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These Simple and No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls are full of hearty oats, peanut butter, chocolate chips and a few other ingredients. Simple and delicious, this recipe is the fuel you will love to energize you throughout the day!
This recipe was originally published November 2014. Photos and copy were updated June 2020.
This is one of my all time favorite snacks and I have been making these Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls going on 10 years.
There is nothing better than a little bite of oats with peanut butter. Period.
No bake. Great fuel. And easy to whip up. So I basically have these in the fridge about 90% of the time. For a fun twist on these flavors, these No Bake Cookie Butter Cookies are great too!
What you need to make these:
- I am not a huge fan of honey, and a lot of similar recipes call for honey. So I opt for a touch of maple and a touch of honey to balance it out. I find that combination of flavors to be PERFECT.
- Natural creamy peanut butter, the drippy kind works the very best in my opinion.
How to make these oatmeal balls:
- Combine the dry ingredients. If you are adding coconut, add it in at this point as well. (steps 1 and 2)
- Add in the peanut butter, maple, honey, vanilla and stir well to combine. (steps 3 and 4)
- Fold in chocolate chips. For best results I like to freeze this for 10-20 minutes before rolling into balls. It makes it so much easier to form. (steps 5 and 6)
It will surely depend on how big you make these, but I typically end up with about 15 Peanut Butter Balls when I whip these babies up. You could make them into bars if you would like as well.
Notes:
- I use creamy, natural peanut butter--the kind you have to stir. I find this kind of peanut butter to be the best for recipes like this. It is so much easier to stir and incorporate into the mixture.
- For vegan oatmeal balls, use all maple and make sure your chocolate chips are vegan as well. For gluten free, use gluten free oats.
- Seriously, change up the chocolate chips each time you make these peanut butter energy bites. I am obsessed with using white chocolate chips lately. Sometimes, I don't use any chips either ( I know, I know) just to have something different. You can also add a drizzle of chocolate instead on top.
- If you are having a hard time forming these energy bites into balls, pop them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. That usually helps a bit.
Check out these other snacks:
- Copycat Perfect Bar Recipe
- Blueberry Lemon Energy Bites
- Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars
- Pecan Pie Energy Bites
- Carrot Cake Energy Bites
- German Chocolate Cake Balls
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Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats regular or gluten free
- ½ cup natural creamy peanut butter almond butter will work if you have a peanut allergy
- ½ cup flaxmeal
- 2 T 100% pure maple syrup
- 2-3 T honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ c chocolate chips
- ½ c shredded coconut (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Combine oats, flax, sea salt, and coconut (if using) and stir. Add in peanut butter, maple, honey, vanilla and stir to fully incorporate.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- For ease in rolling into balls, freeze for about 10-20 minutes before rolling up.
- Roll into bite sized balls. Enjoy!
Notes
- If the mixture doesn't seem thick of sturdy enough, add another ¼ cup of oats or so. Different peanut butters can alter the thickness of the recipe.
- I use creamy, natural peanut butter--the kind you have to stir. I find this kind of peanut butter to be the best for recipes like this. It is so much easier to stir and incorporate into the mixture.
- Seriously, change up the chocolate chips each time you make these peanut butter energy bites. I am obsessed with using white chocolate chips lately. Sometimes, I don't use any chips either ( I know, I know) just to have something different. You can also add a drizzle of chocolate instead on top.
Gable says
Too dry to roll into balls, tastes good though
Lorie says
Sorry to hear this! What kind of peanut butter did you use? That can make a difference. You can easily add more maple or honey next time to moisten it up a bit. That should do the trick!
Jordyn W. says
Can you make these without flax? Thanks!
Lorie says
Hi Jordyn! You can make these without flax, just add in extra oats instead. Start with about 1/3 cup extra oats and adjust as needed from there.
Laura says
Delicious! I love making these to have after a gym workout or a hike.
Lorie says
SO glad you loved them Laura--we pretty much live on these over here!