Peanut Butter Oat Chocolate Chip Energy Balls

I’m excited to share today’s post with you because it involves one of our very favorite snacks! We make these all. the. time. In our family it’s basically an emergency when our stash runs out! 🙂 I’ve shared these already over on my Instagram, but I wanted to make sure the recipe was accessible here, too.

I know there are many energy balls or energy bites recipes out there. But my favorite has to be this one, because this recipe – while still kind of sugary – is still full of good things for your body! I used a couple different recipes in the past and eventually tweaked everything enough to our liking that this is our own family’s recipe!

In all honesty, these could probably also be labeled as a lactation or nursing snack because it includes several key ingredients that nursing mamas like to supplement their diets with! But, regardless of any of that, these energy balls are the perfect snack for just about anyone!!

My husband loves these. My 2-year-old loves these. And I’m a fan, too, of course. 🙂 They’re incredibly easy to make. The recipe is easy to double or triple (I usually triple it). They freeze beautifully. They’re perfect as a snack or eaten for breakfast. They’re easy to take on-the-go.

Let’s dive right in! I bet your family will love these as much as we do.

Peanut Butter Oat Chocolate Chip Energy Balls

A couple notes: I typically triple this recipe. It takes me about a half hour from start to finish to whip these up, shape them all, and get them bagged and into the freezer. You certainly don’t have to freeze them, but they honestly keep so well that way – and they thaw quickly, too, so you can pull some out just a few minutes before you want to eat them!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup oats (I’ve used both quick oats and old-fashioned oats, but make sure to buy organic oats! We’re not a big “organic” family but this is actually one item that’d be wise to buy organic.)
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
  • 1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips
  • 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes (use sweetened because it seems to have a softer, easier texture to work with)
  • 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together with a wooden spoon or large metal serving spoon, being sure to thoroughly incorporate all the ingredients.

You can shape a “test ball” with your hands to see if the mixture is too sticky to work with. If it seems too sticky (likely from the honey), add just a little bit more oats or ground flax. If the mixture seems too dry, like it won’t shape into a ball, add a little extra peanut butter or honey.

Use a cookie scoop to scoop the mixture out into 1-tablespoon-size balls. (You can definitely just use a tablespoon measure instead, but I’ve found that a cookie scoop I received for Christmas works beautifully! This is the cookie scoop I own.)

Once you have a rough 1-tablespoon-size ball of the mixture scooped out, then use clean hands to more tightly pack it into a firm ball.

If you find your hands are getting covered in the mixture after a little while, and the mixture is starting not to pack together well, I’ve found that taking a quick break to re-wash my hands off works wonders. I definitely recommend re-washing your hands halfway through.

I like to place all of the energy balls onto a couple plates. Then, once all of the mixture is formed into balls, you can package them up into snack-size Ziploc bags. I place 3-4 energy balls into each snack-size Ziploc bag, because these energy balls are usually a grab-and-go snack or breakfast for me. Then I put all of the snack-size bags into one large gallon-size bag, and stick that in the freezer!

Voila! Now you’ve just created a great energy ball stash – giving your family a healthier, more filling snack and breakfast option!

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do! If you make them, would you do me a favor? Please let me know by tagging me (@hannahbeeolson) on Instagram! I love seeing what you make! 🙂

Thanks so much for reading along! If you like easy recipes, I sure enjoy sharing them, so be sure to follow along with the blog for more!

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