These easy-to-make no bake energy bars have an oatmeal peanut butter base, with a mix of honey and coconut. They are sweetened naturally using dates. The recipe is gluten free and vegan!
These 3 ingredient peanut butter oatmeal balls are a healthy and easy snack to make. They’re also gluten-free, vegan, and no-bake!
Samantha Skaggs published this on March 20, 2021 and modified it on March 20, 2021. There may be affiliate links in this post.
With healthful ingredients like oats, almonds, chia seeds, dried fruit, peanut butter, and honey, No-Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Bars come together fast and simply in the food processor!
Energy Bars came from a faster method to produce one of our family’s favorite no-bake recipes. Because Oatmeal Cookie Energy Bites are one of my daughter’s favorite things to eat for breakfast or as a snack, she constantly asks if we can make a batch. My kiddos like these, as does my husband…and I enjoy them as well…so we make them often!
However, after producing them roughly eleventy billion times, I must confess that the rolling procedure became a little tedious — ha. So one day it dawned to me that instead of forming the ingredients into little balls, I might rapidly press the mixture onto a baking dish. Thus, Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Bars were born!
Reasons to Admire Them
What makes this mix of ingredients so delicious, whether pressed into Energy Bars or rolled into balls, is the combination of components.
My kids like these bars because they are delicious and they enjoy helping me prepare them.
I like them because they’re healthy, filling, and customizable to whatever ingredients I have on hand, which means I can change up the nuts, nut butters, and dried fruit I use.
Even better, they’re very simple to create using only a food processor. This Energy Bar recipe, unlike my Copycat KIND Bars, does not need baking!
Ingredients in Energy Bars
Let’s have a look at it more closely, shall we?
- Nuts. Use your favorite or whatever nuts you have on hand…pecans, walnuts, cashews, and almonds are all delicious.
- Oats. Old-fashioned rolled oats are used in this dish. If you use fast oats instead of regular oats, you may need to use a little less since they’re packed more thickly. For gluten-free Energy Bars, be sure you use gluten-free oats.
- Raisins. Dried cranberries or even dried cherries may be used instead. Alternatively, I occasionally omit the dried fruit and replace it with micro chocolate chips.
- Chia seeds are a kind of chia seed. You may leave these out if you want, but I try to sneak in some extra excellent things whenever I can. You may even add additional sorts of seeds if you like.
- Vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. To get that delicious oatmeal cookie taste.
- Peanut butter is a delicious spread. Peanut butter of any kind should suffice. I’ve produced these Energy Bars with a variety of ingredients: creamy or crunchy, normal or natural, no-stir or separated (just stir it before!). Alternative nut butters or non-nut butters, such as almond butter or sunflower seed butter, are even better.
- Honey. For the sake of natural sweetness. But I’ve also used maple syrup in this recipe.
That’s all there is to it!
Energy Bars: How to Make Them
I wasn’t sure whether this recipe would work as a bar the first time I tried it. But it did, in fact, happen!
- In a food processor, pulse the nuts until they are finely chopped.
- Pulse in the oats, raisins, and spices until well incorporated.
- Pulse in the peanut butter, honey, and vanilla until well combined, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Fill an 8-by-8-inch baking dish halfway with the ingredients and press firmly into an equal layer.
- Chill until hard before cutting into bars.
The crucial thing to remember is that these Energy Bars should be kept in the refrigerator since the no-bake dough has to be refrigerated to keep its shape.
While they’re not perfect for tossing in a purse or backpack, they can easily be thrown in a lunchbox with an ice pack and eaten directly from the fridge for breakfast or as an after-school snack. My spouse even sneaks them in as a dessert…shhhh!
So here’s to Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Bars: three cheers! Who wouldn’t want a meal that has the same enticing taste and nutrients as Energy Bites…but without the work?
More Nutritious Bar Recipes
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Bars
No-Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Bars quickly come together with wholesome ingredients like oats, nuts, chia seeds, dried fruit, peanut butter, and honey!
Pin Rate for Printing
Snack is the course.
American cuisine
Gluten-free diet
15-minute prep time
Time to chill: 2 hours
2 hours and 15 minutes total
12 bars per serving
210 kilocalories
Mode of Preparation Stop your screen from turning black.
Instructions
-
Pulse the nuts until finely crushed in the bowl of a big food processor (but stop before they turn to nut butter!). Pulse five (1-second) pulses to incorporate the oats, raisins, chia seeds, cinnamon, and nutmeg with the nuts. Pulse the mixture with the peanut butter, honey, and vanilla until all of the ingredients are fully combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
-
Scrape the mixture into an 8-by-8-inch baking dish and push it down firmly to form an equal layer. Refrigerate for two hours or until hard. Cut into bars using a knife. Keep leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container.
Notes
- These Energy Bars don’t need baking and don’t harden. They will harden up if kept refrigerated, but they must be stored and served from the fridge. They aren’t meant to be carried about.
- Double the recipe and press into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
210 kilocalories | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 53mg | Potassium: 227mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1.3mg
The original version of this post was published on August 24, 2017, and it was revised on March 20, 2021.
Save
Save
These no-bake oatmeal energy balls are the perfect healthy snack to have on hand. They’re made with oats, peanut butter, and honey for a delicious taste that will satisfy your sweet tooth.
Related Tags
- oatmeal peanut butter energy bars recipe
- healthy peanut butter energy bars recipe
- oatmeal balls without peanut butter
- peanut butter energy balls
- homemade energy bars no-bake