Energy Bites loaded with salty-sweet flavors and textures? Pretzels? Toasted coconut? Peanut butter and oats and chia seeds? This is right where we wanna be.
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Since making these for the first time 3 weeks ago… I’ve made at least 4 batches! All I can say is Yum E! Thank you for this delicious and healthy treat.
Sara
I am a lover of two things:
- Salty Sweet
- Energy Bites (or other small dessert in round spherical form)
And the good news for those of us who love conveniences such as packing all the good snacks – health wise and taste wise – into one little treat that you can take on the go and eat in three bites is that THIS ENERGY BITES RECIPE WAS MADE FOR YOU.
HOW TO MAKE OUR ENERGY BITES:
Let me just paint the picture.
It’s a Thursday or Monday or any old night. You worked a long day. You made a nice dinner – orrr maybe picked up Thai curry for takeout / judgement free zone – and now you’re ready to settle in for the night with Netflix and a _____. But what is the ____? It’s a treat, probably, although not *too* much of a treat because it’s just a Thursday night and you don’t want to go crazywild with it since you’ll go out on Friday or Saturday, but seriously, just a few bites of a little sweet-ish snack would be the perfect thing and please actually can someone bring that almost empty ice cream container and the bag of chocolate chips in here?
And then it’s Saturday afternoon and you’d really love to make a fun snack for those hungry hours between brunch and dinner but you also have a major nap on the agenda so time is limited here, people. Your jam right now is something that comes together without any special trip to the store and without a ton of fussy prep and with zero wait-time before you can eat it. This maybe makes us sound more desperate than we really are (right…?) but this is a situation that requires immediacy. No time to wait. Hangry alarms are ringing.
You and I both.
If I haven’t made this so super clear yet, I am of the mindset that a two-bite sweet snack after a meal or between meals or, let’s be honest, BEFORE meals sometimes makes everything right in the world. No need to go full blown piece-of-pie on me. I’m not looking for a quadruple scoop ice cream cone with all the toppings. All I need is literally a few little bites of something good to just make my mouth feel happy – and if it could be something that is also nutritious and real food and energy-giving, that would be my vision of practical-meets-healthy-meets-omg-delicious food heaven.
Yoohoooooooo! over here!
We’ve cracked the code on this dilemma.
These energy bites are similar to lots of the other energy bites you’ll find on the internet, except also not. There are a few key differences.
ENERGY BITE Ingredient DETAILS:
- Shredded coconut. Unsweetened and toasted plz.
- Pretzels bc TEAM SALTY SWEET! Also because usually I have at least one random box of cereal or crackers or salty snacks like pretzels sitting around that is needing to find a home within a recipe. This is its moment to shine.
- Oats – but not just plain oats (honestly, how do people eat them raw when they’re so big and chewy? I struggle.) – we run these through the food processor first for better texture. It’s the little things.
- Ch-ch-ch-ch-chiiiia seeds. Those soft little crunchies up in there make the whole thing. Seriously.
- Peanut butter but could also be almost any other nut butter because everyone’s invited to this party! ♡
- Coconut oil – I still can’t let go of the texture of these babies.
- Agave – Wholesome!® does it right with organic, fair trade, and non-GMO agave goodness. I love honey, for sure, but agave = hello vegan energy bites! The texture incorporates easily and also the simple sweet flavor is perfection.
And just like that, we have ourselves the solution we’ve been looking for: a two-bite quick and easy energy bite snack that comes together with just about any ingredients you have on hand and keeps soft and delicious in the fridge for many weeks and packs in a little mini nutritional boost to give you energy which is why these are called ENERGY BITES.
GAHHHHH
We are just a little obsessed over here.
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Peanut Butter Pretzel Energy Bites
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 20–25 bites 1x
Description
Energy Bites! Easy no-bake recipe with real food like oats, chia seeds, peanut butter, and coconut. Stays soft and yummy for weeks in the fridge!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1 1/2 cups pretzels
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted if you wanna be fancy
- 1/4 cup chia seeds or flaxmeal (or a combo)
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
- 1/4 cup Wholesome! organic blue agave
Instructions
- Pulse the oats and pretzels through a food processor (one ingredient at a time) to get a more uniform chopped texture. I usually give each about 15 quick pulses. You want the texture to be “crushed” – somewhere between whole and completely ground.
- Mix all ingredients together until combined. Shape into balls (it helps to squeeze them to stick together) – usually I can get 20-25 with this recipe, depending on how many I eat during the shaping process. Chill in the fridge or freezer for 20-30 minutes. Done! I keep these in the freezer so they last longer and hold their shape nicely but they do well at room temperature for a day or two as well.
Notes
I used unsweetened coconut. To make them prettier, roll them in a little bit of toasted coconut or dip in chocolate.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Category: Snack
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition Facts
- Daily value: 8% Total Fat 6.5g
- Daily value: 0% Cholesterol 0mg
- Daily value: 2% Sodium 55mg
- Daily value: 7% Total Carbohydrate 19g
- Daily value: 9% Dietary Fiber 2.7g
- Sugars 2.8g
- Daily value: 7% Protein 3.7g
- Daily value: 0% Vitamin A 0.2µg
- Daily value: 1% Vitamin C 0.6mg
- Daily value: 5% Iron 0.8mg
- Daily value: 4% Potassium 166mg
- Daily value: 6% Phosphorus 73.9mg
Keywords: peanut butter pretzel energy bites, peanut butter energy bites, energy bites
Thanks to Wholesome!® – makers of this Organic Blue Agave – for partnering with us for this post! And for being a great brand all-around.
