12 Kid-Friendly Energy Ball Recipes Made Without Protein Powder

Looking for a quick, healthy snack made with real food ingredients? Here are 12 kid-friendly energy ball recipes made without protein powder. 

Hi friends!

Let’s talk about snacks for a minute, shall we? More specifically, snacks for kids. Because lord knows my kids eat a lot of them- pretty much every 2 hours all day long, am I right?!

These aren’t giant snacks by any means, but they do occur multiple times per day, so I do my best to make sure they’re healthy and full of nutrients.  Some of our favorites include:

• Muffins and Bars
• String cheese with crackers
• Hard-boiled eggs with fruit
• Avocado or peanut butter toast
• Smoothies or smoothie popsicles
• Veggies and crackers with hummus
• Energy balls
• Frozen yogurt tubes
• PB&J Waffles

If you need packaged snacks, check out my list of 60+ Healthy Packaged Snacks for Kids and check out my latest resource The Snack Spark for tons more ideas.

Protein Balls without Protein Powder

I try to rotate through snacks to avoid burnout, but if I had to name one thing I make sure to prep every single week to have on hand, it’s energy balls. My oldest absolutely loves my Lemon Energy Balls and the younger two are fans of my no-bake mint chocolate version (i make them without the crushed peppermint when it’s not Christmas time!)

When I look for protein balls for kids, I look for recipes without protein powder. Many parents are surprised by how little food it takes to meet the daily protein requirements for kids so there’s usually no need for extra protein powder. I choose nutrient-dense recipes that are full of protein thanks to nuts, seeds etc!

Protein balls for kids make a great snack. I love that you can prep a big batch ahead of time and store them in the freezer for a quick and easy snack time. I rounded up a few recipes for you to try!

Energy Balls for Kids

I love them because it’s so easy to make a batch ahead of time and pop them in the freezer and just pull them out whenever we need a quick snack. I’ve decided that since we’re eating them weekly, it’s about time I start branching out a little bit and trying some new flavor combos. Instead of doing all the work myself, I turned to some of my blogger friends and asked them to share their favorite energy balls and bites!

Note that while a lot of energy balls are made with protein powder, for this roundup, I chose only recipes that do not include protein powder. You guys know I’m not a huge protein powder user myself (although I do use it to make my No Bake Protein Bars), but I don’t feel it’s something Squish needs to be eating at his age.

So here’s the list I came up with, including a few of my favorites from The Bean archives:

Lemon Energy Balls

No-Bake Mint Chocolate Bites

Apple Cinnamon Cookie Energy Bites via Kristine’s Kitchen Blog

Dark Chocolate & Blueberry Energy Bites via The Creative Bite

Cherry Larabar Balls via Eating Bird Food

Key Lime Pie Energy Bites via Peas and Crayons

Chocolate Coconut Pistachio Bites via Cotter Crunch

Raw Vegan Brownie Bites via Happy, Healthy Motivated

Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond Butter Energy Bites via Joyful Healthy Eats

Strawberry Cheesecake Swirl Energy Balls via The Healthy Maven

PB & J Swirl Energy Bites via Fit Foodie Finds

Carrot Cake Energy Bites via Cookin’ Canuck

 

More ideas:

• Cranberry Chocolate Almond Energy Bites via Iowa Girl Eats
• Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls via Meal Planning Magic

So if you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen working my way through this list with my little assistant. Which should we try first?!

 

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–