If you’re looking for a healthy dessert or snack, these peanut butter banana oat balls are your answer. The recipe is incredibly simple to make with just five ingredients: oats, bananas, peanut butter, honey, and a pinch of salt. The best part? It only takes 15 minutes to whip up this treat from start to finish! I’m always on the lookout for easy but delicious recipes that don’t take hours of preparation time. That’s why this recipe is so perfect; it’s fast, delicious, and HEALTHY! Give these oat balls a try today; they’ll be gone in no time.
Ingredients for No-Bake Banana Oat Energy Bites
With only five simple ingredients, you probably have everything you need for these peanut butter banana balls right in your pantry!
Here’s what you’ll need for about 12 energy bites:
- ¼ cup of creamy peanut butter
- 2 tbsp of honey
- 1 mashed banana
- 1 ½ cups quick oats
- pinch of salt
Use gluten-free quick oats if you want to make these for someone on a gluten-free diet or someone with a gluten sensitivity.
Instructions for Peanut Butter Banana Energy Balls
Making these banana oat peanut butter bites is super easy, especially since you’re using the microwave to melt the peanut butter. This step is optional, but it does make it so much easier to combine the ingredients together when the peanut butter is thin and melted.
- Microwave peanut butter for 30 seconds, until just melted.
- Mash your banana.
- Combine the peanut butter, mashed banana, oats, honey, and salt into a mixing bowl, and stir until well-combined.
- Spoon about a tablespoon of the mixture into your hand and roll it into a ball.
- Place each ball onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or wax paper.
- Place them in the freezer for 45 mins to an hour.
- Serve and enjoy your no-bake banana peanut butter cookie balls.
- Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Tips and Tricks for Making Peanut Butter Banana Balls
Using creamy peanut butter that is warm and melted makes the recipe so much easier to combine. You can skip this step if it’s inconvenient, but your balls will be a little more crumbly because they won’t stick together as easily when you’re forming them into balls.
I recommend using quick oats for these energy bites unless you have gluten sensitivity or are following a strict gluten-free diet. You can also use regular oats, though they might take longer to soften.
There are so many possibilities with this recipe! Don’t like bananas? Try something different like pumpkin puree or applesauce. They’ll still be delicious.
Recipe Variations for Peanut Butter Banana Energy Bites
There are so many different things you can do to tweak this recipe, and they’ll all taste great! Here are 5 easy variations:
Use another kind of nut butter instead of peanut butter. Try cashew butter or almond butter. Both sound delicious! If you’re allergic to nut butter, try this with sunflower seed butter instead, and let me know how it works out. I’d love to know!
Add some mini chocolate chips to your peanut butter balls. They take away a little from the healthy factor, but you could use dark chocolate chips over milk chocolate.
Substitute pumpkin or applesauce for the mashed banana during the fall, and add a pinch or two of cinnamon. It’ll amp up the fall flavors while still keeping the recipe nice and healthy.
Add some shredded coconut or shredded carrots to the mix. This will give the balls an interesting texture and help you get another healthy ingredient or two into the mix.
If you don’t care about a healthy snack at all and just want something yummy, dip these bad boys in chocolate. Can you imagine how tasty that would be?
Peanut Butter Banana Oat Balls
Looking for a healthy dessert or snack? Try these delicious peanut butter banana oat balls. These simple, 5-ingredient treats can be whipped up in just 15 minutes! They're super easy and will disappear quickly.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup of creamy peanut butter
- 2 tbsp of honey
- 1 mashed banana
- 1 ½ cups quick oats
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Microwave peanut butter for 30 seconds, until just melted.
- Mash your banana.
- Combine the peanut butter, mashed banana, oats, honey, and salt into a mixing bowl, and stir until well-combined.
- Spoon about a tablespoon of the mixture into your hand and roll it into a ball.
- Place each ball onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or wax paper.
- Place them in the freezer for 45 mins to an hour.
- Serve and enjoy your no-bake banana peanut butter cookie balls.
- Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Notes
Add mini dark chocolate chips to make them a little more decadent!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
2 ballsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 180Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 119mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 3gSugar: 11gProtein: 5g
Nutritional data is calculated automatically and is intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on somethingsweettoeat.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate.
Making Peanut Butter Banana Oat Balls with Kids
These peanut butter balls are a great snack that kids will love to help make! It’s so much fun making food you can eat with your hands. They’re also really healthy and packed full of energy, which is perfect for the active little ones in your life.
Here are some fun and creative ways you can get your kids involved in making these peanut butter banana energy bites:
Because these no-bake energy bites only have five ingredients, it’s a great opportunity to let kids measure out the ingredients themselves. That way they’ll learn how to read measurements, which is a great math skill and life skill.
Have them roll the peanut butter balls. The measurement of “1 tablespoon” is pretty simple to get a handle on, and they can practice rolling these healthy snack bites between their hands into a nice ball shape.
If you’re using honey, talk with your children about bees and how important they are for our environment and food supply. They may even want to look up facts about bees online together!
It also gives parents a chance to talk to their children about the importance of eating foods that are good for them while still being easy and delicious. When you’re able to explain why something is good for you rather than just saying “This is healthy. Eat it”, a child is more likely to embrace that kind of lifestyle.
We hope you enjoy these peanut butter banana oat balls as much as we do. They are a recipe that is both healthy and delicious! If you make them, be sure to let us know how they turn out by leaving a comment or tag us in your photo on Instagram with #somethingsweettoeat so that we can see your creations too. Have any other food ideas for our readers? Let us know!