Protein Balls

These protein balls make the perfect snack! They are easy to make, no bake and have only a handful of ingredients you can easily customize. They taste like cookie dough! Having a container of these in your house gives you a quick and healthy option when you need a quick snack.

I got into making protein balls, or energy bites, while I was home on maternity leave with our son this past summer. I was breastfeeding and often looking for a fast snack I could eat with just one hand. Lol. This simple recipe was so helpful!

Related: Next up, try our High Protein Pizza Dough, Whole-Grain Protein Pancakes and High Protein Vegetarian Ground Beef.

Ingredients

• Oats
• Peanut butter
• Honey
• Walnuts
• Protein powder
• Mini chocolate chips

You can easily swap the peanut butter for any nut butter like almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or cashew butter if needed for allergy reasons. And the walnuts could be swapped for other nuts like almonds or pecans. Also, if you are a nursing mom, you might want to add a tablespoon of Brewer’s Yeast to this recipe.

Directions

First, I grind up 2/3 of the oats in a food processor. This makes the protein balls a little more cohesive, IMO, but this step is optional.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir them together. Use your clean hands to divide and press the mixture into 12 balls. You can use a cookie scoop to aid in getting the protein balls the same size.

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. While you could freeze these energy balls or store in the fridge, I don’t find this to be necessary. But it will extend their shelf life if you don’t plan to eat them within the week.

Tips & Substitutions

• For added flavor, toast the walnuts before incorporating into the mix.
• For even more added flavor, try adding some coconut flakes, cinnamon or swap the honey for maple syrup.
• I like to use vanilla protein powder, but you could use other flavors, like chocolate, if you want.
• I use a whey protein powder (Gold Standard by Optimum Nutrition), but you can certainly use other types if you like. This may impact the overall protein content.
• I like to use mini chocolate chips for this recipe, but you could use regular size or chopped chocolate instead.

More Healthy Snacks