No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls

Why You'll Love This Recipe:

• It takes less than 10 minutes of prep time to whip up a batch of these no bake oatmeal energy balls. Great for when you want a snack in a hurry.
• It’s cheaper and healthier than anything you could buy, and you know what has gone into them.
• These are a great meal prep idea because they can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for one week or frozen.

Ingredients In This Recipe

The printable recipe further down the page has the complete list of ingredients, including quantities and step-by-step instructions.

Natural peanut butter – helps to bind all the ingredients together. We used crunchy peanut butter because we like the texture. If you don’t like crunchy peanut butter, you could use smooth creamy peanut butter.

Dark chocolate chips – we added dark mini chocolate chips because dark chocolate is semi-sweet. If you prefer to use white or milk chocolate, you can do so but remember that these sweet chocolate chips will increase the sweetness in these no bake oatmeal balls.

Rolled oats or old-fashioned oats are ideal for this recipe, but you could also use quick-cooking oats or steel-cut oats.

For gluten-free make sure to use oats that are certified gluten-free (i.e. not packaged in a factory that produces other wheat products).

Slivered almonds – add extra protein, texture, flavor, and crunch to the peanut butter balls.

Honey – adds natural sweetness without making them overly sweet. Make this vegan and use maple syrup or agave.

Vanilla bean paste – gives a nice subtle soft flavor that goes well with the other ingredients.

Step By Step Instructions

Step 1 - Toast the almonds by placing them into a skillet over medium flame.

Dry roast the almonds until they turn golden brown and smell fragrant. Shake and stir the almonds from time to time to ensure even coloring.

As soon as they have turned a light brown color, remove them from the heat and transfer them to a plate and allow them to cool completely.

Don’t let the almonds cool in the hot pan because they will continue to cook and can burn.

When the almonds have cooled, chop them into small pieces.

Step 2 – Add all the ingredients except the water into a large mixing bowl, and use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix until combined.

Step 3 – Test the mixture. Take a spoonful of the mixture in your hand and press it into a ball.

If you find that the mixture is not holding its shape, mix in a small amount of water.

Once you have the consistency right, place the mixture into the fridge for 30 minutes before shaping it into balls.

Step 4 – Take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and shape it into 24 even-sized balls.

Recipe Tips

• Dip a metal spoon in boiling water before placing it into the honey because using a hot spoon makes the honey slide off the spoon. 
• Place the ingredients in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before shaping to chill the mixture for easier handling.
• To make it easier to roll into balls, lightly oil your hands before rolling the mixture into balls.
• Once shaped, chill the balls in a single layer on a baking tray for about 30 minutes. Then store it in an airtight container in the fridge.
• Almond butter - can be used instead of peanut butter.

Variations

Use this recipe as a base and create your own variations by adding in any of the following:

• White chocolate chips
• Shredded coconut
• Chopped dried fruit like cranberries, apricots, or raisins
• Other nuts like walnuts, pecans, pistachios
• Seeds like sesame seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, or flax seed
• Cocoa powder
• Protein powder
• Replace the honey with maple syrup or agave to make it vegan

After making a variation to the recipe and finding that the mixture is a little dry, add extra peanut butter or 1-2 tablespoons of water.

Serving Size

This recipe makes 24 no bake peanut butter balls each weighing about 23 grams (0.81 ounces).

Calories Per Serve

The calories are about 142 for 1 (23 grams / 0.81 ounce) ball.

Serving Suggestions

These peanut butter balls are great as pre-workout energy bites or a good afternoon snack.

Storage

These peanut butter energy balls can be stored in the fridge for up two weeks.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Sweet Recipes

If you like this recipe for no bake peanut butter balls you might also like these three ingredient peanut butter oatmeal balls or these easy recipes:

• Slow cooker dulce de leche
• How to make unsweetened apple sauce
• White chocolate rocky road
• Slow cooker custard
• Crock pot chocolate peanut clusters