Chewy bite-sized balls made with SunButter, oats, dried fruit, and cinnamon. The perfect prep-ahead snack that’s vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free too!
THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY SUNBUTTER.
Have you ever made oatmeal cookies with a spoon instead of an oven? A.k.a. got distracted by how seriously good oatmeal cookie batter is. A.k.a. never actually baked even a single cookie. Hopefully with friends though, otherwise you might not be feeling so hot afterwards. But honestly it’s mostly oats, and oats = breakfast, so maybe you felt fine and just very topped off on fiber for the day week.
If you’ve been there before, THESE balls are just for you.
They get you. They get your love for oatmeal cookie dough and they just want to bring that goodness to you in a healthier, portable, more meant-to-be-unbaked form.
Reasons to love these tasty little three-bite balls:
- Chunky, nubbly texture that screams SNACK.
- But also means you are getting in lots of oats, so mega wholesome.
- No-bake.
- Only 6 ingredients.
- Nut-free.
- You don’t need a food processor. Just you and your paws and a big bowl.
- One batch makes A LOT. Because you are going to love them. But also because they last for at least a week in the fridge and freeze well.
- Packable and very kid-friendly.
- General yumminess!
And what makes almost that entire list true – SunButter!
Yup, our favorite seed-based friend is back. SunButter is what makes them nut-free/no-bake/no equipment required/etc. But it’s also what makes them so buttery and tasty.
SunButter is my spoon-in-the-jar jam right now. It has long surpassed peanut butter and almond butter and maybe even cashew butter at this point. The more I eat it the more I love it and want it to be a part of my every meal/snack.
So yeah, these energy bites are majorly hitting the spot right now.
And there is no wrong way to do the mix-ins – dried cranberries, raisins, dried blueberries, chopped dates, a mix of fruits, or even swap some out for chocolate chips.
Fun fact: You should chill them before eating to avoid over-squishiness. But honestly FROZEN is where these guys really shine if you ask me. They get super firm, but still with enough chewiness so you aren’t at risk of injuring yourself upon first bite…but the texture is just everything. And they’ll last quite a while in there too.
Happy spherical snack making to you!
No-Bake SunButter Energy Balls
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour (chilling time)
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 50 balls 1x
- Category: snacks
- Method: no bake
- Cuisine: american
Description
Chewy bite-sized balls made with SunButter, oats, dried fruit, and cinnamon. The perfect prep-ahead snack that’s vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free too!
Ingredients
- 5 cups (500g) rolled oats
- 2 cups (300g) dried cranberries (or any dried fruit, or even half dried fruit and half chocolate chips!)
- 2 cups (500g) Creamy SunButter
- 1 cup (300g) maple syrup or honey
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat the sweetener and SunButter stirring frequently until melted and smooth.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oats, dried fruit, cinnamon, and salt.
- Pour the SunButter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix (hands work best).
- Roll into balls (about 1 tablespoon of dough per ball).
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes until firm.
- Enjoy!
- Keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week, or freeze for longer storage.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ball
- Calories: 121
- Sugar: 7g
- Fat: 5g
- Carbohydrates: 15g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
Keywords: snack, gluten free, nut free, easy, no bake, oatmeal, vegan, healthy
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Thank you SunButter for sponsoring this post!
Your timing couldn’t be better, I actually searched you yesterday for something like this. I recently put a small apt on Airbnb an have a triathlete coming the end of this month. I’ve been making vegan choco chip cookies for guests but wanted something like this for the triathlete dude. Thanks for sharing, I can’t wait to give this a try, then share some.
Oooh they will be perfect for that! And wow what a lovely AirBnB host you are🤗 I can’t believe it took me this long to get a solid no-bake snack ball recipe on the blog ha. Hope they turn out perfect for you!
Thanks, I’m sure they’ll delish, and I’ll be sure to let them know where to find the recipe.!
Wow, this makes a HUGE batch! I absolutely agree with you and ADORE no-bake recipes using oats…love how it’s like a cookie dough texture! And my favorite nut butter as of recently is sunflower seed butter (I have some homemade in my fridge right now!)…so this is absolutely perfect! 🙂
I know right, ballz for days! Which I’m not complaining about🤗 Mmmm homemade sunflower seed butter is so so good too…I’m just too lazy and eat too much to keep it on hand all the time😆 Happy “cookie dough” snacking to you!
Girl, I was like 2 cups of sunbutter!?! Hahahaha, but then I saw it makes 50 balls, lmao! I love, love energy balls that are not made with dates! Maple syrup just tastes better! And I’m so with you on the oatmeal cookie batter, in fact, I think it may be my favorite cookie batter to eat! Everytime I make a batch I’m always eating so much of it, haha and always warning on my posts not to eat all of the batter. Because honestly, sometimes the batter is all I want to eat since the flavor is so intense. I love that you added dried fruit. I love dried cranberries but my favorite is dried cherries, omg, I buy them in bulk and keep them in the fridge and they are out of this world delicious cold! Ok, now you got me craving oatmeal cookies again! Such a delicious, fun and simple recipe Natalie, I love it!
