These Gingerbread Energy Balls are a delicious little Christmas snack with homemade gingerbread spice, full of lots of warming spices. You can either serve them as a snack or as easy no-bake Christmas cookies, and they're freezer-friendly!
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Why You'll Love These Energy Balls
Unique Christmas flavor - These little bites have a ton of warming spices like cinnamon, allspice, cloves, star anise, coriander, and cardamom. I use my own Christmas Spice Blend which is my family's version of the Classic Gingerbread Spice Mix. It's commonly used in the Czech Republic where I'm from and I'm been adding it to anything from oatmeal and cookies to coffee and smoothies. You can use either spice here but if you've never tried my version, I highly recommend it!
Easy snack and freezer-friendly - Energy balls and bites are my favorite thing to make because they store really well in both the fridge and freezer, and making them is really easy too. You will need 7 simple ingredients and about 20 minutes. The food processor does most of the work and then you just roll the dough into little balls!
Ingredients
- Rolled oats - I chose classic old-fashioned rolled oats here because I always have them on hand, but quick oats would work as well. I don't recommend steel-cut oats because they won't blend as well in the food processor and won't create the same texture. Oats are naturally gluten-free, but always choose a certified gluten-free brand if needed.
- Almond butter - A nut butter helps to bind everything together, adding healthy fats, protein, and flavor. I chose almond butter, but hazelnut butter or cashew butter would also work. Alternatively, you can use sunflower seed butter.
- Pure maple syrup - I like using dark maple syrup here for a stronger molasses flavor. Alternatively, you can also use honey or, for even more stronger flavor, add 1-2 tablespoon molasses. If you want to add more than 1 tbsp, you may need to add less maple syrup or less almond butter to avoid the dough being too soft.
- Cacao powder - All the warming Christmas spices go really well with chocolate, so I added a little bit of cacao (or cocoa) into the dough, and I also rolled the finished balls in it. It helps absorb some of the oil released from the almond butter as well.
- Gingerbread spice - I highly recommend using my Christmas Spice Blend here. It's a little different from a classic Gingerbread Spice (not as much ginger), but we've used it in our Czech Gingerbread Cookies for generations! It's full of warming spices and tastes like Christmas!
- Vanilla extract and sea salt - Vanilla adds flavor, and fine sea salt balances the sweetness of the maple syrup.
Variations and Substitutions
- Oat flour - If you don't want to blend the oats, you can use oat flour, which is just oats ground into flour. It will be finer than if you were to blend them yourself.
- Almond flour - If you don't want to use oats or you don't have a food processor to blend them into flour, you can use almond flour instead. You can mix everything in a bowl, though it will take more work to get it all evenly mixed together.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Add rolled oats, Christmas spice, cacao powder, and fine sea salt to a food processor.
- Pulse until it forms coarse flour. You can make it as coarse or as fine as you like. I like to keep mine on the finer side.
- Add almond butter, maple syrup, molasses if using, and vanilla extract.
- Blend until it’s completely mixed, and it resembles cookie dough. The dough will be quite oily because the almond butter releases oils as it blends. This is normal and unavoidable. It will happen more with roasted almond butter.
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- Take the mixture out of the food processor and roll it into small balls with your hands. It should make about 35 balls.
- You can either stop here or roll them in cacao powder. I like doing this because it adds chocolate flavor and soaks up the oil from the almonds on the outside.
- To add even more flavor to the coating, mix about 2 tablespoon of cacao with ¼ teaspoon of Christmas spice and roll the energy balls in it, brushing off any excess with your fingers. Enjoy!
Tips & Tricks!
- Roll them in cacao powder - I like doing this because the almond butter makes the dough really oily after blending, and the cacao soaks up some of it and adds flavor.
- Use a food processor, not a blender - A blender would struggle with these, no matter its strength.
Storing
Refrigerator: Store the balls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. I don't recommend storing the balls at room temperature.
Freezer: You can also store the balls in the freezer in a freezer-safe container for up to 4-5 months. To defrost them, either transfer them to the fridge for a few hours or let them sit out at room temperature for 30 minutes or so. Due to their high fat and sugar content, they should defrost quickly.
FAQs
No, the flavor would be way too overpowering. If you want to add molasses, I recommend adding 1-2 tablespoon of molasses. If you want to add more than 1 tbsp, you may need to add less maple syrup or less almond butter to avoid the dough being too soft.
Yes, oats are naturally gluten-free, but I always recommend certified gluten-free oats where needed.
More Energy Balls Recipes
If you want to try other energy bites, check out any of the five recipes linked below! See Snack Recipes for all the latest ones!
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Have you tried these Gingerbread Energy Bites? Please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!
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Print📖 Recipe
Gingerbread Energy Balls
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 34 energy balls 1x
- Category: Snack
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These Gingerbread Energy Balls are a delicious little Christmas snack with homemade gingerbread spice, full of lots of warming spices. You can either serve them as a snack or as easy no-bake Christmas cookies, and they're freezer-friendly!
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 4 tsp Christmas Spice (or Gingerbread Spice)
- 2 tbsp cacao powder (plus more for rolling)
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ¾ cup almond butter (I use roasted almond butter)
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 tbsp molasses (optional)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add rolled oats, Christmas spice, cacao powder, and fine sea salt to a food processor and pulse until it forms coarse flour.
- Add almond butter, maple syrup, molasses if using, and vanilla extract. Blend until it’s completely mixed, and it resembles cookie dough. The dough will be quite oily because the almond butter releases oils as it blends. This is normal and unavoidable. It will happen more with roasted almond butter.
- Take the mixture out of the food processor and roll it into small balls with your hands. It should make about 35 balls.
- You can either stop here or roll them in cacao powder. I like doing this because it adds chocolate flavor and soaks up the oil from the almonds on the outside.
- To add even more flavor to the coating, mix about 2 tablespoon of cacao powder with ¼ teaspoon of Christmas spice and roll the energy balls in it, brushing off any excess with your fingers. Enjoy!
Notes
Storing: Store the energy balls in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer for 4-5 months. I recommend the freezer because they stay fresh for longer and are easy to defrost.
Defrosting: Defrost in the fridge for a few hours or at room temperature for 30 minutes.
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