Chocolate Almond No Bake Oat Balls
These no bake energy bites are inspired by stracciatella gelato, and are the perfect meal prep snack for a busy week. They’re basically chocolate almond no bake cookie dough balls, but made with nourishing, clean ingredients.
These oatmeal energy bites have a smooth cookie dough texture with crunchy bits from almonds and dark chocolate chunks. They’re nourishing, but so satisfying. I like to meal plan some easy snacks for the week, including a healthy sweet one. I find it helps curb sweet cravings, and is particularly good in the afternoon or after dinner. I love chocolate covered almonds, so this recipe is inspired by just that.
Are Energy Balls Actually Healthy?
If you’re wondering if homemade energy balls are good for you, then this answer depends on a few things, like the ingredients and your goals. They can easily be high in carbs and/or fat depending on the ingredients, so it’s important to choose the right one among many energy balls recipes. Traditionally, they are made with real food ingredients with no refined flours or sugars. This means they provide fiber, varying amount of protein, healthy fats and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Homemade snacks are almost always healthier than store bought.
Ingredients in This Energy Balls Recipe
Almonds
I bought raw almonds and toasted them myself. This way I could control how toasted they got and eliminated any extra oils that are often added to nuts. I’ll explain how I did it in the directions!
Raw Cashews
I use raw cashews in this recipe because they give a cookie dough texture. They also have a really mild sweetness that works so well as.a base for healthy energy bites.
Oat Flour
Whole oats or oat flour is a common ingredient in healthy energy balls. You can use store bought oat flour or make your own by blending whole oats in a blender until they’re a fine texture. Ensure the oats you use are organic, or glyphosate free. Round Up, or glyphosate, is heavily applied to oats in their growth and processing.
Raw Honey
Raw honey has various health benefits and is a low glycemic sweetener. It’s a better choice than other types of honey that can have corn syrup added to them.
Dark Chocolate
My favorite brand of chocolate is Alter Eco, but Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods has some great brands too. I make sure to choose brands that use fair trade sourced chocolate, organic when possible and minimal added sugar/ ingredients.
Vanilla Extract
Vanilla helps contribute to the cookie dough quality of energy balls and is an important part of the base. It helps to use a good quality vanilla extract whenever possible (organic and made with real vanilla beans).
Recipe for ‘Almond Chocolate Chunk Oat Energy Balls’
Yields 12 balls
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Ingredients
2 tbsp roasted almonds
1/3 cup soaked raw cashews (unsalted, unroasted)
2.5 tsp raw or natural honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp oat flour
2 squares of dark chocolate (or milk chocolate if prefer)
Directions
I start by preheating the oven to 325F and soaking the raw cashews in filtered water (in a small bowl) for about 10-15 minutes. Bake almonds for about 5-10 minutes, until you can smell them and they just start to turn golden brown. Allow to cool. You can skip this step if using store bought!
Drain the raw cashews and add to a food processor. Blend until it forms a paste. Scrape sides and corners, then sdd in the vanilla, sea salt and honey, and blend until combined.
Add in the oat flour. Pulse a few times then blend until it fully combines. Scrape sides as needed.
Add in almonds and chocolate (broken with hands into smaller pieces). Pulse until small pieces are mixed in. You don’t want to over blend and make it a smooth mixture, you want to see the small bits throughout.
Measure out 1 tsp per ball, roll into a ball and place on parchment. Allow them to set for an hour or so.
Enjoy your healthy snack balls all week!