These delicious and easy healthy no bake energy bites with apple and almond butter are vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free and high in fibre!
Try Some Healthy No Bake Energy Bites!
Over the last five-ish years energy balls and bites have become super popular. They are all over Pinterest, in book stores, and in cafe’s and health food aisles and I’m definitely not complaining. I mean really, who would complain about these delicious, simple, healthy, and convenient snacks? Energy balls are great for on-the-go snacking, pre or post-workout, adding to lunches, enjoying mid morning or afternoon, or having in the evening as an after dinner sweet bite. Today I’m sharing one of my favorite recipes for No Bake Apple Almond Butter Energy Bites that I originally posted on the blog back in 2013.
For this recipe I wanted to put the flavors of ‘apple pie’ into a healthy snack so I came up with a great combination of ingredients to go into these energy balls. I use dried apple rings and dried dates to add sweetness and that tasty apple flavour, almond butter, almonds, cinnamon, and nutmeg for a nutty, rich, aromatic and creamy addition, and chopped fresh apple to really get that apple flavour to shine through. I also decided to add in natural vanilla protein powder to bring in some added protein and balance out the carbohydrates and healthy fats.
When you whirl it all up in a food processor you can truly smell “apple pie” in the air as the ingredients combine together perfectly and the apples and cinnamon burst through. To mimic a pie crust I used different “crusts” or coatings for my healthy no bake energy balls including rolled oats, chopped almonds, granola, and coconut palm sugar.
Healthy No Bake Energy Bites Nutrition:
These little energy balls come in at around 90 calories each and are full of fantastic fast-digesting carbs for a quick energy fix before heading to the gym, going for a run, or just to fuel you up mid day! The almonds, almond butter, and protein powder gives these energy bites a great amount of protein per serving which balances with the healthy fats from the almonds and carbohydrates from the dates and apple. For vitamins and minerals these energy bites are packed with fibre, vitamin E, vitamin C, magnesium, and potassium.
Not bad for a little taste of apple pie, right??
These little energy balls store great in the freezer and can also be taken in a ziplock bag or Tupperware container in your bag or purse around for the day. I wouldn’t leave them in a really hot environment like a hot car for too long, but they definitely don’t need to be refrigerated. If you have a good food processor at home, making your own no-bake energy bites is really easier than ever and it costs way less to make your own than buy them from the store or a cafe.
What are your favourite kind of energy balls or bites to make at home? Do you need some inspiration? If so check out the other energy ball recipes on the blog here. Also, be sure to pin the photo after the recipe to save this post for later and of course, share the love!
- Energy Bites:
- 1 cup dried unsweetened apple rings
- 1 cup packed pitted dates
- ½ cup raw almonds
- 2 tablespoons raw almond butter
- ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 scoop (1/4 cup) vanilla protein powder of choice
- 1 small gala apple, cored and chopped
- pinch of salt
- Optional Coatings (choose one or two):
- ¼ cup gluten free rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons granola of choice
- ¼ cup crushed almonds
- 1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar
- Soak dates in hot water for 10-15 minutes to soften, then drain.
- Add dates, apple rings, almonds, almond butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, protein powder, and chopped apple to a food processor and process for 1-3 minutes, scraping the sides of the food processor with a spatula as needed.
- You should have a sticky but mostly smooth batter.
- Scoop the batter out into a bowl and using a tablespoon measure, scoop a slightly smaller than golf ball sized portion and roll into a ball using the palms of your hands. It sometimes helps to have slightly wet hands if the batter is extra sticky.
- Once you have made a little ball, roll the ball into the coating of choice (oats, granola, crushed almonds, etc.), and place the ball on a cookie sheet covered in wax/parchment paper.
- Do this with the rest of the batter to make around 14 balls.
- Enjoy!
Pin me!
Have a fantastic Sunday!
Christal // NITK
I used peanuts and peanut butter instead of almonds. The batter was initially too wet to roll into balls, so I ended up adding oats to the batter to make it more roll-able. Very tasty! Also, the recipe calls for 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon, but this must be a typo!!! Use 1 teaspoon of cinnamon!!
Hi Therese! Great idea to add extra oats to soak up the moisture! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe… and I do think I meant to put one teaspoon, thanks for pointing that out! 🙂
oh my god…I haven’t even made these into little balls yet…just licked the spoon…I don’t know if I’ll be able to share these with my husband. They are THAT good!! yumma!!
Lol! Glad you liked them Cha! 🙂
My blog targets kids with healthy food ideas. This is a great kiddy idea! Do you use prune butter? It’s a hard sell, but I think it works magic in the kitchen 🙂
I’ve never tried it but I am very intrigued!!
These are so cute! I’m going to make for my little nephew … I bet he’ll love ’em! 🙂
Enjoy! 🙂
These look delicious! I was gonna make tonight but forgot the dried apples. 🙁 What is the purpose of the dried apples? Could I just use extra fresh apples?
Thanks!
Marsha
Just for more appley taste! 🙂 You can just use extra dates and more fresh apple! 🙂
Thank you, Christal!!!