THESE HEALTHY SNACKS TOOK 10 MINUTES to make, even with my three “helpers” on hand. That’s not my favorite thing about these no bake balls though. With 4-5 ingredients and instructions like “roll”, even two-year-old Estelle could easily get in on the action. But, nope. That’s not the best part either. I love this new recipe for a simple reason. These little balls are full of all the good stuff I want our kids to eat–nuts, dried fruit, whole oats–and they love them anyway. The rascals call these balls “dessert”, carefully selecting thetastiest looking one from the bowl in my outstretched hand, giggling with each yummy bite.
And my work here is done.
But back to the 10 minutes part. Baby George is 16 months old now and a complete terror. Round-faced with the sweetest smile you’ve ever seen, but truly a terror. Opening drawers, rifling through cupboards, grabbing water other people’s bottles (ahem), methodically pulling all the Ziploc bags from their once tidy box only to scatter them over his shoulder… This is 5 minutes in the kitchen with George. And this is why fast recipes matter to me right now. I have a feeling that speed might be important to you too.
These balls are all over the internet right now. You could add or change the ingredients according to what your kids like and what you have on hand. Unfortunately, these won’t work as a preschool snack for “nut free” classrooms but that’s okay with us. They’re already gone anyway.
10-minute no bake chocolate, fruit & nut balls
We used almonds but any kind of nut, or combination of nuts would work beautifully: cashews, peanuts, walnuts, pecans… Ditto for the dried fruit.
- Yield: 24 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup almonds
- 1/2 cup whole oats (not instant oatmeal)
- 1/3 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup pitted prunes
- 1/4 cup chia seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Using a food processor add the oats, nuts, chocolate, prunes and chia seeds if using, then pulse until the mixture is uniform. It’ll be thick and sticky in the bowl.
- Roll into 2-inch balls and store in an air-tight container. They’ll keep for a week on the counter, and up to a month in the fridge.
i’ve been looking all over for something like this thanks! Will try with dates instead of prunes
Great! Let us know how the dates go and thanks for your note.
This was a big hit in our house!! My 5 and 2 year olds can’t get enough of this. Thanks for the great recipe!
Awesome! We’re trying a new version this week, so we’ll see how it goes and I’ll post it–if it’s a hit too. 🙂 Thanks for your note.
worked like a charm with the dates. thx for the idea, so many things you can to with this.
My 2 yo liked making them at least as much as eating them, scooping and button pressing in the same recipe!! We used apricots and raisins (cause I didn’t have enough apricots). I didn’t measure too carefully, but I think I used more than a cup of fruit and the batter didn’t stick, but I just kept adding raisins and checking if I could form balls until I could. Very tasty!
These sound delicious! How am I just now finding your blog?! I love it!
Ah, thanks Carol! Great to hear from you and by all means, if you make these, or another version of your own, let us know how it goes! Always, always on the hunt for new ideas that work. CCM
Awesome! So delicious! I also made another batch replacing the prunes with apricots. Scrumptious. Thank you!
Great, Sylvie! Apricots sound divine. Trying soon!
These are great! Made mine with dried cherries, craisens and pecans. 2 inch seemed REALLY big. Made mine much smaller and was able to get about 20 cookies.