Of all the recipe posts on Gimme Some Oven, my #1 most viewed post ever (thanks to you all and Pinterest) continues to be these No-Bake Energy Bites. And for good reason! These little guys continue to be one of my personal favorites, as well as one of the most requested snacks by my friends and family. And I love recipes like this that can double as breakfasts, snacks or even a quick dessert!
So for a fun twist this autumn, thought that it would be fun to celebrate the season and make some Pumpkin No Bake Energy Bites! I was so excited to try these, and after throwing in a little of this and a little of that, was thrilled with the results. These little bites remind me a lot of my favorite fruit and nut bars. But the best part is that they are super easy to make homemade, packed with protein and ingredients you can feel good about, they are vegetarian and vegan (if you swap some agave for honey), and of course…they are delicious!
And I’m happy to say that the name holds true. The recipe not only calls for pumpkin spices and some pumpkin puree (which is perfect if you have leftovers from a can after making pumpkin bread), but I’m also excited to feature one of my other favorite fall ingredients — toasted pumpkin seeds! If you don’t have any on hand, you’re welcome to substitute in any other nuts or seeds. But I love the extra crunch and flavor that the little pepitas added to these bites. Thankfully the other ingredients all came together wonderfully too, making these healthy little bites the perfect mixture of sweet and slightly salty that everyone will love.
Cheers to pumpkin treats you can feel good about enjoying this season!
Pumpkin No Bake Energy Bites
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 25 1-inch balls 1x
Description
Delicious and healthy energy bites celebrating the mighty pumpkin!
Ingredients
- 8 oz. (about 1 packed cup) chopped dates
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 Tbsp. chia seeds or flax seeds
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats (dry, not cooked)
- 1 cup toasted coconut flakes
- 1 cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
Instructions
- Combine the dates, honey, pumpkin puree, chia (or flax) seeds, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a food processor, and pulse until smooth and combined.
- Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, and stir in the oats, coconut flakes and pepitas until evenly combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Once the mixture is cool (and easier to work with), use a spoon or cookie scoop to shape it into your desired size of energy balls. (Mine were about 1-inch in diameter.) Alternately, you can line a small baking pan with parchment paper, and press the mixture evenly into the pan, let it cool, and then cut into bars.
- Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. (Storing them in the refrigerator especially helps the energy bites hold their shape.)
Notes
If you feel like adding a little extra sweetness, these would also be great with some cinnamon or white chocolate chips tossed in.
You should be able to find chia or flax seeds in the health section of your local grocery store. But if not, you can also order chia seeds and flax seeds online.
Disclosure: This page contains Amazon affiliate links.
Thanks for sharing! These are so tasty and hold together really well. I added a lot of cinnamon and some chopped almonds since I didn’t have pepitas.
Have you ever tried any of the “bites” using quick-cooking oats? Just wondered if it would be less ‘chewy’!
We haven’t, so it’s hard to say — if you try it though definitely let us know how they turn out! :)
In this recipe should I use sweetened or unsweetened coconut?
Hi Melanie — we’ve used both and either one works fine, so use whichever you prefer. We hope you enjoy these!
What could I use instead of the coconut flakes? Currently have to be nut free ? More oats?
Hi Kelly! Yes, we would just recommend adding more oats in place of the coconut. We hope you enjoy these!
Can you list the nutrition values. Calories , fat , protien etc
Thanks
Hi Jenn! 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!
I made these no-bake Pumpkin Energy Bites and they are absolutely so easy to make and DELICIOUS !!!
Thank you for the recipe! It’s definitely a keeper!
Thanks for sharing with us, JB — we’re so happy you like them!
I didn’t find this on Pinterest but I did just save it! I was looking for no bake energy bites and this one came up. These are great for an afternoon snack and yes it is pumpkin season.
Thanks, Theresa — we hope you enjoy them! :)
I am very happy with the flavour, but found them very difficult to form into balls as they were so sticky. I gave up and pressed the mix into a tray and chilled overnight in the fridge, but they were still difficult to cut into squares as the pumpkin seeds are so big and the mixture is softish. Also they took much longer than 10 minutes to make. Toasting coconut and Pepitas takes that time and I used actual pumpkin not out of a tin. Have never seen tinned pumpkin.
Hi Geraldine! We’re sorry you had trouble getting these to cooperate! We’re not sure why they were so sticky, even after you chilled them overnight. :(
I would like to try this but can’t get pumpkin puree. What could I use as a substitute? Thanks
Hi Lyndsey! Hmm, the pumpkin is a pretty big component in this recipe. Ali has several other energy bite recipes you might want to check out though! Here are a few:
Just made these for my son’s snack day tomorrow. I subbed craisins, maple syrup, wheat germ for the flax (it’s all I had on hand) and corn chex for the coconut. They turned out pretty great! My son loves them and said the kids at school will too. Now that is saying something coming from a 4yr old! ;)
Lisa, we’re so glad your kiddo enjoyed these! Thanks for sharing with us! :)