Pumpkin Protein Balls (No-Bake)

By: The Real Food Dietitians Posted: 10/4/23

These No-Bake Pumpkin Protein Balls are a delicious healthy snack (or even a grab-and-go addition to breakfast) that are perfect for the cozy fall season. Rolled oats, protein powder, shredded coconut, flaxseed, pumpkin puree, warm spices, and almond butter combine with mini chocolate chips and roasted pumpkin seeds to create seasonal pumpkin energy balls. It’s a great recipe for meal prep and they’re sure to satisfy your sweet tooth in a healthful way. These pumpkin snack energy balls are so tasty you’re likely to find yourself making them all year long!

This post was created in partnership with Puori.

A New Snack For Your Collection Of Pumpkin Recipes

When fall arrives so do all things pumpkin and pumpkin flavored. But we aren’t complaining! With recipes like our Paleo Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips, Gluten-Free Pumpkin Coffee Cake, and our popular Pumpkin Protein Muffins, we’re more than happy to jump on the pumpkin bandwagon. And to be honest, we never really get off it, as we fit pumpkin recipes into our meal prep routines throughout the year.

In the spirit of the cozy fall season, we decided it was time to add something new to our favorite pumpkin recipes, and created these pumpkin protein balls as a seasonal treat. Perfect for lunch packing and after-school snacks, they’re tastier than store-bought protein bites, quick to prepare, contain real pumpkin, and are perfect for taking on the go. Plus, they’re studded with mini chocolate chips and chopped pumpkin seeds, making them picky eater-approved.

Ingredients To Make Protein Pumpkin Balls

Here’s what you’ll need to gather to make a batch of pumpkin balls:

• Rolled oats – otherwise known as ‘old-fashioned oats’. Quick oats will work in a pinch, but you may need to add a bit more quick oats if your dough is too sticky to roll into balls. Use certified gluten-free oats, if needed
• Puori Vanilla Protein Powder (PW1) – our whole team loves this high-quality whey protein powder, which doesn’t contain any low-calorie or artificial sweeteners and is third-party tested and made from only five quality ingredients
• Unsweetened shredded coconut
• Ground flaxseed (flax meal) – may sub chia seeds
• Spices – you’ll need 2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice plus ground cinnamon and salt, which infuse these bites with a warm, slightly sweet pumpkin flavor
• Almond butter – may sub any other seed or nut butter such as cashew butter, creamy peanut butter, or sunflower seed butter
• Pumpkin puree – make sure you don’t use pumpkin pie filling, which has added sweetener. Instead, incorporate 1/3 cup pumpkin puree for a bold pumpkin flavor plus added fiber and vitamin A
• Maple syrup – used to sweeten the balls without the need for more refined added sugars. May sub pure honey, if preferred
• Coconut oil
• Vanilla extract
• Mini chocolate chips – use semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate chips. For a dairy-free option, we like Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips
• Roasted pumpkin seeds – chopped walnuts or pecans also work great

For the complete directions and ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card below. All of our recipes include the nutrition analysis, listing kcals, protein, carbs, fiber, sugar, sodium, and more per serving.

How to Make These Pumpkin Energy Bites

With no food processor required, this recipe comes together with just a few simple steps below:

1. Combine the ingredients: Add all the ingredients to a medium or large mixing bowl, and stir to combine.
2. Chill the mixture: Transfer the bowl to the fridge to chill.
3. Shape the balls: Use your hands to divide the oat mixture and roll it into equal-sized balls. To make this recipe less messy, you could also use a cookie scoop to portion the mixture into balls.

Recipe Swaps and Substitutions

Need these pumpkin protein balls to be nut-free? Looking for a dairy-free option? Following a vegan diet? We’ve got you covered with these simple modifications.

Replace the almond butter with sunflower seed butter or tahini. If coconut flakes are not an option, omit them completely or replace them with extra pumpkin seeds. This will change the flavor of the protein balls slightly, but they’ll still taste great.

Use a plant-based protein powder and dairy-free chocolate chips.

Just as with the dairy-free option, you’ll want to replace the whey protein powder with a vanilla or neutral-tasting plant-based protein powder and use dairy-free mini chocolate chips.

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