These Oatmeal Peanut Butter Balls are the perfect nutritious snack for a mid-morning energy boost or afternoon pick-me-up! They’re super easy to make in just minutes using simple ingredients you may already have in your kitchen.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to Make: These peanut butter oat balls come together quickly - just mix, roll, and freeze!
- Perfect Anytime Snack: Whether you need a snack on-the-go, after a workout, or just for a burst of energy, these healthy peanut butter balls fit the bill. Made with wholesome ingredients like oats, peanut butter, chia seeds, coconut, and honey, they’re both tasty and nutritious.
- No-Bake: There’s no need to turn on your oven to make these peanut butter protein balls!
For more no-bake treats, check out our cookie dough bites, oatmeal raisin granola bars, and Oreo truffles next.
Ingredients

- Oats: Use rolled oats or quick oats. I do not recommend steel cut oats.
- Shredded Coconut: I prefer unsweetened, but feel free to use sweetened if you’d like.
- Peanut Butter: Use your favorite brand. I prefer a creamy peanut butter in this recipe, but you can use chunky if that’s what you’ve got on hand or like more crunch.
- Honey: Instead of refined sugar, I use honey to sweeten these peanut butter oat energy balls.
- Chia Seeds: Add a protein boost to the peanut butter balls. Feel free to use flax seeds instead.
- Chocolate Chips: I recommend using the mini chips, as their size works best, but you can use the normal ones if that’s what you have in your pantry. You can even swap them for white chocolate, butterscotch, or peanut butter chips if you’d like!
- Protein Powder: Use your favorite brand of vanilla protein powder, or change things up and try chocolate!
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations
- Different Nut Butter: Swap the peanut butter for another nut butter like almond or cashew to change up the flavor in these oatmeal protein balls.
- Nut-Free: If you are allergic to nuts, try using a seed butter like sunflower or pumpkin seed butter to make the oatmeal energy bites.
- Mix-Ins: Try mixing in some dried fruit like raisins or cranberries or chopped nuts like peanuts or almonds to add more texture to these no-bake oatmeal balls.
- Vegan-Friendly: It’s so easy to make these peanut butter oatmeal protein balls vegan! Swap the honey for maple syrup, use non-dairy chocolate chips, and opt for a plant-based protein powder.
How to Make Oatmeal Peanut Butter Balls
To get started making these peanut butter balls with oats, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Step 1: Add ingredients to a food processor. Place all of the ingredients with the exception of the chocolate chips into a food processor.
- Step 2: Blend. Process until everything is well combined. The texture should be slightly sticky and not too dry.

- Step 3: Mix in the chips. Add the chocolate chips and pulse a few times. You don’t want to break them up, but they should be well distributed.
- Step 4: Roll the balls. Use your hands or a cookie scoop to shape the dough into balls. Place the rolled balls onto the prepared baking sheet and freeze for 2 hours before transferring to an airtight container for storage.

Serving Suggestions
Here are some great ways to enjoy these oatmeal peanut butter balls:
- Break them up and add them to a bowl of homemade yogurt or these acai smoothie bowls for a nutritious breakfast.
- Enjoy them after your workout with a glass of detox water or another type of infused water.
- Pair them with a fruit salad like this tropical fruit salad or this mojito fruit salad to keep your healthy snacking goals in check.

Expert Tips
- Adjust ingredient amounts if needed: If the dough seems too dry, you might need to add a bit more peanut butter and/or honey.
- Roll to your preferred size: I find a 1-inch ball is equivalent to about 2 bites. Feel free to roll the oat protein balls into a larger size if you’d like.
- Storing: Store the peanut butter oat energy balls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for about 15 minutes if frozen.
Recipe FAQs
Adult protein powders are not safe for children to consume. To make these protein balls for kids, opt for a kid-friendly protein powder or use a powdered nut butter like PB2.
While oats are naturally gluten-free, they are highly susceptible to cross-contamination. Therefore, it’s important to use a certified gluten-free brand of oats if needed. Additionally, most protein powders are gluten-free, but be sure to check the labels as some brands use gluten-containing ingredients like barley. You can also choose a certified gluten-free protein powder to ensure safety. The remaining ingredients in this recipe are gluten-free.

More Protein Powder Recipes

Peanut Butter Oat Balls
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups oats
- 1 ½ cups coconut
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup chia seeds
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon vanilla protein powder for kids, can use other flavors too!
- other mix-ins!
Instructions
- In blender or food processor blend oats, then coconut to a more fine texture. You dont want them to be too fine- like flour.
- In food processor or stand mixer using paddle attachment- add all ingredients into bowl. Mix until all ingredients are all incorporated and evenly distributed. You want the texture to be a little sticky and not too dry. If adding in extra mix-ins like nuts, dried fruit or other powders add a little more honey and peanut butter.
- Roll into a ball the size of your preference. I like a 1 inch ball equals about 2 bites. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Place in freezer for two hours. Remove and place into an air tight container. Store in fridge for 1-2 weeks. Freezer for 3 months. To thaw- separate balls and let sit at room temp for about 15 minutes.
Video
Notes
- Try using another type of nut butter like almond or cashew, or use a seed butter to make these protein balls nut-free.
- Make this recipe dairy-free by using non-dairy chocolate chips and plant-based protein powder. You can also make it vegan by substituting maple syrup for the honey.
- Keep the balls stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
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Melody.vanvelthuizen says
Those chia seed cookie dough balls were great.
Tare says
I was making this for my older son’s lunch. My picky 2 year old wolfed down 3 before I finished rolling them.
Caroline says
Our third time making them ,such a great snack,Mommy’s eating more than the kids :) , thanks for an amazing recipe x
Maryja says
It would be useful to know the nutrition values per 100g
Kadee says
Each serving is about 30 grams of the mixture. The nutritional value reflects 1 ball, the recipe makes 25. The recipe isn't written in grams, so I did a quick copy and paste into a recipe converter and added up all of the grams and divided it by 25.
Beth says
If not making for kid friendly, do I have to break down the oatmeal and coconut?
Kadee says
Nope
Bec says
What can I use instead of protein powder?
Kadee says
You can omit it. You may have to increase the amount of oats to make up for the consistency change.
Amy Brown says
Just made them and they are delicious! My whole family loves them (including my picky eater). Now, if you have any tips on how to only eat ONE and not all of them, let me know! Haha! Thanks so much for sharing.
Bob says
I make these all the time
Rayna M says
I'm not finding any links that work for the Kidzshake protein... anyone know where I can get it?
Desarae says
You can also use a vanilla protein powder, I'll look into the kid shake protein powder.
Georgina Gesseljay says
My kids hate coconut, what could I use instead?
Kadee says
You can just omit the coconut
Jackie says
How would that work for the consistency? Its 1 1/2 cups coconut, that’s quite a lot to simply omit?
Kadee says
You can add more oatmeal if you want a thicker consistency.
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Suzanne says
This looks so good! What a great way to make this treat into something healthy!
Melissa says
I make these for my picky eater to take in his lunch and we are going on the fourth week in a row that he wants them! I’m so glad I found something that will fill him up more and that I feel good about giving him. Thanks for the recipe!
Lauren McMillan says
Any replacement suggestions for the peanut butter so they're a safe snack to take to school?
Desarae says
if an almond butter is approved you could try that, may be some kind of cookie butter