Oat Bites: whole food snacks in 3 flavours
Oat Bites are a delicious sweet snack or treat made in minutes, with no baking.
Sometimes called energy or nutrition balls, I prefer the simpler and more honest Oat Bites. That’s because, although loaded with whole food, nutritious ingredients, they’re still a sweet treat best enjoyed occasionally.
Almost any nut and seed butters, dried fruits, spices, dark chocolate etc. can be made into Oat Bites. In this post I share three varieties to get you started.
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A LOAD OF BALLS
You may have heard of Energy Balls, Nutrition Balls and even, lord help us, Bliss Balls. Often mixtures of oats, nuts, seeds and some form of sweetener, they’re beloved of yummy mummy food bloggers wanting ‘guilt-free’ snacks and also buff bods looking for pre- or post- workout fuel.
The other group who absolutely love this sort of thing are the snack food companies. That’s because they’ve convinced an awful lot of people that ingredients like these represent ‘balance’ and ‘good energy’:
Some of the big bloggers aren’t beyond flogging you their own energy balls either. Admittedly, these appear to contain real, whole foods. But at £4.50 per hundred grams for something that’s almost two thirds dates (chopped dates cost around 90p per hundred grams, by the way), I think you’re much better off making your own.
And that’s where my Oat Bites come in.
Yes, I know the name’s not very sexy. If you can come up with a better one then I’d be happy to steal it.
But I prefer not to exaggerate their ‘healthiness’. In fact I think it’s a bit of a swizz to do otherwise. For example, that date-heavy energy ball contains over 40 percent sugar.
So for me, Oat Bites are a sweet, but not too sweet, snack or treat and are best eaten occasionally. But most definitely joyfully.
OAT BITES
If you eat oats, and nut or seed butters, you’ve probably got suitable ingredients for Oat Bites already in your kitchen cupboards. Oat Bites can be flavoured with almost anything. The three versions in this post are to get you started. And once you’ve got the basic idea, you’ll be dreaming up your own combinations.
To make around a dozen balls, about the size of small walnuts, I use this formula:
- 60g rolled oats: I prefer the larger, rolled oats rather than fine porridge oats.
- 50 – 60g nut butter, tahini or other seed butter: important not just for flavour, but its stickiness will help to keep the Oat Bites together.
- 1-2 tbsp of sticky sweetener such as maple syrup or honey: self explanatory – it’s sticky, it’s sweet!
- around 80-100g of mix-ins such as dried fruit, chopped nuts, seeds, dark chocolate.
- other tasty flavourings such as vanilla extract, a little salt, cocoa powder, spices like cinnamon or ginger.
EASY, NO-BAKE
Making Oat Bites really couldn’t be any simpler. Just take a large bowl, add the measured ingredients and give it all a big mix.
You’ll probably find it easiest to start off with a rubber spoon or spatula, then switch to your hands. While it gets very sticky, squidging the mixture with your hands does mean you get more of a feel for whether it’s going to come together into balls. If it’s dry and crumbly, add more of the sticky stuff: nut butter, tahini, honey or maple syrup.
When it seems about right, pop in the fridge for around half an hour to firm up a little more.
After thirty minutes, take large teaspoonfuls of the mixture and press into a ball. If you’ve added lots of chunky ingredients, like I have, don’t be too tempted to actually roll into balls. You may find they start to come apart rather stick together. On the other hand, if you want a smoother texture you could put everything in a food processor so that it’s very finely chopped, in which case you may find the balls easier to roll.
When the Oat Bites are made, store in a container in the fridge until needed. The bites should be fine for up to a week in the fridge, but if you want to make bigger batches then you can always freeze them.
Here’s three ideas for Oat Bites to whet your appetite, with recipes at the end of this post.
PEANUT, CHOCOLATE & COCONUT OAT BITES
My first Oat Bite is based on good old peanut butter.
I tend to eat mainly crunchy peanut butter (one hundred per cent nuts, no added oil, sugar or salt) but I do have a love for this Coconut Peanut Butter with honey and I’ve used it in my Peanut, Chocolate & Coconut Oat Bites. It’s a smooth nut butter so I’ve included some raw, chopped peanuts in the mix to give more texture, along with poppy seeds.
Coconut is one of my favourite flavours and I’ve ramped it up even more with some desiccated coconut.
Since I discovered bean to bar chocolate maker Seed Chocolate and found that I really like dark chocolate, I’ve been incorporating more of it into my cooking. I think low sugar and sugar-free chocolate, between 75-100 per cent cocoa, works really well in these Oat Bites as they get enough sweetness from maple syrup, coconut and a little vanilla extract.
A pinch of salt, always good with chocolate I think, balances the whole thing.
ALMOND, RAISIN & FLAX OAT BITES
In this Oat Bite, the Almonds are in the form of crunchy almond butter plus roasted chopped almonds.
My raisins were pretty large ones so I roughly chopped them.
