Tasty little balls of blueberry muffin that are unbaked but still fluffy like cake and healthy too. Plus an easy trick for dried blueberries in the oven!
See I was about to make a batch of my favorite cookie dough bits for snacking – typical Tuesday to-do list stuff – when I realized it was 9 a.m. and not the holidays anymore. So maybe I didn’t need quite so many mini chocolate chips before lunchtime.
The dough part was still on, just maybe of a different still delicious flavor…
Current fridge contents were pretty sparse since I had just gotten home one day ago from a month of traveling, but I did have blueberries (who doesn’t travel with a pint of those, right?)
So I thought – hey, blueberry cookie dough! Is not a thing because blueberry cookies are not really a “thing”. But throw the word muffin in there and it all suddenly makes sense.
But here’s the catch, dried blueberries a) can be hard to find b) usually contain added sugar c) are expensive. And fresh blueberries are too big for a little bite-sized ball of muffin like this, plus not nearly jammy enough. Plus I wanted cookie dough, ya know, NOW.
Solution: make my own dried bloobs IN THE OVEN. Yup we are diy dried fruit-ing it, and I promise it’s easier and faster than you are expecting,
How to make dried blueberries in the oven:
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
- Spread the blueberries on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until they have released a lot of juice and started to shrivel.
- Cool.
- Pull off the pan and separate from one another.
- And DONE.
They aren’t as dry and chewy as the dried ones you buy. They are kinda this magical in between fresh and dried – jammy, a little juicy, perfectly sweet.
Because these bites are made with coconut flour, they are both vegan and paleo. But more importantly they are fluffy and sweet like cake but still no-bake and so so easy. Just seven ingredients, mix, roll, refrigerate, EAT. And maybe save a few for later in the week.
WATCH HOW TO
Blueberry Muffin Bites
- Prep Time: 00:50
- Cook Time: 4:00 (chilling time)
- Total Time: 4 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 12 balls 1x
- Category: snacks
- Method: no bake
- Cuisine: american
Description
Tasty little balls of blueberry muffin that are unbaked but still fluffy like cake and healthy too. Plus an easy trick for dried blueberries in the oven!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (65g) nut/seed butter (I used SunButter)
- 1/4 cup (60g) applesauce
- 1/4 cup (80g) maple syrup
- 2/3 cup (70g) coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (150g) fresh blueberries*
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Spread the blueberries on a pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 40-45 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, cool for 10-15 minutes, then pull off the parchment paper and separate.
- Whisk together the nut/seed butter, applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
- Stir in the coconut flour and salt.
- Fold in the blueberries.
- Roll into 12 balls.
- Refrigerate until firm (3-4 hours).
- Enjoy! Keep in the fridge.
Notes
*You can buy dried blueberries (although they are hard to find without added sugar and pricey!), but this method creates delicious dried but still a little juicy berries that I love in these bites.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ball
- Calories: 87
- Sugar: 7g
- Fat: 4g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 12g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 3g
Keywords: vegan, gluten free, no bake, snacks, paleo, energy, bliss balls, grain free
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I love how cakey these cuties are – can’t wait to try making them!
YAY!! Coconut flour is my fave for no-bake things😋
Can you add some protein powder to up the protein content? Swap out a tbsp of coconut flour for protein powder?
Sure, great idea! You could swap a couple of tbsp of coconut flour for protein powder at least, too much and they may start to taste weird 🙂
Thank you 👍🏾
I’m amazed you can make homemade dried blueberries in the oven without dehydrating them for hours! I haven’t used coconut flour in too long…but love how cakey these are! Cannot wait to try 🙂
They aren’t as dry as the ones you buy, but perfect for a recipe like this or even in granola or a granola bar!
any tips for a different flour. I can’t have coconut?
what do you recommend I try?
thanks, looking forward to trying these.
we also made the coconut bars and they were such a hit!!!
xo
You could try it with almond or oat flour, but you will need quite a bit more (especially with almond!) since both are significantly less absorptive than coconut. They won’t have the same fluffy cake-like texture, but still taste good!
These seriously remind me of the mini blueberry muffins my mom would buy in bulk packages…but so much better! I love this idea and I cannot wait to try them out to relive my childhood memories (in a healthier way)!
Omg I forgot about those but YES! I was obsessed with those as a kid, I think I was subconsciously channeling them here😂
Just made them and WOOOW, absolute delish! I can’t stop eating them! Thank you for this amazing easy recipe. If I do a big amount of them, how long can I have them in the fridge ? Like 4-5 days?
