PB&J No-Bake Energy Bites

easy energy bites on a blue towel and small brown bowl

5 from 8 votes

You just need 5 ingredients and 10 minutes to make these easy energy bites that really taste like PB&J. Plus they're naturally vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, Paleo and can easily be made nut-free!

Prep Time10

Cook Time0

Total Time10

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: balls

Calories: 107kcal

Author: Don Baiocchi

Ingredients

½ cup (3 oz.) pitted dates, tightly packed
⅓ cup (2.2 oz) dried cherries (preferably fruit-sweetened)
¼ cup (2.5 oz) nut butter (peanut butter, almond butter, sunbutter, etc.)
¼ cup (1.25 oz) roasted sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

Add the dates, dried cherries and nut butter to a food processor or powerful blender. Blend until they form a paste and begin to clump up into a ball (stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary).
Add the sunflower seeds and pulse a few more times until they're broken down to your preferred size, about 5-15 pulses.
Add the coconut to a small bowl or plate. Scoop one tightly packed tablespoon of the mixture, roll into a ball between your palms and then roll it in the coconut until it's evenly coated.

Notes

Storage

You can refrigerate them or leave them at room temperature for up to 5 days.

You can also freeze them: place them on a small, parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze for at least one hour. Place in a freezer safe baggie or container. Thaw in the fridge overnight.

If you'd like to take these on a walk or hike, freeze them and then stick them in your pack straight from the freezer. They'll be thawed (but not too soft) by the time you're ready for a snack!

Substitutes, variations and add-ins

Instead of dried cherries, you can use dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots.
You can use any kind of nut butter you like: peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, etc. If you want to make them nut-free, use sunbutter (sunflower seed butter).
Instead of sunflower seeds you can try pumpkin seeds. Or you can use a nut that matches your choice of nut butter (peanuts with peanut butter, etc.).
You can skip the coconut; due to the natural oils in the nut butters the bites will feel a little oily without the coconut coating.
Add any spices you like for more flavor! Try cinnamon, turmeric, ginger or a combination of all 3.

Nutrition