5-Ingredient No-Bake Chocolate Date Energy Balls are made with all whole food ingredients and make for a lovely snack or healthy dessert. Vegan and gluten-free!
Once upon a time, I made a different batch of energy bites (also known as fat balls, or protein balls depending on the ingredients) every week for between-meals snacks.
My Cranberry Orange Energy Balls and my Carrot Cake Fat Balls have always been favorites, followed closely by Fig and Date Energy Balls.
Well here we are with a brand new healthy snack recipe that requires fewer ingredients and comes together quicker than any of my last endeavors.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll love how easy this simple recipe is to make! Simply buzz everything up in your food processor, roll the dough into balls, and you’re off and running!
Plus, these chocolate date energy bites are ideal for the warm months of the year when you’re craving a sweet treat but have zero desire to turn on the oven to bake. Make a double batch to keep them on hand for little bites of bliss.
I find these energy bites to be a great all-natural snack for kids, a solid pre or post-workout snack, staving off the afternoon munchies, or healthy dessert. They are also great to bring hiking.
Anyone who enjoys chocolate, almond butter (or peanut butter), or dates will surely love them!
Let’s discuss the simple healthy ingredients.
Ingredients for Chocolate Date Energy Balls:
Rolled Oats: Old-fashioned rolled oats get blended up in a food processor until they form a flour-like consistency. This makes for the dry portion of the recipe that is responsible for getting the sticky ingredients to form together into a cohesive ball.
As an alternative to rolled oats, you can also use quick oats or instant oats, oat flour or almond meal.
Unsweetened Almond Butter: Creamy almond butter, creamy peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, cashew butter, or different nut butters butter can be used here. This ingredient acts as part of the glue that holds the balls together (the medjool dates being the other portion of the glue), and also brings richness to the energy bites due to the fat content.
If you love the flavor of peanut butter, use it to replace the almond butter, as peanut butter energy balls are also a great snack!
Raw Cacao Powder: The chocolate portion of these energy bites! Raw cacao powder has a smooth and creamy chocolatey flavor to it, which is typically my preference. You can just as easily use unsweetened cocoa powder or Dutch press cocoa powder as a 1:1 replacement.
Medjool Dates: Pitted medjool dates bring a stickiness to the recipe, which ensures the energy bites hold together nicely. Be sure to use large medjool dates (they vary in size) and if you have a kitchen scale, I recommend weighing them to be sure you’re getting enough sweetness and stickiness.
Medjool dates contain a great deal of natural sugar, so if you follow a low-carb or keto diet, make my Keto Peanut Butter Edible Cookie Dough (and roll it into balls for peanut butter energy balls).
Vanilla Extract (Optional): While the vanilla extract is optional, it provides that inviting warmth which really makes the whole experience that much better.
Sea Salt: A sprinkle of sea salt enhances each individual flavor so that the chocolate date energy balls are exploring with flavor.
Optional Additions:
Ground cinnamon, protein powder to bring extra protein and make protein bites, chocolate chips, chia seeds, hemp seed, sunflower seeds, ground flax seeds, unsweetened coconut flakes, or raw nuts are all great additions.
Just keep in mind if you add more dry ingredients, you may need to add additional almond butter or dates to get the mixture back to rolling consistency.
You can play around with all sorts of pantry ingredients to try different flavors and create your own energy ball recipes.
Now that we’re experts on what goes into these power balls, let’s make these delicious bite-sized snacks!
How to Make Chocolate Date Energy Balls:
Add the oats to a food processor and process until a flour forms. It is okay for the flour to be somewhat coarse but the goal is to get it to the same consistency as regular flour if possible so that the balls don’t have any grittiness to them. Remember, you can also replace the oats with oat flour or almond flour.
Transfer the rest of the ingredients to the food processor (almond butter, cacao powder, dates, vanilla extract, and sea salt) and process until a thick dough forms. This mixture should have a thicker consistency than regular cookie dough and also not be sticky or oily. If the mixture does turn out sticky and doesn’t form balls easily, refrigerate it for 1 to 2 hours or until it has set up.
Roll the mixture into balls, forming any size you desire.
If you’d like, roll the chocolate date balls in unsweetened shredded coconut or more cacao powder (this is mostly for looks).
