Energy balls are the perfect healthy treat! No bake energy balls are easily gluten free and perfect for healthy snacks and breakfast on the go! This is the ONLY Energy Ball recipe you’ll ever need, plus I’ve created five easy no bake energy ball flavour ideas! As much as I love trying different energy ball recipes and techniques, today’s basic energy ball recipe is the little black dress of them all. It’s comprised of four basic ingredients.
Primary Ingredients in No Bake Energy Balls
- Filler. This is what adds bulk to your energy balls and holds everything together. The most popular ingredient here is oats. While you can use other flours, oatmeal is the champion. It’s filling, inexpensive and versatile. But, if you are looking to go grain free, or you want to up your protein intake you can replace it with protein powder The only clause is that protein powders all absorb liquid differently and so you will have to play with the liquid content.
- Nuts, seeds or butters. Nut butter, like peanut butter or almond butter, helps bind the balls, adds healthy fats, and makes the energy balls sustaining. It’s also delicious. If you have a nut allergy you will want to replace the nuts with low allergen seeds like sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
- Sticky liquid sweetener (a.k.a. honey or pure maple syrup or dates). They are all equally good and once you add the other ingredients the flavour profile is similar. The only real clause here is that honey isn’t vegan so if I am trying to keep it vegan I go with maple syrup or dates, otherwise I just pick which one I think goes best.
- Mix-ins! This is where the tasty experimentation begins. I like to do a combination of superfood additions, such as flaxseeds and chia seeds, along with ingredients I love purely for their taste, chopped dried fruit or coconut.
You don’t need a food processor to make energy balls and no fancy equipment is needed. Pile everything into a bowl. They take just 10 minutes to prep, can last 2 weeks in the refrigerator or in the freezer forever, and are endlessly adaptable, so you’ll never tire of them.
Technique:
Place all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl: oats, power mix-ins, nut butter, sweetener, vanilla extract, salt, mix-ins, and any other spices you’d like to add. Stir to combine (note: If you want a smoother consistency or are using whole nuts you will need to blend it in your food processor until you get your desired consistency). If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit more oats. If it’s too dry, add a bit more nut butter. It should resemble a somewhat sticky dough that holds together when lightly squeezed. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set if you want the balls to be easier to roll later on.
Remove the bowl from the refrigerator and portion the dough into balls of desired size. (I use a heaping tablespoon measure to make mine approximately 1 inch in diameter). Enjoy!
Notes
- Store leftover energy balls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months.
- For nut allergies: In place of the almond or peanut butter, try sunflower seed or pumpkin seed butter.
- If you want to make it look a little prettier you can save some of your ingredients for rolling in such as dried coconut or cocoa powder.
In the table below you will find 5 options for different variations for Energy Balls that I have made but play with it and make it your own!
