5-Ingredient Energy Balls Recipe

There are only a handful of snack recipes I make over and over for my family: stovetop popcorn, snack mix, and these energy bites. Beyond being so easy to throw together and adaptable to just about any ingredients I have in the pantry, these energy balls are a little sweet, a little chewy, and so good that I find myself eating them as much as my kids do.

Making these energy balls takes just one bowl and about 10 minutes—and if you opt to weigh your ingredients, you don’t even need measuring cups. I love OXO Good Grips 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop for making these, but you can use a spoon to eyeball ping pong ball-sized portions and then roll them into balls. They take about an hour to firm up in the fridge.

These energy bites last about 2 weeks in the fridge (if they don’t get eaten up first!), but they can also be frozen for up to 2 months, so you can make them in bulk.

They’re filling enough for that weird mealtime between school pick-up and soccer practice. I make a batch almost every week, riffing on the ingredients and flavors to keep things interesting.

Ingredient Swaps for 5-Ingredient Energy Balls 

The base formula for these energy balls is just oats, peanut butter, almond flour, and maple syrup for sweetening. Here’s how you can play with the basic ingredients to customize them to your preference or still make them with what you have on hand:

• Oats: I typically make these energy balls with classic rolled oats, but you can use quick-cooking oats. 
• Nut butter: While peanut butter is my go-to for making these regularly, almost any nut butter can be used. Almond butter makes a base that tastes like cake and is perfect for adding sprinkles. Chunky or natural peanut butter will give you a rougher, nuttier ball texture but will work. 
• Binding ingredient: While the nut butter and a sweetener make these balls sticky, you need another ingredient that holds things together! Almond flour is my ingredient of choice, but ground flax seed (in equal measure) works really well, too. You can also use a vanilla protein powder in similar volume.
• Sweetener: These energy bites don’t require a ton of sweetener. If you decide to use a sweetened protein powder or nut butter, reduce the maple syrup or honey by half. 
• Fun flavor enhancers: Mini chocolate chips are the standard in our house—the small size is the perfect texture for these bite-sized balls—but you can really add anything here. Try mini chocolate-coated candies or sprinkles for some fun color, or go more classic with dried fruit or coconut. Dried cherry and candied ginger is one of my favorite combinations.

How To Make My 5-Ingredient Energy Balls

For 12 balls, you’ll need:

• 1 cup (4 ounces) rolled oats 
• 3/4 cup (7 ounces) creamy peanut or almond butter 
• 1/2 cup (2.4 ounces) almond flour or ground flax seed
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) maple syrup or honey
• 1/2 cup small mix-ins like mini chocolate chips, dried fruit, or sprinkles 
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 

In a medium bowl, combine the oats, nut butter, almond flour or flax, maple syrup or honey, your mix-ins of choice, and salt. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to combine well. You can switch to clean hands and knead the mixture together if it gets too hard to mix.

Use a spoon or cookie scoop to portion the dough into 12 balls about the size of a ping ping ball. Roll to form a solid ball. You can portion these directly into a flat storage container with a lid or onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Chill for 1 hour to firm and then move to an airtight container for longer-term storage. These energy balls can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. For longer storage, freeze solid on a baking sheet and then move to a zip-top bag for up to 2 months. Serve frozen or thaw in the fridge first.

Flavor Ideas

Playing with the ingredients in the energy balls means that you really can make these energy balls every week and never make the same flavor twice. Here are a few ideas to try:

• Almond butter + sprinkles = cake batter bites 
• Add cocoa powder and dark chocolate for brownie-flavored balls
• Add coconut and dried cherries for a punch of fruit flavor
• Use almond butter, coconut, and chocolate for an Almond Joy energy bite
• Swap the peanut butter for cashew butter and add candied ginger and cinnamon for a gingerbread-flavored energy ball