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.
Date Energy Balls
Equipment
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!
I didn’t have any coconut, so I put in some salted, roasted edamame beans. Well….then it was too dry to hold together so I added some coconut oil. And it still didn’t hold so now I have some tasty granola in my fridge! Not the worst thing in the world.
I loved this recipe, I did not have enough walnuts on hand so I did one cup walnut and one cup of sunflower seeds. I followed the recpe exactly and it worked perfect. I did not make it as smooth a consistency as this recipe shows in photos, mine was more coarse but I like the chewiness and my family renamed them DATE NUT ENERGY BALLS as they taste like date nut loaf and date nut squares. My daughter dipped hers in a pat of butter and said it was exact!
Uh oh….. I over processed it and now it’s oily. Anything I can do to make it less oily? Thanks 🙏
I am having a hard time getting the balls to stay stuck together. Any suggestions?
Usually I would just say process them a little longer, but you can also add a tablespoon of water and process again to help them stick together! It varies depending on how sticky the dates are.
Okay, I will try that! They are really delicious, even when not together in a ball! Thank you!
Great recipe! I didn’t feel like balling them, so I pressed into a sheet between pieces of parchment paper, put in the fridge overnight, and cut into bites instead. Worked great!
How much flax sèed do I add
these were so easy to make, LOVE them, great taste, i made 2 batches to share with friends.
thank you for sharing your recipe,
Quick an easy to make and simply delicious. I have to hide them from the kids if I want to have some of them to myself.
Super easy to make and delicious – next time I’ll try to add in some toppings for more variety! But I’m sure it’ll make a perfect long-flight snack tomorrow 🙂
I’ve tried a few other date ball recipes and this is BY FAR the best! My 20 month old son loves them too. Every time he opens the fridge, he sees them and says “BALL!”. My husband is really loving them too as a Whole 30 snack and I love them too! Coming from a nursing AND pregnant mama. So easy to make as well.
These were really good and easy to make. I did find that the mixture was a little dry and solved that with about 1 Tbsp. of peanut butter. Made a second batch with added cocoa powder and a little protein powder and they were equally delicious. I think a food processor is probably a necessity. Pro Tip: Costco’s sells a 2 lb. 89 ox. bag of pitted dates for about $6.99 and they are fantastic. A steal at that price for those of us who make date paste and other date based recipes.