Thanks
★★★★★
YAY!! I am so happy you liked them, and good luck not eating the whole batch by tomorrow haha…sooooo relatable, trust me😆 They will definitely last 4-5 days, much more than a week though and they will start to get too dry.
Fantastic, thank you so much <3
These are really amazing.. Made of the dough while waiting for my blueberries… just the dough on its own is really tasty!! and I was out of maple syrup so I used honey instead!!! YUMMM
Oh totally agree, it has such an amazing taste and texture even without mixins😋 I love it with chocolate chips too! I am so happy you liked them, thanks for the feedback Lynae😊
If I make these with peanut butter, will they taste like peanut butter?
Yes they will, peanut butter is a pretty strong flavor and there isn’t chocolate or anything else here that’s super strong to cover it. But they’d be delish imo😋
Seem so decadent yet good for you! Can’t wait to make them for my lil nephew… Pretty sure he is going to dig in right away!
What substitution do you think could work if I wanted to replace maple syrup!? Do you think dates would work in this recipe somehow?! Thanks for sharing the recipe 😊
If you wanted a date-sweetened version, try this recipe but with the dried blueberries added: https://www.feastingonfruit.com/2-ingredient-no-bake-cake-bites/ I hope he (and you!) loves them😊
I used sunflower seed butter that was sugar and salt free and I would definitely recommend peanut butter or almond butter. The applesauce added an odd tang to a flavor that was seemingly empty. I tried adding mulberries, cinnamon, and ultimately cacao nibs but still these bites are not as good as I had hoped.
I also burned my first batch of blueberries by keeping them in for 40 minutes. The second time I used a Silpat and put them in for 20 minutes, busted the berries after 20 minutes with a fork, turned off the oven and let them sit all day. They were chewy but still not as good as dried from store.
Wanted to love these more than I did.
★★
Sorry they didn’t work out for you! This is one of my personal faves, but everyone has different tastes 🙂
Could I use frozen blueberries for these?
Also, I like to use fruit sweeteners when ever possible. Do you think dates would work well in this recipe? I realize I’d have to adjust the liquid amounts, but what do you think about the flavor profile aspect?
So sorry, just realized you already answered this question!
I think you found your answer about swapping in the dates, and I don’t recommend frozen blueberries here because as they defrost they will get really juicy and the balls won’t hold together very well. Sorry!
Hi,
I meant, could you dry frozen blueberries vs. fresh?
Oh like freeze dried? Yes, that would work!
I’ve made this several times with various adaptions.
First, blueberries are not in season here, so I used frozen berries, following the same steps to dehydrate them.
I’ve made this with maple syrup, as well as swapping the maple syrup out for 1/3 c. of dates, and most recently, with a few drops of stevia instead. Absolutely delicious all three ways.
★★★★★
I am so happy you liked these, they are one of my fave easy little snacks to have around! And thank you for sharing all your trials, good to know they work with other sweeteners too😊
What type of sun butter did you use?
Wanting to know if it needs a butter with added sugar oil or salt to go with the rest of the ingredients.
The SunButter I used is just sunflower seeds and salt: https://sunbutter.com/sunbutter-no-sugar-added/
So wonderful I really enjoyed these with your green froyo recipe!!! Seriously the best
★★★★★
Whoa what a combo, that sounds amazing together😋😋 So happy you loved them both!
can you use frozen blueberries or only fresh.
Frozen tend to get REALLY juicy when they defrost/heat up so I don’t recommend them here. Sorry!
My first time here….I’ve been recently diagnosed with gluten sensitivity, never baked with other flours such as coconut flour….my question is; you can eat raw coconut or almond flour??
Hi Ella and welcome! Yes you can eat both raw, they taste much better raw than regular/wheat flour actually. Coconut flour can take a little getting used to though, so I’d recommend starting with almond its delish!
the blueberries lost all flavor after being in the oven. Very disappointed to have lost them, should have gone with the flour less cacao cake.
What amount of dried blueberries to use if I use the dried form vs. fresh? Thanks!
I’d recommend about 1/3-1/2 cup if you are using dried!
Thanks so much!
Hi I don’t really stock apple sauce and I know I won’t use it for anything else
Is there something I could substitute it for? Perhaps honey or something?
Hi Kayleigh! Mashed banana or plain yogurt would be the closest substitutes😊