No Bake Chocolate Chip Energy Bites are a fun and easy allergy friendly snack for school or travel. These dairy free and peanut free energy bites are just like little cookie bites and are kid friendly and school safe. Make a batch of gluten free snack bites on the weekend for quick treats whenever you need them!
We love creating both seasonal recipes and evergreen classics for our readers that are perfect for any time of year, and some of our year-round favorites are energy bites!
Back when our blog was much younger, we used to create a lot more energy ball and protein ball recipes (back when I could actually have protein powders…). I decided to revisit this older recipe from 2015 to make it even better and easier to make.
I picked this recipe for a no-cook cooking class I’m doing with our local Girl Scout troop this week, and since the older version of this recipe called for dates and a food processor, I re-made it to be super easy (and fun!) for children to make in a library meeting room without a kitchen.
If you’re wanting a vegan energy bite recipe made with dates and you don’t mind using a food processor, check out our other recipe for Salted Caramel Chia Energy Bites, you’ll love them!
Our energy bites are:
- Dairy free
- Tree nut and peanut free
- School safe
Tips for making our chocolate chip energy bites
Since this recipe gets really thick and hard to stir with a spoon, I find it’s way easier to mix these by hand. Since I don’t like getting food stuck under my fingernails while I’m mixing things by hand (cringe), I usually use gloves for mixing energy bites, as well things like meatballs.
Obviously this isn’t a concern for some people, mix them up however you like! But if you don’t like taking the time to scrub your nails after mixing thick and sticky foods by hand, definitely try out some disposable gloves, they’re awesome.
We used the Enjoy Life allergy friendly mini chocolate chips for this recipe, but if you can’t get that brand, you can use full sized chips from other brands like the Nestle Simply Delicious line or the Great Value free from chocolate chips.
Our guide to dairy free cooking has a list of dairy free chocolate chip brands that you can use (there are even some sugar free options, too!).
If you’re packing these as a snack for someplace warm, like a summer hike or a trip to the beach, skip the chocolate chips altogether so you don’t have to worry about them melting. You can replace the chocolate chips with chocolate sprinkles if you want, or some dried fruit, or nothing at all. They are great either way!
Flavor variations for our peanut free snack bites
If you want to have some fun with our energy balls, customize them! Here are some fun variations:
- Swap some of the oats for coconut flakes
- Mix in some chocolate or rainbow sprinkles
- Swap the chocolate chips for chopped dried fruit, like dried cherries or dried blueberries
- If you can have nuts, use cashew butter or almond butter in place of SunButter
- Add seeds (like sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds) to these energy bites, or add chopped nut if you can have them
- For lower sugar snack bites, swap some of the honey for allulose syrup (you may need to adjust the amount of syrup or oat flour in the recipe)
Check out our other energy and protein bite recipes:
- German Chocolate Energy Bites
- Salted Caramel Chia Energy Bites
- Paleo Almond Coconut Bites
- Coffee Chocolate Chip Protein Bites
No Bake Chocolate Chip Energy Bites (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup gluten free quick oats (or regular quick oats if you don't need gluten free)
- 1 Tablespoon gluten free oat flour (you can also try using protein powder here)
- 2 Tablespoons allergy friendly mini chocolate chips
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup SunButter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together the quick oats, the oat flour, and the mini chocolate chips.
- In a separate small bowl, stir together the honey, SunButter, and vanilla until mixed well.
- Add the honey mixture to the oat mixture and mix until well combined. This gets thick and difficult to stir, so I use my hands to mix this together.
- Roll the mixture into about 10 1-inch bites and chill.
- Store these in an airtight container or bag in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you store these at room temperature, they should last 2-3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and healthy living blogger based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist
Can you use anything besides oats?
Hi Brandie! You could try using coconut flakes/shreds instead of oats or rolled quinoa (not sure how that would taste in this recipe though).