How To Make Date Energy Balls (A Step By Step Guide)

Learn how to make date energy balls in just five steps! Healthy energy balls are a healthy snack staple for busy moms. Thus, learning the easiest way to make them is a game-changer. Soft, chewy, and allergy-friendly, homemade energy bbites can be made with minimal processed sugars and in just about every flavor! 

Date energy balls are one of the top healthy toddler snacks I truly believe in as a Certified Nutrition Coach. We always have some on hand because they make busy days a little bit easier. We love them because:

• they're nutrient-dense
• they can be made in a variety of flavors
• no baking required!
• you can get the kids in the kitchen to help

And while following a recipe can always be done, in my experience it's nice to know how to make date energy balls using only what you have on hand.

What Are Date Energy Balls?

Energy balls (also known as bliss balls, or date balls) are a combination of nuts (and nut butters like almond butter or cashew butter), seeds, and "extras (shredded coconut, mini chocolate chips, cocoa powder), and dried fruit all combined in a food processor and rolled into ball form.

They're normally a blend of fats and plant-based protein (though some extra proteins can be added, see below) to keep you energized until your next meal!

What Makes An Energy Ball Healthy?

For me, the purpose of date energy balls is to have a healthy, simple snack on hand. Though most energy balls are date-based (a natural sugar), what I strive for is:

• lots of healthy fats to boost brain development 
• some sort of protein to keep kids full
• allergy-friendly (no dairy, no gluten, no soy)

Remember, date energy balls naturally contain sugar as their base is normally dried fruit. This isn't the end of the world so long as it's balanced out with fats and proteins to slow any sort of sugar spike.

The reason I prefer to use natural sugars in place of processed ones is that at least there will be other benefits to consuming them.

Dates, for instance, are also a great source of fiber and help keep kids (and adults!) "regular". For tips and tricks on helping kids poop, you can check out this blog post.

How To Make Homemade Energy Bites Step One: Choosing A Base

The base of your date energy balls recipe is going to be the bulk of it. In fact, typically there are two main bases used when making this healthy snack:

• dates
• dried figs

Both dates and figs will help bind the energy bites together as well as keep the balls sweet in flavor.

Oats can be used as a base to some extent as well. However, if you're going that route you need to use something to hold the date balls together (honey, syrup etc). Thus, for the sake of this five-step guide, we're going to focus on figs or dates.

Along with choosing which dried fruit you wish to use, you'll also want to soak the fruits for 20 minutes before blending. This softens the dried fruit and makes it easier to work with.

Once soaked, use a food processor to blend the base into a paste. If the date balls are for very young kids, make sure the paste is super smooth. For older kids, some texture is fine.

Step Two: Healthy Fats

The next step is ensuring you have some fats in your mix! We opt to use:

• almond flour
• any and all nuts
• nut butter (cashew butter, almond butter, etc)
• seeds (pumpkin, sunflower seeds, chia, flax)
• shredded coconut

If using nuts or larger seeds, grind them into a flour (or textured chunks) before mixing them in with the date paste.

Step Three: Add Some Bulk

If you've mixed the first two ingredients, you'll have something very tasty but also a big bow of sticky 😉

The next step to stretch the energy balls recipe further is to add some filler. Oats (gluten-free if needed), puffed rice, and puffed quinoa are our favorite options.

You can grind the oats if you need to but we typically leave them as is.

Step Four: Nut Butters & Sticky Stuff

Adding in a bit more sticky stuff will help the texture once you chose your "add-ins". You can read more below about finding a balance to support texture.

Any and all nut butter will add an extra bit of healthy fats (though almond butter is the most commonly used).

If you need a nut-free option, using Sun Butter in place of almond butter is a great choice. However, if you don't want to add in nut butter (or don't have any) you can use an additional sweetener.

I personally don't go this route often as between the base and the add-ins there's lots of sugar.

The exception to this (for myself personally) is raw honey. I make ours with raw honey every so often as honey is an amazing way to boost the immune system and help with seasonal allergies. Every so often I'll use blackstrap molasses as it's high in iron.

Step Five: Add-Ins

This is where the fun begins! Add-ins are what allow you to customize the flavor of the energy balls recipe or to boost their nutrition. My favorite add-in and the one I use most frequently is collagen powder.

While collagen powder will not alter the taste of the homemade energy balls, it does give it a protein hit! Plant-based protein is amazing (and you'll get lots from the nuts and seeds) but sometimes I do like having more. 

Collagen is a beneficial part of bone broth and wonderful for your hair, skin, and nails. Learn more about collagen and why you may want to boost your intake. However, unlike bone broth, it doesn’t taste like well, bone broth.

