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These cacao and almond no-bake protein balls, sweetened with dates, are quick and simple to make. With just a few ingredients and 10 minutes, you can create a tasty, healthy snack for the whole family.
I love to snack, and my perfect snack options would be quick, healthy, and mess-free, so they’re easy to grab whenever needed. These no-bake, vegan, gluten-free, and protein-packed balls fit the bill—the recipe is super quick and simple to make, and the balls are the perfect grab-and-go snack. The combination of sweet dates, almonds, and cacao makes this high-protein snack taste like a dessert.
What I love most about these healthy snacks is that you can meal-prep them and keep them in the fridge so they are ready when you want one. Furthermore, you can enjoy them “naked” or top them with your favorite nuts, seeds, super-food powders, or more—the sky is the limit, and you will never get bored of them!
Table of Contents
Watch my protein balls video
Ingredients
- Almonds: They reduce hunger (keeping you full for longer) and are super nutritious, containing lots of healthy fats, antioxidants, fiber, protein (6g per 1/4 cup serving), and more!
- Dates: I love using Medjool dates, but any variety works. They are a natural way to sweeten the recipe and are full of antioxidants, fiber, and other nutrients.
- Protein Blend: Use your favorite protein powder to add extra protein to the balls. I often add my homemade 5-seed protein blend (made with hemp seeds, chia seeds, ground flax seeds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds).
- Cacao Powder: Raw cacao powder is the best choice, as it is a superfood high in antioxidants, essential minerals, and vitamins.
- Salt: Add just a pinch to bring out the chocolaty cacao flavor.
How to make no bake protein balls
Begin by blending the almonds in a high-speed food processor until they are the consistency you like. This can be chunky bits, fine crumbs, or even a mixture of the two. Next, add the dates, protein blend, cacao powder, and salt. Blitz again until the mixture is well combined and clumps together.
If the mixture doesn’t stick together, you can use another 1-2 dates, a bit of honey, or almond butter (or another nut butter) to make it more sticky.
Form around 20 balls from the mixture. Shape them using your hands. These should be big enough for at least 2-3 bites. You can also use a cookie scoop to measure the size. Once rolled, the protein balls are ready to be enjoyed. Optionally, you can also roll them in any toppings you choose. See below for ideas.
Toppings for your protein balls
The options for toppings are vast, including crushed nuts or seeds (pistachios, sesame, etc.), superfood powders (cacao powder, etc.), dried fruit powders (beet, etc.), matcha, toasted coconut, and cacao nibs. There are also more unusual combination choices like safflower, nigella seeds, and chili salt. With each new batch, you can experiment and see what flavors you prefer.
For a sweeter treat, you could also cover the protein balls with melted chocolate. Dipping them in chocolate is also a great option for sticking larger toppings to the outside. These include pistachio chunks, cacao nibs, freeze-dried fruits like raspberries or strawberries, or edible dried flowers.
To cover the balls, poke them with a skewer or a fork, or just use your fingers. Then, dip and roll them in the topping of your choice. Gently press to allow the topping to stick to the ball. To coat them with chocolate and large chunks, first, dip them in the melted chocolate, then quickly dip them in the topping. Place them on a parchment paper-covered plate or tray and set them aside until the chocolate hardens.
Both the naked and the covered protein balls can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for two weeks or in the freezer for a month. Enjoy them whenever you need a pick-me-up healthy snack!
More protein snacks
If you try this protein ball recipe, let me know how it goes in the comments below. I’d appreciate a recipe card rating and would love to see your recipe recreations – tag me on Instagram @Alphafoodie!
No Bake Protein Balls
Ingredients
- 2 cups almonds
- 8 dates
- 1/4 cup cacao powder
- 2 Tbsp protein powder can be homemade with 5 seeds
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- In a food processor or a blender, blend the almonds to your desired consistency – chunky bits, fine crumbs, or even a mixture of the two.
- Add the dates, protein blend, cacao powder, and salt. Blitz again until the mixture is well combined and clumps together.
- Using your hands, shape around 20 balls from the mixture. They should be big enough for at least 2-3 bites.Once rolled, the healthy protein balls are ready to be enjoyed "naked", covered with toppings, or stored in the fridge for later.
Topping the balls (optional)
- To cover the balls with small pieces or powders, poke them with a skewer or a fork, or just use your fingers. Then, dip and roll them in the topping of your choice. Gently press to allow the topping to stick to the ball.
- To coat them with chocolate and large chunks, dip the balls in melted chocolate and then quickly dip them in the topping. Place them on a parchment-paper-covered plate or tray and set them aside until the chocolate hardens.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi there- you linked this as a recipe to use up nut milk pulp. How does that fit into this recipe? These look so tasty!
Hi Kate,
Yes, you can use the nut milk pulp to replace the nuts in the recipe, let me know how it goes. 🙂
I’m totally making these! Thanks for the inspiration xxx
Thank you for your comment 🙂
Do the protein sources in this recipe combined contain all 9 essential amino acids (i.e. is this considered a complete protein that will help in muscle building)
Hi Cathy,
You can use a protein powder of your choice that contains all the essential amino acids. I hope this helps. 🙂
I did a box with these balls for a friend, as I wanted to offer something special for her brithday. She loved!!!
Thank you so much for your comment, Carla. So happy to hear that the recipe was appreciated 🙂
Hi,
Even after adding 12 dates mine is still just powder with no chance of getting together. I am afraid I ran out of dates so not sure what to do with the mixture. Any suggestions?
Hi Tanja,
Did you use sticky medjool dates?! It’s ok if they’re not sticking easy solution could be to add nut butter of choice or coconut oil! These would both work. Please don’t get rid of the mixture!!!!even if you use it as a crumble for different things! But adding nut butter would fix this in case dates aren’t sticky enough
What can you use as a substitute for protein powder?
The protein powder suggested in the recipe is actually homemade and contains ground hemp seeds, chia seeds, linseed, sunflower seeds & pumpkin seeds (you can read more about it on this blog post here). You can grind a mix of these seeds or just one of them and add to the cacao almond mixture. You could also omit the protein powder altogether. I hope this helps.
Hi Samira.
Great to meet you.
I live in Iran and unfortunately I could not find Madjool dates to make energy balls. What is your second suggestion for dates?
Thanks.
Use whatever dates that you can get your hands on. If they seem a little dry then just give them a soak in hot water for 15-20 minutes and they should soften up and still be delicious 🙂
My family loved these, but I had to use the whole package of dates (25-30) to hold these together. I’m not sure how “healthy” they are with all that added sugar.
Hi Ann,
I see what you mean about eating 25 dates.
I mostly use Medjool dates because they are soft, with a chewy texture, and are usually much bigger than other types of dates. Thus, just 8 of them were enough for this recipe.
Dates are often sold pretty dry, so I recommend to soak them in hot water for 10 minutes to allow them to soften and become more “sticky” – as I add the dates not only for their sweetness but also for their “stickiness” (allowing the other ingredients to bind together).
I hope this helps 🙂