Store the energy balls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. You can also store them in a zip lock bag in the freezer for up to 4 months.
You can certainly use this as a base recipe for all your energy ball adventures. Change it up by incorporating your favorite goodies for a real good time!
More Healthy Snack Recipes:
- Vanilla Chia Fat Balls
- 3-Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies
- Maple Rosemary Roasted Nuts
- Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
- Flourless Oatmeal Banana Nut Muffins
- 5-Ingredient Healthy Granola Bars
Enjoy these sweet superfood energy bites!
5-Ingredient Chocolate Date Energy Balls
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats*
- 1 cup unsweetened almond butter**
- 1/2 cup raw cacao powder
- 10 large pitted medjool dates 6.5 oz, 186g
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract optional
- ¼ tsp sea salt to taste
For Rolling:
- Raw cacao powder
- Unsweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Add the oats to a food processor and process until a flour forms. It is okay for the flour to be somewhat coarse but the goal is to get it to the same consistency as regular flour if possible so that the balls don’t have any grittiness to them. Remember, you can also replace the oats with oat flour or almond flour.
- Transfer the rest of the ingredients to the food processor (almond butter, cacao powder, dates, vanilla extract, and sea salt) and process until a thick dough forms. This mixture should have a thicker consistency than regular cookie dough and also not be sticky or oily. If the mixture does turn out sticky and doesn’t form balls easily, refrigerate it for 1 to 2 hours or until it has set up.
- Roll the mixture into balls, forming any size you desire. If you’d like, roll the chocolate date balls in unsweetened shredded coconut or more cacao powder (this is mostly for looks).
Notes
Nutrition
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How many dates would be in each energy ball would you say? I’m trying to find recipes that involve eating dates for the end of my pregnancy. Thanks
Hi Emma!
I use 10 large medjool dates and end up with 20 balls, so that would be 1/2 date per ball. You can adjust the size of the balls as needed 🙂 Huge congrats on your baby!! xo
I used the almond flour (in place of oats) variation and weighed my dates as suggested. I still needed about 3 Tbsp extra liquid, but after that they turned out great!
Hi Grace! Thanks so much for sharing this! It is very helpful information to others who want to try the almond flour version. xo
I think in the future I will soak my dates prior to making these. I had to add quite a bit of almond milk to get the mixture to blend, and it was tough on my blender. I know dates can vary quite a bit so perhaps with some softer dates that would not have been an issue.
That said, these are DELICIOUS and my toddler is obsessed with his “chocolate balls”. So so happy with this recipe, will be making them again, thank you for posting.
Thanks for sharing all of this, Nathalie! I’ve found pitted medjool dates tend to work well when they are at room temperature if that helps! I’ve also had better success with energy bite/balls recipes using a food processor instead of a blender, but it’s good to know it works with a blender when more liquid is added 🙂 This is super helpful to others who want to try the recipe using a blender!
Loooove these!!! Super easy to make and such a satisfying quick-grab snack. I used 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1/2 cup almond butter and they turned out awesome. Weighed the dates for accuracy and had no issues with dryness.
I’m so thrilled to hear they turned out well for you, Alli! They’re one of my favorite little treats between meals. So happy you enjoy them too! Thanks so much for reporting back xoxoxo
I added milk just to get consistency right and they turned out great.
I’m so thrilled to hear they turned out well for you! Thanks for pointing out that you needed to add milk – I typically don’t need to but sometimes the mixture turns out drier and sometimes it turns out wetter…it’s a little different each time for me too 😉
Oh boy! I’m sorry that this is a negative review but these balls are so dry. My family loves power balls but honestly they stick inside your mouth and sort of make you gag. Missing something to lessen this dryness. I ended up rerolling adding choc chips to try to undo the arid texture. Any other suggestions?
Hi Jessica! I’m sorry to hear the recipe didn’t turn out for you. I’ve found a lot of variation in the way energy balls/bites turn out – it can be very dependent on the moisture of the dates and the exact measurement of oats and nut butter. Did you weigh your dates? I’ve found weighing them makes a huge difference because they aren’t always the same size and you really need all that stickiness to get them to bind together. As another reader mentioned, you can always add any form of milk (dairy or non-dairy) if the mixture is visibly crumbly rather than sticky. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time until the mixture comes together in a sticky dough. I hope that helps!