Nut Free Energy Balls Recipe for Kids 
School Friendly Recipe! Nut-Free Protein Balls
This recipe for nut free energy balls is found in the School Year Survival Cookbook by Laura Keogh, and Ceri Marsh, and adapted by Andrea Holwegner. A great take-along, or add to lunches as a dessert or snack idea. You can even get the little chef in your home to help make these.
Makes about 22 balls.
*Note: f you are serving this for someone with a severe nut allergy please be sure to read the product labels of every ingredient and make sure the ingredients were processed in a facility that does not contain nuts.
What you need:
- 1 cup oats
- 2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 Tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2 cup ground flax
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup sunflower butter (OR: 1/2 cup WOW butter, plus 1/4 cup vegetable oil)
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
How to make:
- In bowl, mix all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least half an hour.
- Once everything is chilled, roll into 1-inch balls, and store in fridge, in sealed container.
Nutrients Per Nut Free Energy Ball:
- Calories – 118
- Fat – 6.5 g
- Carbohydrates – 13 g
- Fibre -2 g
- Protein – 3.2 g
We hope you have enjoyed this healthy school-friendly recipe for kids for nut-free energy balls!
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About Andrea Holwegner
CEO, Registered Dietitian, Counseling Practice Director & Professional Speaker
Andrea the «Chocolate Loving Nutritionist» is founder and CEO of Health Stand Nutrition Consulting Inc. since 2000. She is an online nutrition course creator, professional speaker and regular guest in the media. Andrea is the recipient of an award by the Dietitians of Canada: The Speaking of Food & Healthy Living Award for Excellence in Consumer Education....Read more
Re the Nut Free Energy Balls – Can you use regular butter or margarine for the sunflower butter. I couldn’t find that or Wow butter in the stores. Thank you.
Hello Lynn,
You really do need a seed butter or nut butter for this recipe. I’m not sure where you are located as we have subscribers all over Canada, the US and beyond but you can usually find sunflower seed butter at most grocery stores or a health food store in the peanut butter section. WOW butter is a chickpea butter and a common brand where I live but note there are definitely a few more brands. Try googling pumpkin seed butter or chickpea butter and hopefully some brands come up and point you in the right direction to some options in your local area. thanks!
Can these be frozen?
Hello Lauren – yes these can indeed be frozen! I like to make a double batch for this very reason as it saves me time for my family for busy school days and sports. Enjoy!
I didn’t have the ground flax seed, but they ended up tasting just as amazing!! Barely made the hour in the fridge!!!
Glad this worked out for you! Thanks for letting us know you enjoyed this recipe!
Instead of chocolate chips, could I add cocoa instead and how much would you recommend?
Hello June – thanks for your question here. I’m not sure adding cocoa instead of chocolate chips would work well given the consistency or texture is so different so you’d need to do some experimenting. If you don’t want to add chocolate chips perhaps some additional diced dried fruit such as diced dates, craisins, raisins or sunflower seeds or crushed pumpkin seeds would be a good fit.
Thank you for your response. I did go ahead and try the cocoa and it works great! I just subbed out some of the flaxseed to balance the dry to wet and it’s been great! How long can they keep in the fridge though?
Hello June – great to hear this worked for you. If you are not going to eat the energy balls within the week I would place them in the freezer as they will last for months there and you can just pull them out when you need them.
You should really state to check all your labels on these ingredients. Both my chia seeds and flax were made in a facility that produces tree nuts. This makes my energy bites not safe for someone with a tree nut allergy. If I wouldn’t have had the knowledge to check those labels I may have unknowingly give someone we know an allergic reaction. 😬yikes! Just wanted to give you that heads up.
Hello Elyse – thanks for making a note of this here. You bring about an important consideration – we will make a note on this recipe to flag this for others that may not just be sending these in their kids lunch but for someone with anaphylactic allergies. Thanks again for your comment here.
Could you use a fruit flavoured syrup instead of maple?
This is a good question! I haven’t tried using a fruit flavoured syrup but it might work so you could give it a try.