These were good! I also had trouble with them not sticking together. I added 11/2 cups pretzels after they were crushed. Should the pretzels have been measured prior to being crushed?
Glad you enjoyed them! The pretzels should be measured prior to being crushed!
I use gluten free pretzels and honey to make these delicious energy bites. My 2 teens say they taste like the butterfinger candy bars! Thank you for this yummy & easy recipe!
These are AMAZING! My siblings loved it!
Thank You for sharing:)
What can you replace the Agave with?
You could try maple syrup instead. 🙂
how do you get the chocolate around it though ? like in the picture . looks great , I wonder if you can add any egg whites or something else just to add a bit more protein per serving. thanks so much. cheers. Ed
Hi Ed! We just let them freeze a bit and then dipped them in chocolate. We wouldn’t recommend using egg whites as these bites aren’t baked!
Since making these for the first time 3 weeks ago… I’ve made at least 4 batches! All I can say is Yum E! Thank you for this delicious and healthy treat.
batter tasted delicious… however… it didn’t form balls for me. SUPER MESSY and just crumbled… they didn’t ‘roll’ and squeezing made it worse… I ended up putting it in a pan and freezing as bars… haven’t taken them out to try yet as i got distracted by the peanut butter oatmeal choc chip cookies and can’t stop eating those… any tips to get the balls to be balls??? was my ratio of texture not quite right? I think i got the oats ok. but the pretzels didn’t really pulsse well for some reason.
Hi Sara! When this has happened to me, I usually just add a little more peanut butter until they stick together. 🙂
Making these Sunday!! Been on Keto for some time now:) Needing something and I think this is my cheat!!!
These are so good, they are absolutely addictive!! Can you tell me how you made yours so round? Mine where a bit “mushier” and didn’t want to stick together as much
insightful article
I’d like to try these but I was just wondering, do the pretzels end up soggy once they have been mixed with the other ingredients? Or stay crunchy? Thanks!
They actually stay crunchy!
can I substitute the agave with maple syrup or honey?
Have you tried adding egg white powder or dried peanut butter to up the protein content?
We haven’t! Our only concern with the PB is that it’s really what holds the bites together. Would love to hear how it goes if you give it a try!
Is there a solid resolution to rolling these?
I have tried freezing them for 10 min which helps but it’s rather frustrating when they don’t stick!!!
Hi Maria! It usually does the trick if we add a little more peanut butter to really make them stick. 🙂 We’re also recommend squeezing the ball to stick it together before rolling into shape.
Can you substitute honey for the agave?
Yep, definitely!
LOVED THESE!!!! I ran into the same problem with forming into balls. I ended up using mini muffin wrappers in mini muffin tin. It is almost a perfect tablespoon measurement. Now they are perfect for on the go 🙂
Hi! These look delicious and I can’t wait to try them. I’m always a fan of pretzels and chocolate:) But Do you think they would hold up as bars if I pressed them into a pan?
I know another reader tried it out that way and it worked! Hope you enjoy them. 🙂
So much yum! My sister and I made these yesterday, and our husbands have already eaten half. Safe to say, all parties approve. The addition of chocolate is a must if you ask me.
We had a bit of trouble getting the mixture to stick well enough to form balls (it was possible, just tedious) and found it helpful to instead press the mixture into a tablespoon, the resulting shape being more of a half circle than a ball but still the perfect size!
Great idea, Monica! Glad you enjoyed them!
I made these last week, and I agree with the other commenters that the dough is very sticky. I found that putting it in the refrigerator for an hour really helped when it came to rolling these. Other than that though, these were really good!
Glad to hear it, Emily!
Oh.My.God. I want.
This recipe was AMAZING! I just wish that one serving wasn’t one bite… Dangerously good.
Right!? Glad you enjoyed them!
I would love to try These! But is it possible to substitute the coconut oil as well as the roasted coconut I’m not a big fan of the flavor. But would love the prezel peanut combo!
I’d just replace the coconut oil with a wet ingredient (agave, honey, or peanut butter) and the roasted coconut with a dry (oats or pretzels). Hope you enjoy!
Hi,
So I took the advice from the other comments and I was very generous with my peanut butter and honey (I also melted slightly). I also lathered my hands up with coconut oil prior to rolling and I had great success. Another Clarification that might help some others out… is it 1.5 cups each pretzels and oats prior to pulsing or after pulsing? Also wondering if you used natural peanut butter or Kraft, and minute oats versus steel cut. Small variables that could account for the varying success with the rolling into balls
Hi Crystal! The measurements for the oats and pretzels are prior to pulsing in the food processor. We typically use natural peanut butter, and the oats are old-fashioned/rolled oats. Hope that helps!
Made this over the weekend and my husband and I love them! They were more like clumps than balls for me- is agave stickier than honey? (I used honey.)
Will definitely be keeping these in the freezer all summer. Perfect sweet, but not too sweet, snack.
Glad you enjoyed them!
I was so excited to make these – as I am an avid follower of your recipes! (All which turn out delicious…) But I had an epic FAIL with these…and could not get them to stick together even with a bit of extra coconut oil and pre-chill in the fridge What is the trick?!
Sorry to hear that! I’d recommend adding more peanut butter – that should help it to all stick together!
I couldn’t get them to stick either. Tried all suggestions wetting of hands, addding more pb, cookie scooper and also putting them in the fridge for 30 mins. Nothing worked so we just used as granola. Taste wonderful!!!
Sorry to hear that, Rosalba! Glad it still worked out. 🙂