Cookie Dough Protein Balls
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Published Apr 15, 2015, Updated Oct 02, 2023
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These no bake chocolate chip peanut butter cookie dough protein balls are tasty, portable and packed with wholesome ingredients – great for snacking!
I know what you’re thinking. Brittany, why the heck are you posting another protein ball recipe?!? That’s the last thing the internet needs right now. But you know what? They’re incredibly tasty because they feature the ultimate culinary duo: peanut butter and chocolate. AND they taste like cookie dough… what could be better?
If my flavor introduction is not enough to tempt you, there’s more – these protein balls have only six ingredients and take about 10 minutes to whip up!
Only 6 Ingredients!
- rolled oats
- Medjool dates
- vanilla protein powder
- natural peanut butter – look for peanut butter where the only ingredients are peanut butter and salt.
- unsweetened almond milk
- dark chocolate chips – Enjoy Life chocolate chips are great if you’re dairy free. I also like Lily’s chocolate chips, which are lower in sugar.
Why Are These Protein Balls so Healthy?
On the nutrition front, they’re vegan and gluten free with a great balance of protein, healthy fats and smart carbs – perfect for before or after your workout, as a mid-afternoon pick me up or a late-night snack. Heck, I’d even eat them for breakfast. I mean, they DO have oatmeal.
Peanut butter has a good amount of protein, but I decided to add a bit more by including a little protein powder. This snack (or breakfast) will actually keep you satisfied.
More Cookie Dough Recipes You’ll Love
- Protein Cookie Dough
- Healthy Cookie Dough Bars (Low Sugar)
- Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Ice Cream
- Healthy Cookie Dough Bites
More Protein Ball Recipes to Try
- Thin Mint Protein Balls
- Coconut Protein Balls
- Vegan Protein Balls
- Cinnamon Raisin Cookie Protein Balls
- Almond Joy Protein Balls
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Balls
- Pumpkin Protein Balls
Cookie Dough Protein Balls
Ingredients
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 8 pitted Medjool dates
- 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 Tablespoons dark chocolate chips, I like to use Lily's
Instructions
- Add dates to a food processor and pulse until they form a thick paste. Add in rolled oats and pulse a few more times until just combined.
- Place date and oat mixture into a bowl. Stir in protein powder and peanut butter. Then add almond milk and stir well to combine. If the mixture seems dry, add an extra splash of almond milk. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Scoop dough from the bowl using a small/medium cookie scoop and form into balls using your hands. You should get about 24 balls.
- Place balls into a sealed storage container and store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks or the freezer for 1-2 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Holy crap these are ridiculously good. Before I even started rolling them I was scooping it with a spoon into my mouth! It’s like eating cookie dough without the guilt!
Best find EVER…thank you!!
I’m so glad that you like them, Brianna. Enjoy!
Looks delicious! Any substitution for the protein powder though?
I haven’t tried the recipe without protein powder, but I bet you could use flour — maybe oat flour, coconut flour or almond flour. Ground flax seed, hemp seeds or chia might work too. Let me know if you decide to experiment.
Just made them with oat flour instead of protein powder as you suggested, and they are delicious! I will be sure to keep them in the fridge all week for my workouts. Thanks for the recipe and tip!
Yay! So glad they turned out with the oat flour. Enjoy!
Brittany – these are DELICIOUS!!! Thanks so much for posting! Just a quick question: I’m not much of a cook, but I “try” to cook and bake from time to time. I had to use a blender to cut up the dates, but as you can imagine, it is not very efficient and I ended up putting in the almond milk with the dates, so they would actually blend. Any suggestions for a good food processor that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg? Or if it really does make a difference to spend a few extra bucks to get a food processor that WORKS, I’d consider it. Thanks for your advice! Heather
Thank you Heather! I’m glad you like the protein balls.
I’m sorry your blender isn’t cutting it (pun intended). I’ll admit that I was hesitant to buy a food processor and used a hand-me-down and a Ninja chopper a long time. We received a 9-cup Cuisinart Food Processor as a wedding gift and it’s amazing. I use it way more than I thought I would! I love it for chopping large batches of veggies, making homemade nut butters and making recipes like this one. Here’s the one I have. It’s a little over a $100 on Amazon. http://amzn.to/1F1rpcV
Thanks so much, Brittany. $100 is definitely feasible. I appreciate your suggestion!
I like the use of dates for texture and sweetness. However at 3g per serving I hardly consider this a ‘protein’ ball. I’d suggest backing off the oats by at least half and substituting a seed mixture with much more nutritional value. I used a mixture of pumpkin, chia, flax, hemp seed along with some goji and coconut. Not only does this add much more protein and omegas but also resuces the carbs a bit. Also try finding a good protein powder with much more protein per serving. I used Optimum Nutrition chocolate protein powder and upped it about 3/4c with added almond milk to compensate. I managed to get 11 balls out of this recipe with my changes and have a protein per serving around 14g and carbs still at 12g. They taste great and the dates really make them stand out from most recipes. I definitely recommend experimenting with the protein and oats however.
Great points, Gino. I’ll have to try them with more protein powder and less oats.
Thank you for adding nutritional stats!!! 🙂
I only had chocolate protein powder but they are very yummy! Can’t wait for my hubby to try them. Especially since I used his homemade pb in it.
Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
This look and sound AMAZING!!! I am new to the healthy eating/lifestyle and have been looking for a good all around snack for mid morning/afternoon, and/or press/post workout. Kinda getting sick of the Greek yogurt and fresh fruit with low fat granola, and I am going to make these tomorrow morning! I will totally let you know how they come out! Thanks for all the super recipes!!!
Yay! Definitely let me know! 🙂
I made these with hemp protein powder and cacao powder (vs chips) and they turned out great!
Hooray. So glad you liked them, Amanda. The modifications you tried sound great!
I just made these but without the choc chips (as I didn’t have any) Mine ended up a little too wet (as the phone rang as I added the milk!) so after making the balls I rolled them in cocoa powder, The whole family love them!
What about if i used steel cut oats?
I don’t think steel cut oats will work for this recipe because they’re too tough to eat raw.