Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Energy Bites

These simple no-bake Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Energy Bites are easy to whip up for a fun snack...with no guilt!

I made these on a whim recently, when I was working on my kids' lunches for the week. I needed something that didn't have to sit overnight {like many bars of this variety} and would be ready instantly. This is how it all went down>>>


I had been looking for something that would work to keep my kids fueled up all day long...especially since we're nearing the long days of standardized school testing here in Texas. I'm hoping I can tuck these in my third grader's lunches for a quick refuel on testing days.

I ended up creating my own recipe for these. There's lots of energy bite recipes out there, but a lot call for protein powders and such, which I really didn't want to give my kids yet. A lot also call for flax seed. While I love using flax seed, my older son's digestive tract doesn't love it {ahem}. 

These are easy to put your own twist on. They just need to be worked with until the consistency is just right for them to stick together in the balls. The above photo is the consistency that works well for me.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon honey

Directions:
Pulse oats in a food processor until they're about the size of granola pieces. Add in your peanut butter and pulse a few more times to get it incorporated. This is a good time to adjust the recipe and see if you need a bit more peanut butter, based on whether the crumbs look too dry or not. Add in your vanilla and honey. The mixture will be slightly sticky, but not too sticky {this is the only way I know how to describe this...heehee}. If the mixture is too sticky, add in an additional tablespoon or two of oats and pulse until just right.
Scoop heaping teaspoons of mixture out and roll into balls with your hands.
Makes about a dozen.

I store them on the counter in an air-tight container. I think they would dry out too much in the refrigerator. But truly, these go so fast that I rarely have to store them.

So yummy! The perfect little snack.

I featured these bites in last week's post, Non-Sandwich Lunch Box Ideas.

{i linky-party here}

and at Coastal Charm and Savvy Southern Style

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