Brownie Energy Balls
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Published Sep 04, 2020, Updated Jun 12, 2023
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These no bake brownie energy balls are the perfect snack bites to have on hand when a chocolate craving hits. Only 7 ingredients needed!
I have to admit, I have a little bit of a sweet tooth. I love having a little dessert after dinner each night – it completes the meal! Can you relate? My top tip for sweet cravings is to have healthier, naturally sweetened options on hand. Which is where these brownie energy balls came about. They honestly taste like a brownie but take a fraction of the time (and ingredients!) to make! Ever since I came up with this recipe a few weeks ago, Isaac and I have been hooked. We can’t stop eating them!
These brownie energy balls are inspired by my 5-ingredient no bake brownies. This recipe requires a couple more ingredients but they’re still pantry staples in our household. I can’t wait for you to give these a try!
Types of Energy Balls
As you may have guessed, there are so many different types of energy balls and they go by a variety of names too. Some names I’ve heard: energy bites, energy balls, bliss bites, oat balls and fat bombs. In my mind, there is one thing they all have in common: they’re no bake and rolled into balls. Here are some ways they can be different:
- Protein – Some energy balls will have added protein powder to obviously amp up the protein, but also round out the snack and make it more filling and satisfying. I personally love making these protein balls.
- Date-based – Some energy balls are made with a base of dates and nuts (like these ones!). They are usually grain-free and have no sugar added because the dates add a good amount of sweetness and help hold the balls together. For the date-based balls, you usually need a food processor or blender to pulse the nuts and dates together.
- Oat-based – Many energy ball recipes have a base of oats. They are packed with fiber and healthy fats and the perfect on-the-go snack. My peanut butter no bake energy balls are oat-based and so yummy.
Ingredients Needed for Brownie Energy Balls
- walnuts and cashews – look for raw, unsalted walnuts and cashews.
- Medjool dates – You can buy medjool dates that are already pitted or pit them yourself (it’s super easy). Two brands that I like are Natural Delights and Joolies. You can find Natural Delights in the produce section of most grocery stores (near the bananas) and Joolies are offered on Amazon and Thrive Market.
- cacao or cocoa powder – raw cacao powder are minimally processed and are high in minerals and antioxidants. Cocoa powder processing depends on the brand but typically it’s roasted at high temperatures which can change some of the nutrition stats. Both are still great options for these balls!
- vanilla extract
- sea salt
- chocolate chips – I like using dark chocolate chips from Enjoy Life or Lily’s. Both of these options are dairy-free.
How to Make Brownie Energy Balls
It doesn’t get much easier than this recipe. Add the walnuts, cashews, dates, cacao powder, vanilla and salt into a food processor fitted with the S-shape blade. Process until mixture is well combined and sticking together. Add the chocolate chips and pulse once more to combine.
Use your hands to form 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball. Enjoy right away or store for later!
How to Store Energy Balls
You can store your energy balls in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer. They’ll last up to 1-2 weeks in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer. I like using glass storage containers or Stasher bags for storing energy balls.
More Energy Balls and Bites
- No Bake Protein Balls
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Balls
- Lemon Energy Balls
- Coconut Protein Balls
- Cranberry Energy Bites
- Cherry Energy Balls
- Blueberry Muffin Energy Balls
- Bird Food Energy Bites
- Peanut Butter & Jelly Protein Bites
Be sure to check out all of the popular no bake dessert recipes here on EBF!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Brownie Energy Balls
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup raw walnuts
- 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 1 cup pitted medjool dates, (about 10)
- 2 Tablespoons cacao powder, or cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon dark chocolate chips, dairy-free if needed
Instructions
- Add walnuts, cashews, dates, cacao powder, vanilla, and salt in a food processor fitted with the S-shaped blade. Process until mixture is well combined and sticking together. Add chocolate chips and pulse once more to disperse.
- Once mixture is combined, use your hands to form the dough into balls, using about 1 Tablespoon of dough for each ball. Enjoy right away or store for later.
