Date & Peanut Energy Balls

Name: Date & Peanut Energy Balls
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 200 g soft Medjool dates, pitted; 100 g peanut butter; 80 g rolled oats; 20 g cocoa powder; 30 g desiccated coconut

Soft dates blitzed with peanut butter, oats and cocoa into a dough you roll in your hands. Twelve balls, no oven, and they freeze for three months.

VeganNo-bakeFreezer friendly

Twelve dark cocoa-coloured balls rolled in desiccated coconut on a sheet of baking parchment, one broken open to show the dense, sticky date and peanut inside.

Servings: 12
Total time: 45 min
Hands-on: 15 min

What you need

Food processor
Baking parchment
Airtight box

Ingredients

200 gsoft Medjool dates, pitted— about 10 dates
100 gpeanut butter— 100% peanuts, no added sugar
80 grolled oats
20 gcocoa powder
30 gdesiccated coconut— for rolling

How to make it

If your dates are dry rather than soft, soak them in hot water for 10 minutes and drain them well. Dry dates will not bind, and the mixture crumbles however long you process it.
Blitz the dates on their own first until they form a sticky ball around the blade. Doing this before the other ingredients go in is what gives you a smooth paste rather than visible chunks of date.
Add the peanut butter, oats, cocoa and a good pinch of salt, and process until it comes together into a dough that holds when squeezed in your fist.
Roll into 12 balls, pressing each one firmly — a loosely rolled ball falls apart in a bag. Roll each in the desiccated coconut.
Chill for 30 minutes to firm up. They keep two weeks in the fridge and three months in the freezer; eat them straight from frozen, they are good like that.

Per serving, roughly

Energy: ~145 kcal
Protein: ~4 g
Carbs: ~15 g
Fat: ~7 g

These are estimates calculated from standard ingredient values. Your numbers will shift with the exact products you buy and with how generously you fill the plate — oil, sauces and cheese move them the most.

Variations

Higher protein

Replace 30 g of the oats with 30 g of vanilla protein powder and add a tablespoon of water. About the same calories, and protein goes from 4 g to roughly 7 g per ball.

Nut-free

Use sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter. Same figures, and the balls come out a shade greener — that is a normal reaction with the cocoa, not a problem.

Coach's tip

Fast carbohydrate in a form that travels: two balls 45 minutes before a session is about 30 g of easy carbs with no bulk. They are not a protein snack — at 4 g each, that is not what they are for.

More recipes

Other recipes worth a place in your week.

SnacksSmoky Roasted ChickpeasChickpeas dried hard, roasted until they rattle in the tin and tossed in smoked paprika and cumin only after they come out. A savoury snack, not crisps.DessertsChia, Coconut & Berry PuddingChia seeds set overnight in coconut, layered with berries crushed with lime into a quick raw compote. Four glasses, ten minutes of work, plant-based.BakingOat & Banana MuffinsThree very ripe bananas, oats blitzed into flour and no eggs at all: muffins that stay moist for days and freeze well. Fifteen minutes of mixing.

General information only, not medical or nutritional advice. If you have a health condition, an allergy, or specific dietary needs, talk to a qualified professional.

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