Ever dip your Oreos in peanut butter? I do! I wanted to recreate that magical taste into a nutrient dense peanut butter Oreo balls that anyone can sink their teeth into. They are easy to make and will quickly become a weekly staple in your kitchen. As a bonus, you’ll finally use up that can of chickpeas sitting in your pantry.
What You’ll Need to Make
- Oats (quick, rolled or steel cut)
- Low sodium or no salt added chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- Vanilla extract
- Mini chocolate chips
- Oreo pudding mix
- Peanut butter
How to Make
All you need is your measuring tools and a blender or food processor. I find a food processor works best. Open the can of chickpeas to drain and rinse them before adding them to your food processor.
Next, add all of the remaining ingredients, blend until mixture is sticky and chickpeas are well blended. Roll into small balls and either freeze for later consumption or store in the fridge for 7 to 10 days. In my house, a batch of Oreo peanut butter balls lasts maybe three days!
Are Energy Balls Healthy
Here’s the thing, you don’t have to classify food into good or bad boxes. So asking if a food is healthy really requires you to think critically about what it means for food to, “be healthy.” All foods fit in this kitchen, rethink what healthy means by giving yourself permission to enjoy all foods and explore a variety of foods to eat.
Chickpea Energy Balls
Adding a can of chickpeas to this recipe really ups the fiber and nutrient content. This is a great way to increase your consumption of plant proteins as well.
Nutrition Boosts
Energy bites are really easy to boost with nutrition. Try adding a tablespoon or two of flax meal or hemp hearts to boost fiber or protein respectively. Both flax meal and hemp hearts will also boost quality fat intake.
If you want to reduce the added sugar, simply leave out the mini chocolate chips. Alternatively, you could use half of the amount of pudding mix for a slightly less sweetened product.
Tips and Techniques
When using a food processor or blender, I find that mixing everything together for about 20 seconds works well. After that pause and use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides to make sure everything gets mixed well together.
When you are done and you’ve removed the mixture from the cup portion, add soap and slightly warm water. Put the cat back on and turn your blender or food processor back on, and the soap will help remove and loosen anything stuck to the blade or the sides. Then let it sit with the soapy water before scrubbing it clean.
How to Store Energy Balls
Freezing energy balls is really simple and works best if you freeze them individually on a cookie sheet first. I freeze them for about an hour and then I put the them in a quart sized freezer bag. They can be eaten frozen if done so carefully!
Take them out of the freezer the night prior to eating them. Or if you are packing them in your lunch, you can take them out of the freezer in the morning and they will be ready within a few hours.
The energy bites can also be stored in the fridge for up to 7 to 10 days. Store them in an airtight container.
Other Energy Bite Recipes You’ll Love
- Cocoa Ginger Energy Bites
- Candy Corn Energy Bites
- Almond Butter Date Energy Bites
- Pumpkin Protein Balls
- Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls
Peanut Butter Oreo Balls
Equipment
- Blender or Food Processor
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups oats (quick, rolled, or steel cut)
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup mini chocolate chips
- 3 tbsp Oreo pudding mix
- 3 tbsp peanut butter
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- Put all ingredients in a food processor.
- Pulse/puree for about 20 seconds. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the edges and continue this until mixture is well formed.
- Remove blade and begin forming into small energy balls. Smaller bites will yield about 20 servings and medium bites will yield about 15.
- Spread out the balls on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for about 10-20 minutes (or enjoy as is) and then place them in a container to keep in the fridge for 7-10 days or freeze them up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
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