Similarly, collagen powder is odorless and flavorless. Plus, if ethically sourced one of the purest forms of protein you can give to your kids! I grab my collagen from Perfect Supplements and while I love their big tub of powder, I love the individual packets even more!

I find collagen the easiest way to boost protein in smoothies, vegan yogurts, oatmeal, or any other dish. It blends and mixes well and there are zero flavors to it. Plus, Perfect Supplements sources their collagen from pasture-raised (grass-fed) cows. So, I trust it.

Grab some collagen powder and use code mamabear10 to save some money.

Use The Following Add-s To Switch Up Flavor & Texture

• cacao or cocoa powder (makes the energy bites chocolate and gives a lot of calcium!)
• enjoy life mini chocolate chips
• dried fruit if you find it necessary
• more nuts (chopped) to give the balls texture)
• magnesium powder (I grab mine from Perfect Supplements. Learn more about its benefits)

You can really add in anything you haven't added it already.

If you want to keep the texture of the energy balls very smooth, you'll want to grind everything you add-in in a food processor.

Personally, we like our energy balls with some crunch (and I'm lazy) so we just throw everything in a bowl and call it a day.

Learn more about the benefits of a high protein diet.

How To Make Date Energy Balls: Ratios & Tips

Once you choose your ingredients, there's a bit of a trial and error period on finding the right texture.

Sometimes it's easier to only use the food processor for the dates and mix everything by hand. Adding everything into the food processor can be a challenge if it's too sticky.

My girls don't ever care if the energy balls are a bit sticky. However, if you're giving them to your kids in the car, you will.

A good starting ratio for homemade energy balls is:

• 1.5 cup of dates or figs
• ⅔ cups nuts/oats/seeds
• ½ bulk
• ½ cup add ins

Soak the dates or figs in warm water for twenty minutes. While that's happening, grind the healthy fats and bulk into flour.

Make the date paste (by processing them in a food processor, you may have to scrape the sides) and combine with the fats. Stir in any nut butter you wish to use and add in anything you want for texture.

Depending on your add-ins, you need to tweak the texture of the balls. Meaning, if you use collagen and cacao powder your energy balls will be slightly too dry. If you opt for lots of nut butter, the energy balls will be sticky and not hold together.

Step By Step Instructions

• Soak the dates or figs.
• In a food processor, process into a paste.
• Scrape the dates into a bowl and add in all other ingredients (you can do this in the food processor too but getting it out is hard!).
• Mix well.
• Use a trigger ice cream scoop or grease your hands to portion out the date energy bites.
• Place on a parchment-lined cutting board and pop into the freezer to set for 60 minutes.
• Store energy balls in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

How To Tweak & Troubleshoot:

If the energy bites mixture seems to sticky (you can't even begin to portion it off), add in more flour-based options (ground nuts, shredded coconut, bulk). Keep adding until the stickiness improves.

If the date energy balls are too wet and sticky, use a bit of coconut flour (1-2 tablespoons). Mix it in and let them sit for 3-5 minutes. Coconut flour absorbs liquid.

For energy balls that seem too dry (this is rarer) use a bit more cashew butter, honey, or in rare cases almond milk to ensure you can mix everything together.

You want the mixture to be slightly tacky (in the sense that it holds together) but not wet sticky.

When rolling the balls out, make sure to either grease or wet your hands ahead of time so that the mixture doesn't stick to you your hands too badly. On the other hand, you can also use a trigger ice cream scoop!

Lastly, if you roll the energy bites but still find them sticky, don't worry! Just portion out some chopped nuts, almond flour or shredded coconut and roll the balls into it. This "coats" the balls and makes them look super fancy while at the same time solving your problem 😉

Frequently Asked Questions About Energy Bites

Our Favorite Date Energy Ball Recipes

Truth be told, I rarely follow a recipe when I make healthy energy balls anymore! But we do have a few staples:

• chocolate coconut energy balls
• raw superfood energy balls (these I find are more for myself though my kiddos do like them!)
• cherry vanilla energy balls

Other Healthy Snacks You'll Love

• No bake chocolate balls
• Vanilla protein bars
• Chocolate peanut butter protein balls
• Peanut butter and jam protein balls
• Homemade protein bars with chocolate
• Chocolate fudge protein balls
• Savory blueberry protein oatmeal
• Chocolate peanut butter bomb shake
• Chocolate protein fluff
• Coconut protein balls
• High protein cookies
• High protein pancakes
• Yogurt protein pancakes
• Energizing protein bar
• Easy, no-bake vanilla protein bar
• High protein snack recipes

Making your own date energy balls is easy and delicious. Balls are a quick no-bake recipe you can whip up and store in the freezer for when you need a healthy, pre-made fuel boosting snack.

Customize your energy balls to your favorite flavors and reap the health benefits!