I was scrolling through my Facebook feed recently and saw a picture and link to some No-Bake Energy Bites, singing their praises. Desperately craving a sweet, but also feeling desperately lazy, I clicked on the link and when I saw how easy these were, I threw them together with several tweaks and within minutes had a nice little treat that I didn’t even feel bad about. Now, not only is this recipe fast and easy, it is highly adaptable. I added chocolate because I was in a dessert-y kind of mood, but these would be great with chopped dried fruit or nuts to up the health factor. These are a great portable snack and they really do give you a boost of energy and tide you over until your next meal. They held together well at room temperature but I liked them best straight out of the fridge. I also reeeeaaaallllly wanted to add some salty chopped pistachios to them but I didn’t want to kill my deathly-allergic-to-nuts housemate and kept it simple so I could share. Aren’t I thoughtful?

 No-Bake Peanut Butter Energy Bites

Makes about 24 golf ball sized bites

Ingredients:

•  1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 cup rolled oats
• ½ cup ground flaxseed
• ½ cup unsweetened flaked coconut
• 3 tbsp. chia seed
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ½ cup mini chocolate chips (or chopped nuts or dried fruit)

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients except for chocolate chips until thoroughly combined. Once a thick dough is formed, stir in the chocolate chips ( or fruit or nuts). Roll into golf balls sized balls. Keep in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks (although they probably won’t last that long!).

 Recipe inspired by: http://themessybakerblog.com/2014/01/16/peanut-butter-oat-balls/