- Place balls into a sealed storage container and store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks or the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Hard/dry dates: If your dates are hard and dry, you can soak them in warm water for 10-15 minutes to soften. Just drain them well before using.
- Crumbly dough: If your dough seems too crumbly to stick together after processing even when squeezing it together with your hands, you can try adding a couple more dates or adding 1 teaspoon of water at a time until the mixture starts to hold together well enough to form into balls. See note above.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love these for when I’m craving chocolate! They are a tasty and healthy alternative to an actual brownie.
Yay!! This makes me so happy to hear, Molly! Thanks so much for the review and star rating. I really appreciate it!
OMG these are good!!!! When I decided to bo plant based and swear off cane sugar, I thought I would never taste such delights like this again! And these are good for you!!!! yipee!
Woo! I’m so glad this recipe was a hit, Elizabeth! Makes me so happy to hear. Thanks for the review. I really appreciate it!
Yum! These were so good. A great healthy snack when I’m craving something sweet. Will definitely be making again.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for the review, Suzy. I so appreciate it!
I have given this recipe to so many of my friends because it is so fast to make. My husband loves them so I’ve been making them to have for him to have a healthy alternative snack and I’ve had to make them every few days LOL
Ahh yay!! That makes me so happy to hear, Ellen. I’m glad this recipe has been a hit! Thanks for the review. I so appreciate it!
These are delicious and so easy to make. I reduced the walnuts to 1/2 cup and added in a scoop ( 1/2 serving) of chocolate vegan protein powder along with 1 Tbsp of water and they turned out perfectly!
Yay!! So glad you love these brownie balls, Jill. Thanks for the review. I so appreciate it!
This looks so good! If I don’t have a food processor, would a blender or an immersion blender work? I have both but unsure if they would work here. Thanks!
Hey Amanda – Using a blender to make energy balls can be done, but it’s kind of a pain and results in a sticky mess. You might have to make these in batches and not put all the ingredients in your blender at once. Let me know if you try it!!
I made a half-batch with a blender because I don’t own a food processor. Short answer: it’s doable! Here are the tweaks I made:
-I halved every ingredient except the vanilla, to encourage the blender to blend.
-I soaked the dates, even though they weren’t really hard and dry, again to encourage blending.
-I blended the nuts and vanilla first, before adding the rest of the ingredients.
-I used short pulses and shook up the mixture in between pulses so everything would blend together.
And it tastes amazing!! It was worth the extra work, but I’ll go buy a food processor now. (;
Thanks for sharing, Joyce! And I’m glad you enjoyed these bites. Thanks for the review!
These were tasty! My 8 & 10 year old children said they tasted like Larabars, but better!
Woo! That’s awesome. So glad the kiddos liked them too! And thank you so much for coming back to leave a comment and star rating on the post. I really appreciate it!
Delicious! Will definitely be making again!
Yay!! I’m so glad you loved these energy balls. 🙂
I was making these and my kids and husband were all skeptical because of the dates. I told them they had to just try a bite. They did and then proceeded to eat the whole batch! We all loved them. I’ll be making these regularly (in a double batch!). I used pecans instead of walnuts because I prefer them and I thought they worked great. Thanks for the recipe!
Ahh yay, that makes me so happy to hear!! I’m pumped to hear these energy balls were a hit with your family. Thanks for making them and for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it. 🙂
These are really tasty. I used pecans because that’s what we keep in our pantry, and they worked really well. Even without choc chips, these definitely have a very “brownie like” flavor. Can you suggest any ways to amp up the protein factor in these without weird/high sugar protein powders? Thanks so much!
Hey Nicole – So glad you enjoyed these brownie energy balls! Thanks for making them. I tested adding protein powder to these date-based energy balls and found that you can reduce the nuts to 1/3 cup and add 2 Tablespoons (about 10 grams) of protein powder to the recipe to amp up the protein a bit! I also have these protein energy balls you could try.