them. Thanks for the recipe!
You can make your own flax meal if you’ve got a processor or blender! Just an FYI for future reference 😊 I’ve had to make my own meal lol and it saves pantry space only having seeds
I use Nutzzo butter instead and omit the coconut. They are amazingly delicious. Thank you for the recipe! I have two a day and have gotten nothing but great reviews from those who have tried it.
I was looking for this comment! I am not too fond of coconut. Did you have to add extra oats or make any other tweaks by omitting the coconut?
My teen and I love these. They’re perfect in the morning when we’re scrambling out of the house in the am. They’re great. Thank you!!
Do you know the nutritional numbers on these?
I use half the honey for less sugar and they were still good!
Thanks for this comment. I don’t normally use that much honey…and was wondering if they would still hold together.
My kids say a bit too much peanut butter and too sweet. So I would lower the honey and PB next time… but the ingredients are all great!
So good and easy to make. I keep them in my fridge and grab one when I need a little something sweet.