High Protein Energy Balls

You can never have enough energy ball recipes, and these peanut butter energy balls are particularly good. With oats, mini chocolate chips, and dates, they taste like peanut butter oatmeal cookie dough in energy bite form.

So let’s talk about energy: each small bite contains about 3 grams of protein, 4 grams of fruit sugar, and as a bonus, 3 grams of fibre. We walk everywhere, at least five kilometres a day, and snacks like this are a lifesaver to have on hand when you are quite active, or for kids, or just anytime you need a quick snack.

I’ve been making energy balls for years – they were my go-to snack in university – and these are a particular favourite. They really do taste like a peanut butter cookie. No protein powder needed!

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Ingredients You’ll Need and Why

Every one of these ingredients is important to the recipe, but there are some variations that will work. These are my notes from recipe testing. You can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.

• Peanut butter: this should be unsweetened peanut butter, sometimes marketed as natural peanut butter. Check the ingredient list. It should be just peanuts, or peanuts and salt, with nothing else added. I haven’t tested with ultra-processed peanut butter. Other nut butters or sunflower seed butter can replace peanut.
• Oats: rolled oats add the most texture. Quick cook oats are a fine substitution and will make slightly softer energy balls, with less chewiness. Steel cut oats are not appropriate for this recipe. Use certified gluten-free if needed.
• Dates: any type of soft date can be used, or soak dry dates in very hot water for half an hour before draining well. I rarely use expensive medjool dates and instead buy deglet nour, which are much cheaper and just as tasty. Not only to sweeten, dates also help the balls stick together.
• Flax: this is golden flax, which behaves in the same way as brown flax seeds. It helps to bind the energy balls. I always buy whole flax seed and grind it at home because ground flax is so often rancid when purchased. Store flax, whole or ground, in the refrigerator or freezer to prevent it from spoiling as quickly.
• Chocolate: optional, but delicious. Mini chocolate chips or finely chopped dark chocolate make these taste like cookie dough. I highly recommend including it. You can also try with raw chocolate, or dipping the balls in chocolate like peanut butter balls.
• Oil: a little coconut oil helps to hold the energy bites together and keeps the dough from being too sticky. You can substitute other oils that aren’t solid at room temperature, but note that the balls will be softer in that case.
• Vanilla: a small amount of vanilla extract adds to the cookie dough flavour.
• Salt: a pinch of salt keeps these from being too sweet and accentuates the peanut butter.

How to Make Energy Bites

These can be made without a food processor, much more easily than most other energy ball recipes. If your dates are very soft then mash by hand with a fork before mixing with the other ingredients. Pictured is a mini food processor attachment for an immersion blender.

Step 1: blend the dates, oil, and vanilla until very smooth. This will form a thick paste. If it’s very warm in your home and the oil has melted, it will probably separate slightly and be visible in an oily sheen on the top of the mixture. Don’t worry if that’s the case, it will incorporate into the peanut butter.

Step 2: mix the peanut butter with the date mixture in a large bowl. Try to use fresh, soft peanut butter for this recipe, rather than the dry bit left at the bottom of a jar, which is much harder to incorporate.

Related: Peanut Butter Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

Step 3: add the oats, flax, salt, and chocolate chips. Mix very well to combine. Set aside to rest for a few minutes, to allow the flax to soak up some of the moisture and make the mixture easier to roll into balls.

Step 4: roll into small energy balls and transfer to a plate or container. I usually place the balls in a single layer on a plate or cutting board and chill before transferring to a glass container for storage, to help prevent any sticking.

Expert Tips for the Best Protein Balls

• Rest before rolling: while you will be able to roll the mixture into balls without setting it aside to rest first, it’s so much easier if you do give it that extra few minutes.
• Use mini chips: full-size chocolate chips are too big and tend to break the balls up. Either use mini chips, or if you can’t find them, finely chop a bar of dark chocolate or baking chocolate instead.
• Don’t reduce the dates: yes, dates add fruit sugar to the energy balls, but that’s a big part of what provides the energy! If you try to reduce the amount, the balls will fall apart when rolled.

More Energy Bite Recipes

• Chocolate Hemp Energy Balls
• Sunflower Seed Energy Bites
• Walnut Energy Bites
• Chocolate Coconut Date Balls