Do you even realize how long it’s been since I’ve used dates in a recipe😳😳 Like idk why, i guess i’m just on a maple syrup and/or coconut sugar streak right now. But I agree, especially with balls like this it seems like every recipe uses dates and then you have to get out the food processor and I’m just not about all that cleaning😂 Can you find dried cherries without added sugar? Because I adore cherries so that sounds amazing to me in things or just straight🍒 Although not gonna lie, the raisin + chocolate chip batch of these balls was pretty amazing😋
Lol there’s no way these would last me a week! I feel like my snacking game has been slacking lately so I think these beautiful creations are exactly what I’ve been searching for. And Sunbutter sounds fantastic – hopefully it’ll be available in the UK soon!
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You CANNOT slack on snacks, Maria! This is a very essential part of life, I will send you some myself if necessary😳😂 But these would be perfect, and SunButter is amazing but you can make your own too!
Oatmeal cookie dough is a dangerously delicious thing and I would choose dough over baked cooked most days so these solve that problem! And this makes such a big batch it would be fun to split it up and add different mix-ins! Having a freezer full of delish healthy snacks is one of life’s greatest pleasures and this recipe is a great place to start! Sharing (the recipe, not the balls!) with EVERYONE – Yay!!
“most days”??? Um EVERY day for me with almost every flavor of cookies too, but I especially love the texture of oatmeal cookie batter😋 Ooh I love that idea to make energy balls like 4 different ways with different mix-ins. Or even maybe add cocoa powder to some too. Mmm yes, that sounds like my dream freezer too! Thanks Ashley😊
Do you think this could be smooshed into a pan, frozen and cut into bars for easy toddler handling? Either way, I’m excited to try it.
Absolutely! That will definitely work too and save you some rolling time😊
Going to try these with rice flakes as I am a coeliac and I find the rice flakes are a great subsytitute for oats as quinoa is too bitter.
Yes that would be perfect! And yes much more mild than the quinoa flavor, I hope you love them😊
I’ve always been hesitant to trying energy balls. Lately, I’ve been trying to eat healthier and was looking for a snack that would satisfy my sweet tooth, but not have much added sugar. This did the trick! They’re better than i could have ever imagined! I used half mini semi sweet chocolate chips and half raisins. I also added flax meal and chia seeds. Delicious! I’ll definitely be making again! Thanks for the recipe!
YAY!! I am so happy you loved these, definitely more oatmeal cookie dough dessert-y than boring energy ball if you ask me😋 Thanks for the feedback Alex!
I’m trying these out for healthy munchies after using a bit of cannabis! I’m generally a healthy eater but when I hit the vape – a few times a week – it all goes out the window and I eat garbage, like gummy candies and the like. No more!
Such a good idea, I hope they hit the spot Alex😋
Wow, just wow! These are amazing. So easy to make and taste delicious. Even my daughter enjoyed them. I was looking for some different options for school snacks and these are perfect. I’ve never tried sunflower butter before and was a little bit skeptical at first but these are so good and I will definitely be making these again!
YAY!! I am so so happy they were a success🤗 Absolutely would work with almond or peanut butter too, but sunflower is so yummy once you get used to it in my opinion. Appreciate your feedback Manique!
LET THE SUNBUTTER/SYRUP COMBO COOL BEFORE YOU MIX IT WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS!!!!
YES!! Very important step otherwise they will become all chocolatey (still delish though😋)
I made these yesterday to give out as Mother’s Day treats after the group exercise class I teach – they are delicious! I was wondering if anybody has tried adding in some protein powder to the recipe to boost the protein content a bit? I’d like to try it but I’m worried about ruining a whole batch! Also thinking about reducing the amount of honey I use – they seem plenty sweet and I suspect they’d be just as good with less honey. Thanks for any feedback!
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I am so happy they were a success, Laura! You could definitely add some protein powder, I wouldn’t recommend more than 1/2 cup or so or they may start to taste too “protein-y”. Just reduce the amount of oats by however much you use so they don’t get too dry. And you could reduce the sweetener as well, but again just reduce the oats too so they don’t get too dry and still hold together. Hope that helps!
Update: I’ve made them several more times, using 1/2 cup of vegan chocolate protein powder and reducing the oats by 1/2 cup. Still delicious! I didn’t change the sweetener after all – decided not to mess around with a good thing! Thanks again!
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That sounds like a great balance and extra little boost of protein! Appreciate you coming back to update with your snack experiments🙏