Ground flaxseeds add nutrition and earthiness. Using whole flax seeds will give more crunch, but if you’re interested in their health benefits be aware that you won’t be able access the soluble fibre in that form.
I’ve used honey as the sticky sweetener in my Almond, Raisin & Flax Oat Bites but maple syrup would be fine too.
TAHINI, APRICOT & CASHEW OAT BITES
Moving away from nut butters, my final Oat Bite uses tahini sesame paste. I love the slightly bitter taste of tahini, but I’ve mellowed it with dried apricots and cinnamon. I think virtually any nuts would go with tahini and here I chose creamy cashews.
Honey seemed the correct sweetener for Tahini, Apricot & Cashew Oat Bites with their Middle East-type flavours. As well as including sesame in the mix, I rolled the balls in more of the earthy seeds.
The flavour of this Oat Bite reminds me very much of halva. I imagine a little orange zest added to the ingredients would make it even more delicious.
MORE FLAVOURS
If you like my Oat Bites, why not have a go experimenting with what’s in your cupboards and create your own flavours? Here’s a few ingredient ideas you can mix and match:
- Nuts: brazil, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pistachio, walnut
- Seeds: chia, pumpkin, sunflower, hemp hearts
- Butters: sunflower, pumpkin, hazelnut, cocoa & hazelnut,
- Dried fruit: figs, dates, cherries, cranberries, banana, apple, blueberries
- Other: citrus zest, cocoa powder, cacao nibs, coconut oil
WANT A MORE INDULGENT TREAT? TRY CHOCOLATE PEANUT OAT BALLS
Peanut, Chocolate & Coconut Oat Bites
An absolutely delicious sweet treat.
Ingredients
- 60 g rolled oats
- 25 g peanuts chopped into small pieces
- 25 g dark chocolate chopped into small pieces
- 15 g desiccated coconut
- 15 g poppy seeds
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 50-60 g peanut butter coconut peanut butter if possible
- 1-2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
Instructions
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Take a large bowl and put in the oats, chopped peanuts and chocolate, coconut, poppy seeds, vanilla and salt.
Add 50g of the peanut butter plus 1 tbsp of the maple syrup.
-
Start mixing everything together with a rubber spoon or spatula then switch to using your hands.
Take a handful of the mixture and try to squeeze it together: if it is very crumbly and won't come together, add a little more peanut butter and/or maple syrup.
-
When the mix sticks together well, put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
-
Take teaspoonfuls of the mixture and squeeze into balls about the size of a walnut. Note: if you try to roll into balls, you may find they fall apart, especially if the chocolate and nuts have not been chopped finely.
-
Store the Oat Bites in the fridge in a covered container for up to one week or freeze and defrost as needed.
Almond, Raisin & Flax Oat Bites
A delicious oaty bite with crunchy almonds, sweet raisins and nutritious ground flax seed.
Ingredients
- 60 g rolled oats
- 55 g raisins roughly chopped if large
- 25 g almonds roasted, finely chopped
- 15 g ground flax seed
- 1 pinch salt
- 50-60 g almond butter
- 1-2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
Instructions
-
Take a large bowl and put in the oats, raisins, almonds, ground flax seed and salt.
Add 50g of the almond butter plus 1 tbsp of the honey.
-
Start mixing everything together with a rubber spoon or spatula then switch to using your hands.
Take a handful of the mixture and try to squeeze it together: if it is very crumbly and won't come together, add a little more almond butter and/or honey.
-
When the mix sticks together well, put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
-
Take teaspoonfuls of the mixture and squeeze into balls about the size of a walnut. Note: if you try to roll into balls, you may find they fall apart, especially if the almonds and raisins have not been chopped finely.
-
Store the Oat Bites in the fridge in a covered container for up to one week or freeze and defrost as needed.
Tahini, Apricot & Cashew Oat Bites
The pleasantly bitter taste of tahini is mellowed with dried apricots and cinnamon in this Oat Bite. Creamy cashews and sesame seeds give texture.
Ingredients
- 60 g rolled oats
- 40 g cashews finely chopped
- 40 g dried apricots finely chopped
- 15 g sesame seeds plus extra for coating
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 50-60 g tahini sesame paste
- 1-2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
Instructions
-
Take a large bowl and put in the oats, cashews, dried apricots, sesame seeds, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt.
Add 50g of the tahini plus 1 tbsp of the honey.
-
Start mixing everything together with a rubber spoon or spatula then switch to using your hands.
Take a handful of the mixture and try to squeeze it together: if it is very crumbly and won't come together, add a little more tahini and/or honey.
-
When the mix sticks together well, put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
-
Take teaspoonfuls of the mixture and squeeze into balls about the size of a walnut. Note: if you try to roll into balls, you may find they fall apart, especially if the cashews and apricots have not been chopped finely.
-
Lightly roll each ball in more sesame seeds and press so they stick and coat the balls.
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Store the Oat Bites in the fridge in a covered container for up to one week or freeze and defrost as needed.