Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Energy Bites
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Energy Bites are delicious little flavor bombs that just so happen to be gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, vegan, and Whole30 approved*.
These Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Energy Bites made me swear. I took one bite and knew they were perfect. A satisfy four-letter word escaped my lips before I knew what was happening. And then I took another bite. And another.
I let the boys watch some TV to keep them out of my hair. I needed 10 minutes to make the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Energy Bites and a little peace and quiet to take photos of these little flavor grenades. Thankfully the kids were in the living room and thus far enough away from the kitchen…and my cursing. No little ears were harmed in the making of this tasty snack.
These delightful goodies are a riff on my Homemade Lara Bars. I added some dried baby bananas and chocolate chips and goodness gracious they turned into what seems like a naughty and sinful treat. And without any additional effort or modifications, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Energy Bites are naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan. *Sub in the cocoa powder for the mini chocolate chips and boom, they are free of refined sugar and Whole30 approved.
Helpful Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Energy Bites Supply List
- Homemade Vanilla Extract. Yum! This makes anything and everything extra special.
- Food processor
- Baby Bananas (Buy this ingredient for much cheaper in stores. I bought these at Trader Joe’s for $1.99 for a bag.)
- Mini chocolate chips
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Energy Bites are the perfect little healthy snack for any afternoon. No swearing required!
Making this recipe or others?
Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #sustainablecooks. I can't wait to see your take on it!
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Energy Bites are delicious little flavor bombs that just so happen to be gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and vegan.
- 1 cup nuts cashews, almonds, pecans, walnuts, or a mixture
- 12-15 dates pitted
- 1/2 cup dried baby bananas
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder optional
- 1 tsp vanilla try homemade
- 2 tbsp mini chocolate chips optional, omit to make sugar-free
Pulse nuts in a food processor until they are in small pieces. Some larger pieces will remain, and some of the pieces will be very small.
Add the pitted dates, bananas, cocoa powder, and vanilla. Process until the mixture comes together in one large ball. Depending on the size of the dates, you may need to add a few more to get the mixture to come together.
Add the chocolate chips and pulse a few times to incorporate.
Pinch off a small bit of mixture and roll it into a ball about the size of a small ping pong ball.
Store in an air-tighter container on the counter. They will keep for weeks,
Omit mini chocolate chips and use only cocoa powder to keep this recipe free of refined sugars and Whole30 compatible.
To make these extra special, try making your own homemade vanilla extract.
This post contains affiliate links and we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you if you click through and make a purchase. This allows me to continue to provide free content, and I only share products that I use and love myself.
The ingredients are very similar to a copycat smoothie (Tropical Smoothie Cafe) I make. Instead of chocolate chips or cocoa powder though, it calls for peanut butter. You also add chia seed and a little bit of almond milk. So good.
Yum! I recently found a container of PB2 (powdered peanut butter) in my pantry. Have you ever used that in smoothies? It’s wonderful.
I am going to try to make these for the boys when they are begging for a “snack” I love that idea
I used almonds and a pinch more vanilla. So yummy!
Got these in the mail today and they travel very well. They tasted fantastic and are actually good for you! Can’t argue with that. Thanks Sarah, much appreciated!
Glad you enjoyed them, Casey. They’re a favorite of ours around here!
These are awesome! I’m on whole30, so instead of chocolate chips, I threw in a half bar of Montezuma’s Dark Chocolate Absolute Black with Cocoa Nibs (a 100% cocoa solids bar available at Trader Joe’s) to get the melty chocolate feel without the sugar. I’ll definitely make these again!
*i only used 12 dates this time, but might up it to 15 to get them to hold together better next time.
So glad you liked them, Ashley! I love the addition of the Cocoa Nibs. I’m heading to Trader Joes on Thursday and will try to find some at my store.