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Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls
These no bake treats come together in minutes and are full of all real food ingredients. I don’t feel quite so bad grabbing a few of these delicious, chocolatey cookies!
Yield: 22-24 balls 1x
Prep: 15 minutesTotal: 15 minutes
Units:
Scale:
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup 100% cocoa powder (or raw cacao powder)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
- a pinch sea salt
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Instructions
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a medium microwave-safe mixing bowl, add the honey and nut butter. Microwave in 20-second increments and stir until just melted.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Add in the cocoa powder, coconut flakes, quick oats, vanilla, and sea salt. Stir until well combined.
- Roll Cookies: Use a medium cookie dough scoop or a spoon to scoop out heaping tablespoon-sized amounts of the mixture. (Tip: Wet your hands so the dough doesn’t stick to them.) Roll the dough into balls and place them on a parchment-lined or foil-lined rimmed baking sheet if freezing for later.
- How to Store:
- Refrigerator: Place in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Place the baking sheet in the freezer until energy bites are firm, about 1 hour. Transfer the cookie bites to a freezer storage container or bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, set out on the counter to thaw or microwave an energy bite for just 10 seconds or so.
Notes/Tips
- We retested, simplified, and improved our original No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Energy Bites recipe in May 2025. (The original recipe is linked in PDF format.)
- Gluten-Free Version: Be sure to buy certified gluten-free oats.
- If you use a fresh, all-natural peanut butter, these may be a bit looser/softer than ours. We used Natural Jif brand.
- Coconut flakes are different in size and texture from shredded (or desiccated) coconut. Coconut flakes are much more common and easier to find in stores, and they come sweetened or unsweetened. Unsweetened is recommended for this recipe.
- If you want to leave out the coconut, you can use more oats, some ground flaxseed, or chia seeds.
- Maple syrup can be substituted for honey.
- Old-fashioned oats can be used in place of quick-cooking oats, but they are larger in size and will affect the final texture of the bites.