No Bake Granola Energy Balls

These no bake granola balls are the perfect homemade healthy snack. Packed with nutrient dense ingredients including oats, peanut butter, and flax, these protein balls are easy to make and super satisfying. Keep a batch in your fridge or freezer for healthy snacking at home, or pack a few up for a snack on the go!

As a Registered Dietitian, I love having several healthy snack options stocked in my home.

No bake energy balls (aka no bake protein balls) are a simple and delicious homemade snack idea.

If you love classic Chewy granola bars, then this particular healthy energy ball recipe is for you!

No bake granola balls are crispy, chewy, and packed with creamy peanut butter and mini chocolate chips.

This granola ball recipe is a great way to make protein balls without protein powder.

They provide protein from natural food sources, including peanut butter, hemp seeds, flax, and oats. They’re a well balanced snack that contains fiber and healthy fats, in addition to protein.

These energy bites are vegan (make sure to use vegan chocolate chips) and gluten free. This recipe makes 18-20 energy balls.

Ingredients in no bake granola balls

Here is everything you need to make this recipe. You likely have most of the ingredients stocked in your pantry already!

• Old fashioned oats
• Rice crisps cereal
• Ground flaxseed
• Hemp seeds
• Maple syrup
• Creamy peanut butter
• Cinnamon
• Salt
• Vanilla extract
• Mini chocolate chips

Ingredient substitution suggestions

• Instead of peanut butter, use another nut or seed butter like almond butter or cashew butter. Note that I used natural peanut butter (only ingredient is peanuts), which is quite runny and sticky.
• Swap chocolate chips for raisins for an oatmeal raisin flavored energy bite.
• Use chia seeds instead of hemp seeds.
• You can use honey instead of maple syrup for the sweetener (note that the recipe will not be vegan if you use honey).

How to make energy/protein balls

1. Mix dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl: oats, rice crisps, ground flaxseed, hemp seeds, cinnamon, salt, and chocolate chips.
2. Add the wet ingredients: maple syrup, peanut butter, and vanilla extract.
3. Mix everything together.
4. Form balls with your hands, about the size of golf balls. The batter will be quite sticky, so this step can get slightly messy.
5. Place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet in the fridge to harden up.

Storing energy balls

You can keep these no bake granola balls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days.

Store them in your freezer in a freezer container or silicone baggie for up to 3 months. You can eat them straight from the freezer!

Oats nutrition benefits

Oats are a good source of dietary fiber, and contain both soluble and insoluble fiber.

Soluble fiber is beneficial for heart health because can bind to cholesterol in your body, and may help lower total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and blood glucose levels.

In addition to fiber, oats have several other nutrients! One half cup of dry oats provides:

• 5-6 grams of plant-based protein
• 1.7 mg iron (10 percent of your daily needs)
• 55.89 mg magnesium (14 percent of your daily needs)
• 11.71 mcg selenium (22 percent of your daily needs)
• 166.1 mg phosphorus (24 percent of your daily needs)

Hemp seeds nutrition benefits

Hemp seeds are incredibly nutrient dense. A three tablespoon serving of hemp seeds provides:

• 9.5 grams of plant-based protein
• 1.2 grams of dietary fiber
• 15 grams of fat – most of which is heart healthy polyunsaturated fat
• 210 mg magnesium – 50 percent of of your daily needs
• 2.4 mg iron – 13 percent of your daily needs
• 3 mg zinc – 20 percent of your daily needs

Hemp seeds are a complete protein, meaning they contain all nine essential amino acids for muscle growth and repair. Hemp seeds have about double the protein as flax seeds and chia seeds.

Flaxseed nutrition benefits

Flaxseeds pack a big nutrition punch! Just one tablespoon of ground flax has:

• 1.3 grams of plant-based protein
• 2 grams of dietary fiber
• 1,597 mg of omega-3 fatty acids

Flaxseeds are one of the best plant-based sources of omega-3 fatty acids.

This type of fat is essential in our diets because human bodies are unable to make it ourselves.

Omega-3 fatty acids help fight inflammation and can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Let me know if you love this recipe by leaving a comment or star rating below, and check out Instagram and Pinterest for more healthy lifestyle inspiration. Thanks for stopping by!

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