Chocolate Protein Balls

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These chocolate protein balls taste like a chocolate covered almond! With clean and nutritious ingredients and a quick prep time, these will quickly become a weekly meal prepping staple! Only 7 ingredients!

 

Chocolate Protein Balls

These chocolate protein balls are my absolute favorite energy bite recipe! They taste like a cocoa-roasted almond with the perfect hint of sweetness. They are also quick to prepare and require only 7 ingredients.

With so few ingredients, the ingredients used can make a big difference! Below I’ll share my favorite ingredients to use in these easy chocolate protein balls.

Chocolate Protein Balls Ingredients

  • Almonds: roasted almonds are always best! They’ll add tons of extra flavor to these bites without the extra work of you having to toast them. I use dry roasted and lightly salted almonds.
  • Almond Butter: more on this below
  • Honey
  • Vanilla extract: a nice flavor add, but not entirely necessary if you don’t have any on hand.
  • Dutch Process Cocoa Powder: more on this below
  • Oats: old-fashioned or quick oats work great
  • Miniature dark chocolate chips: milk or semi-sweet work too, but are less nutritious overall (dark chocolate has essential fats your body needs and is a powerful source of antioxidants (source.))

QUICK TIP

If using unsalted almonds and unsalted almond butter, be sure to add a pinch or two of salt to these chocolate protein balls.

Using a good almond butter

This nut butter adds flavor, protein, and healthy fats to these balls. As far as almond butter goes, I recommend a slow-roasted and lightly salted almond butter you enjoy eating straight from the jar.

If you don’t enjoy a bite from the jar of almond butter, it’s not going to add a whole lot flavor-wise to these chocolate protein balls. 

Dutch process cocoa powder

The one ingredient that really sets these chocolate protein balls apart is the cocoa powder. I recommend using Dutchprocess instead of natural or plain cocoa powder. The Dutch process offers a more robust and intensely deep chocolate flavor. Regular cocoa powder will create a less flavorful and drier texture. 

(Hershey’s “Special Dark”® cocoa powder is a Dutch-process cocoa powder that is readily found at most grocery stores.)

Blending the almonds & oats

You will need a high powered blender or food processor to quickly pulse the almonds and oats.

When blending/pulsing the oats, be careful to not over-pulse or blend. If almonds are blended too long, they will begin to turn into almond butter and we want them to be the consistency of flour. I like to pulse a few times, stir, pulse, stir, etc. until a fine powder (like flour) has formed.

Mixing the Chocolate Protein Balls

The dough for these chocolate protein balls is thick and sticky. I like using an electric hand mixer best for mixing everything together, but a stand mixer also works well.

If mixing by hand with a wooden spoon, you may need to use your hands to knead the mixture and get it to come together nicely.

QUICK TIP

Depending on the actual ingredients used, you may need more or less honey or oats to get these chocolate protein balls to come together nicely. If they are too wet, add a bit more ground up oats and if they are too dry add in additional almond butter or honey.

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Chocolate Protein Balls

5 from 4 votes
These chocolate protein balls taste like a chocolate covered almond! With clean and nutritious ingredients and a quick prep time, these will quickly become a weekly meal prepping staple! Only 7 ingredients!
Print Recipe

Chocolate Protein Balls

5 from 4 votes
These chocolate protein balls taste like a chocolate covered almond! With clean and nutritious ingredients and a quick prep time, these will quickly become a weekly meal prepping staple! Only 7 ingredients!
Course Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword Chocolate Protein Balls
Prep Time 15 minutes
Chill Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 30 balls
Chelsea Lords

Ingredients

  • 1 and 1/2 cups old fashioned or quick oats
  • 1/2 cup dry roasted and lightly salted almonds
  • 1 and 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch Process cocoa powder (like Hershey's Special Dark)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons honey, separated
  • 1/2 cup almond butter (See Note 1)
  • 1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

Instructions

  • BLEND OATS: In a high-powered blender or food processor, add the old fashioned or quick oats. Pulse or blend until it resembles flour. (You may need to stir it around to get all the oats to be fully blended). Add the blended up oats to a large bowl.
  • BLEND ALMONDS: Add the almonds to the processor or blender and pulse until they resemble a flour. Do not blend too long or it turns to almond butter. Add to the bowl with the ground up oats.
    *The measurements of oats and almonds should be the measurements BEFORE blending, no need to measure after blending.
  • MIX: Add in the dutch process cocoa powder, vanilla, 1/4 cup honey, almond butter, and miniature chocolate chips. Add pinch or two of salt if desired or if your almond butter/almonds aren't salted. Using electric hand mixers, mix ingredients together and then knead the mixture with your hands until a thick dough forms (kneading also helps incorporate chocolate chips better). If everything is not coming together nicely, add in remaining 2 tablespoons honey (I usually always add in this extra honey, but every once and a while the almond butter is exceptionally wet and extra honey isn't needed). IF dough is too wet, add additional powdered oats. (Dough will vary depending on actual ingredients used)
  • ROLL INTO BALLS: Roll mixture into balls, each ball of dough should be 2 teaspoons in size to get around 30 balls.
  • STORAGE: Store in an airtight container (in fridge, freezer --delicious!, or at room temperature.)

Recipe Notes

Note 1: I recommend a slow-roasted and lightly salted almond butter you enjoy eating straight from the jar. If you don't enjoy a bite from the jar of almond butter, it's not going to add a whole lot flavor-wise to these chocolate protein balls. 

 

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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18 Comments

  1. I’m so all over these! I adore having great little halthy snack bites arounf for when the munchies hit and these are perfect for that. Just what the January doctor ordered!

  2. It took me awhile to appreciate almonds…I still don’t LOVE them on their own, but with chocolate, I can definitely get on board with that 😉

  3. I have some leftover almond meal–do you think that would be OK to use instead of grinding my own almonds? Do you have an estimate of how much I would need to use? Thanks!

    1. I think that should be fine, but I’m really unsure of the amount since I haven’t tried that. I’d recommend starting with 1/3 cup and adding more if too wet (or adding more honey if too dry) until the right consistency is reached.

  4. Yes! Nutritional values including sugar would help me know if we should make them and how many to allow! I wish you had nutritional info on all your recipes!

  5. If I wanted to add protein powder what would I substitute that for? It’s chocolate so I’m thinking the cocoa powder?

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