No Bake Protein Balls
Updated Feb 14, 2025
This is the ultimate easy No Bake Energy Balls recipe. Made with just 6 ingredients, these make a great healthy breakfast or snack!
The perfect energy balls
The ultimate protein balls recipe made with just 6 easy ingredients. Made and loved by thousands of readers. These easy energy bites taste like cookie dough, have 5g of protein each, and are so simple to make!
I have made these countless times over the years and as soon as my freezer stash disappears I have to make more. I make these and my homemade protein bars on repeat.
These delicious little bites are perfect as a healthy snack, breakfast, or even dessert to knock out that night time sweet tooth.
Great for having on hand when you need something fast! These became such a hit that I was inspired to make these almond butter energy balls too.
Basic Energy Ball Ingredients
- Protein Powder – for the basic energy ball recipe, I use vanilla protein powder. But any flavor will work.
- Honey – the sticky sweetener needed to help it all stick together. You can substitute maple syrup to make these vegan
- Peanut Butter – I use creamy no stir peanut butter which has just a tiny bit of added sugar in it.
- Salt – just enough to make the salty sweet flavors pop!
- Rolled Oats – Rolled oats are inexpensive and delicious and help these energy balls taste like cookie dough!
- Chocolate Chips – I prefer to use mini chocolate chips so that there is chocolate and crunch in every bite!
How to make Energy Balls
It is so easy to make this recipe. All you need is a rubber spatula and a mixing bowl! These protein balls are made without a food processor.
Step 1: Add the peanut butter, rolled oats, honey, salt, chocolate chips and protein powder to a mixing bowl.
Step 2: Stir with a rubber spatula to combine. I do not recommend using a spoon because the batter is very thick and sticky. It will take a few minutes to mix it all together.
Step 3: Line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper.
Step 4: Use a mini cookie scoop to drop balls of energy bite batter onto the paper. If you do not have a mini cookie scoop, just use spoons. You want balls around 1 inch in size. Roll the energy balls with your hands to form the shape.
Joy’s Tip
I like using a 1.5 tablespoon sized mini cookie scoop to portion out batter. I find it to be the perfect size and makes the process quicker too!
Step 5: Once you have put all of the batter on the baking sheet, place it in the fridge for one hour, or until the energy balls are firm to the touch.
Once set, serve immediately, or store for later! From here you can now remove them from the wax paper and place into a ziploc bag in the freezer. I always have a bag of these on hand for easy snacking.
I love these energy balls because they are easy to make and made with pantry ingredients that I almost always have on hand. No need to run to the store!
Most importantly, they are irresistibly delicious! Honestly, it feels like I’m eating a treat.
Be sure to read the comments below from other readers!
Ways to customize these protein balls
- chia seeds
- ground flax seed
- chopped nuts
- chopped dried fruit
- shredded coconut
- different kind of chocolate chips
- use almond butter or sun butter instead of peanut butter
- substitute chocolate protein powder
Do I have to use protein powder?
No, you do not, but you will need to replace it with something else so that the batter is not too sticky. I suggest using either more rolled oats or oat flour.
How long can you keep energy balls?
When stored in the freezer, these will be good up to 3 months, but I doubt they will last that long in your house! We usually go through a batch every week or two.
No Bake Protein Balls
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups no stir creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 1/3 cups old fashioned oats, rolled oats
- 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Add the no stir creamy peanut butter, honey, rolled oats, vanilla protein powder, salt, and mini dark chocolate chips to a mixing bowl and use a rubber spatula to mix until the batter is combined.
- Use a mini cookie scoop or a spoon to drop energy balls with a spoon onto a wax paper covered cookie sheet. They should be around 1 inch in size.
- Roll the energy balls with your hands to form the shape.
- Place the cookie sheet with the energy bites on it in the fridge for 1 hour, or until the balls are hardened.
- Transfer energy balls to a ziploc bag and store in the fridge for around a week, or the freezer for 2-3 months
- Be sure to check out my Energy Bites Cookbook based off of this recipe plus more than 20 other flavors you'll love!
Video
Notes
What kind of protein powder should I use?
Just use your favorite protein powder! I used vanilla protein powder in this recipe, but I love chocolate in it too. My personal favorite way to mix things up is to use half vanilla and half chocolate protein powder.How many energy balls does this make?
This makes around 26 energy bites.Are rolled oats the same thing as old fashioned oats?
Yes they are! This is the kind of oats that you want for this recipe.Nutrition
I swear I made something like this as a kid, from a coloring book recipe, and I’ve been looking for it ever since. Regardless, these are really good and so easy and quick.
what brand protein powder did you use in this recipe?
I used garden of life raw vanilla protein powder.
Curious about 2 things… Would quick oats be ok? How about preparing PB2 powder spread instead of using creamy peanut butter? I like using PB2 because of less calories and sugar 🙂
@Monique, I used PB2 and it worked perfect!
How do you get these smooth if the oats are not ground up? They look smooth but oats have texture.
You really don’t taste the texture of the oats at all, the peanut butter and honey make it very smooth and the oats just sort of give it a little “chew”
Thanks Joy! I made mine with hemp seed protein and they have a tinge of green because of the hemp seed. They are delicious! Just in time for my college student to grab and go for class.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
@Maribel Adams, I was wondering that too – I made these with just a tweak of using a mixture of protein powder, psyllium husk, chia seeds and wheat germ (from a smoothie recipe) in place of just protein powder. They were delicious, but my kids didn’t care for the oat texture. Has anyone tried grinding up the oats first (like in a food processor)? I was going to try that next.
What are carb grams in each ball?
the nutrition info is at the bottom of the recipe card. Each energy ball has 15g carbs.
Do you eat these frozen or wait for them to thaw from the freezer?
I either eat them frozen or let them thaw for a minute or two, it does not take long to soften.
What can i use as a substitute for peanut butter?
Any nut butter will work.
I used powered Milk for my protein and it was great.
So for the folks that aren’t fans of protein (insert trendy food here)… how are these without the protein powder? Or should I say, does the protein powder affect the consistency? Do I truly need it to bind everything together, or can I skip it?
You can just add extra oats or use oat flour instead (made by just grinding up the oats) if you want! You will need more dry components or it will be too sticky if you just leave it out without replacing it.
well to do this without protein powder you can ground up and extra 1/2 cupp of oats. i tried and it worked really well!
Tysm I can’t use my moms protein powder so this really helps
@Joy Shull,
What about the flavor? Without the protein? I make these all the time thanks to you and we loooove them! But we ran out of protein and I most likely won’t buy any more for a while so I thought it was over for making these! But if I can use extra oats for consistency, is the flavor any less good without the protein? I feel like the vanilla flavor just gives it a little something extra. What do u suggest?
Just made these and they’re delicious!!! Thank you for the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Erica!