Chocolate Chip Banana Energy Bites
Healthy no-bake Chocolate Chip Banana Energy Bites! These easy paleo/Whole30 snacks are loaded with dates, cashews, and dried bananas. Chocolate chips are optional (a no-no for Whole30) but delicious.
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 Energy Bites Supply List
- Homemade Vanilla Extract. Yum! This makes anything and everything extra special.
- Food processor
- Baby Bananas (You can buy this ingredient much cheaper in stores. I bought these at Trader Joe’s for $1.99 for a bag.)
- Mini chocolate chips
Are These Banana Energy Bites Whole30 Compliant?
Leave the chocolate chips and vanilla extract out and then yes they are. Don’t go crazy with these during a round of Whole30 as they’re meant to be an emergency snack and are not to be considered a treat.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Energy Bites are the perfect little healthy snack for any afternoon. No swearing required!
Making this recipe or others?
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Healthy no-bake Chocolate Chip Banana Energy Bites. These easy paleo/Whole30 snacks are loaded with dates, cashews, and dried bananas.
- 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.
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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.
Ok. I made these. Seriously yumm.
So glad you liked them Jillian; they’re one of my favorites!