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Date Energy Balls are a healthy snack that you can whip up in minutes, and they taste like cookie dough! All you need is 5 simple ingredients to get started.
Why You’ll Love Them
They’re quick to make. Just add the ingredients to a food processor, and process until the dough sticks together when pressed between your fingers. The whole process takes about 10 minutes!
They taste amazing. The combination of sweet dates, crunchy nuts, and a touch of salt makes these energy bites irresistible. They develop a chewy texture you’ll love!
They are easy to customize. If you don’t have walnuts on hand, you can use almonds, pecans, or you can even make them nut-free by using sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. If you’re not a fan of shredded coconut, you can replace it with extra nuts, or try adding in a little ground flax seeds for extra fiber.
They’re a nourishing snack. These bite-sized balls are loaded with vitamins and minerals, so they will keep you feeling satisfied! This was my go-to snack while breastfeeding, when I needed something easy to grab with one hand.
They are great for special diets. These date balls are gluten-free and vegan friendly, without using dairy or refined sugar. They’re also oil-free, for those following a whole food plant based diet.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Date balls are easy to customize, so this recipe is just a general suggestion for the ratios. If you don’t love coconut, you can leave it out and simply use a few more nuts.
Look for Medjool dates in the produce section of your grocery store, as they tend to be soft and squishy, and a little larger than other types of dates. If you can only find dates in the bulk section, you might want to soak them in hot water for at least 10 minutes, to help them soften up before processing.
Looking for more ideas? Try Chocolate Date Balls or Peanut Butter Date Balls, if you don’t want to guess on the ratio of ingredients.
How to Make Date Energy Balls
1. Process.
Add the dates, walnuts, coconut, vanilla extract, and sea salt into the bowl of a food processor fitted with an “S” blade. (I use a 12-cup food processor for this.)
Process the ingredients together until they break down and look crumbly, about 60 seconds. You’ll know the mixture is done when it sticks together easily when pressed between your fingers.
Note: You can over-process the date mixture into a greasy mess, so it’s better to stop and check when it looks crumbly. As soon as the mixture can be squeezed together into a ball, stop processing!
2. Roll into balls.
Use a tablespoon or 1-ounce cookie scoop to scoop the date mixture, then squeeze or roll it into balls between your hands.
Line a baking sheet or large plate with parchment paper, and place the balls on the prepared pan as you go. You should get roughly 18 balls from this recipe, but you can double it if you’d like to make more for the week ahead.
3. Enjoy!
You can enjoy one of these date balls right away, or store them in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. They will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
A high-speed blender is almost too powerful to blend the sticky dates, so it will require a LOT of patience, and stopping to scrape down the sides to keep everything moving. A food processor is wider, and therefore moves the ingredients around more easily without burning-out the motor.
If you want to use honey or maple syrup instead of dates, try my Peanut Butter Protein Balls recipe, which is made without a food processor.
Feel free to add a teaspoon of cinnamon for some spice, some chocolate chips for a cookie dough ball, or cocoa powder for chocolate date ball that tastes like a brownie bite.
Looking for more healthy snacks? Try Banana Snack Cake, Homemade Granola Bars, or Chocolate Hummus for more ideas.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Medjool dates , pitted
- 1 cup walnuts (or other nuts/seeds)
- ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- In a large food processor fitted with an "S" blade, add the pitted dates, walnuts, coconut, vanilla extract, and salt. Process briefly, until the mixture looks crumbly.
- As soon as the mixture sticks together when pressed between your fingers, it's ready to roll into balls. Be careful not to over-process the mixture, as it can become quite greasy when blended for too long.
- Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop the mixture, then roll it between your hands to form balls. (Sometimes you'll need to squeeze it first to stick together, then roll into balls.) Repeat the process with the remaining mixture, until you've made roughly 18 date balls.
- You can enjoy these date balls right away at room temperature, or store them in an airtight container with a lid. They will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this easy date ball recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it!
Hi! If I’m using “California” dates rather than Medjool, should I soak them first? Looking around quickly online I couldn’t find any good comparisons of the two types of dates. Of course I’m just going to use what I have on hand…and maybe dunk them for a while first. Thanks and I love your website! 🙂
how about dried figs?
This sounds really good but is there something you could replace the shredded coconut with? Maybe carrots?
I just found your blog last week and adore your recipes! Congratulations on the birth of your first child…I nursed both of my boys for a year each and it is an incredible bonding experience…with that being said, you are so smart to start planning ahead for those times when hunger strikes. I ate like a linebacker when I was nursing and was tinier than ever after my kids..you burn so many calories while breastfeeding it is truly incredible. All the best to you and your family and keep these delicious recipes coming :)))
These look AMAZING!
Hope you dont mind but I shared them on my Friday Five….right above a sugar filled birthday cake!
Yum yum these look delicious, thanks for sharing. Congrats on your new baby, definetley need to keep your energy up feeding all day and night! I’m still feeding my 5 month old so these will be great little snacks to nibble on as well. I love your blog I’ve been making the vanillacado and chococado shakes all the time and my favourite meal is vegetable masala. Keep up the great work!
I absolutely love making date balls–so good and a quick and easy snack!
Would you mind sharing what food processor you use?
The recipe looks yummy!
Love date nut balls! They are the perfect grab-n-go snack!
Love these. I make them all the time.
Looks great, what’s the serving size?
Hi, Megan!
It sounds like you are embracing and loving being a new mommy, and I’m so happy for you! My toddlers are 3 and 1 now, but I vividly remember those early days! When my son was new, I ate chocolate chip granola bars during those late night/early morning nursing sessions, but these would have been so much healthier. With my daughter, I discovered co sleeping and dozing while nursing and I’m pretty sure that it saved my life LOL
Sniff that baby head a ton for me, please! I still can’t believe how fast it flew by. Now I have to sniff friends’ babies. I hope that you are having a wonderful baby moon!
I’m looking forward to making these one day when I have a food processor 🙂
I love this recipe. And I don’t have a food processor! It might be old school, and they might come out a little chunkier but I just chop the dates (wearing latex gloves) and the walnuts (I use pecans…I find them less bitter). They are yummy!!!! Thanks so much!
Ohhh – these sound and look awesome. I love the coconut, walnut and date combo. I’ll have to make these one day soon!
Instead of coconut oil, I used all natural peanut butter. To get a texture where I could roll it into a ball, I added 1/2 cup of water to the mix. Just an idea – I love it with PB!
I just came here to read the reviews and you have the same name as me!