These Chai Oatmeal Energy Balls are vegan, gluten-free, no-bake and oil-free! They are not your typical energy bite or ball, which is typically chocolate chip, peanut butter or banana. Nope, I decided that my never-ending love of all things chai, would be the perfect flavor for an energy ball! These are a perfect snack or quick grab-n-go breakfast that is full of whole foods and nutrition!
CHAI OATMEAL ENERGY BALLS
I’m all about the easy, quick no-bake energy balls. It makes for an easy vegan breakfast lately. My mornings and days are very busy and I tend to not eat breakfast because of that. So, creating this recipe to always have on hand in the fridge means I’m getting something nutritious to have first thing in the morning or while on errands. Not only are they healthy, full of fiber, healthy whole food fats and protein, but they are INSANELY DELICIOUS.
Chai is my favorite spice blend. I prove this with my Chai Coconut Cookies and the most epic Chai Waffles ever. And of course, let’s not forget about this absolutely delicious Masala Chai!
They take 10 minutes to whip up and just 1 bowl, talk about easy! NO food processor needed!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
- Roasted almond butter
- Pure maple syrup
- Vanilla extract
- Chai spice blend: Either store-bought or my homemade blend listed below
- Oat flour
- Quick cooking oats
HOW TO MAKE CHAI OATMEAL BALLS
Step 1: If making my homemade chai spice blend, combine the spices into a bowl and stir well. Set aside.
Step 2: To a large bowl, combine the almond butter, syrup and vanilla and stir until smooth.
Step 3: Stir in the chai spice and salt.
Step 4: Stir in the oats and oat flour until the mixture comes together into a very thick and sticky batter.
Step 5: Roll into 1 inch balls. You should get 16, which is how many I got. If you make them larger, obviously you will get less.
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Chai Oatmeal Energy Balls
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (128g) roasted creamy runny almond butter (I love the Kroger Simple Truth brand and the Trader Joe's roasted almond butters.)
- 1/4 cup (80g) pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 teaspoons chai spice blend (store-bought or MY BLEND below)
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup (100g) QUICK cooking oats (NOT regular)
- 3-4 tablespoons oat flour
CHAI SPICE BLEND
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/16 teaspoon ground cloves
NOTE
- The purpose of using quick oats is because they are much softer and smaller, which results in a more moist ball, also the texture is much easier to eat and more pleasant than whole oats.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- First, combine the chai spice blend or use store-bought. Set aside.
- It's important that your almond butter is really smooth and runny/drippy, otherwise the balls won't stick well and be dry/crumbly. Add the almond butter, syrup and vanilla to a large bowl and stir until smooth and well mixed.
- Stir in the chai spice blend and salt. Stir in oats and oat flour (starting with 3 tablespoons).
- Stir for a couple of minutes until the mixture comes together into a very sticky, thick mixture. It helps to bring it together by continually pressing the mixture with the back of a spoon. Depending on the almond butter used, you may need the extra tablespoon of oat flour.
- Once the mixture is fully combined and moist, roll the mixture into tiny balls about an inch thick. You should get 16, which is how many I got. If you make them larger, obviously you will get less. They should be very easy to roll into balls and hold together well. I use a cookie scoop, as I find this easier to press the mixture first into the scoop and it makes it more compact and easy to roll into balls. I like to let the balls to sit for an hour or so before eating them, as the moisture from the almond butter and syrup softens the oats for the perfect bite. Keep them stored in a sealed container either at room temperature or in the fridge!
This looks delish! One thing I will note for those that don’t have quick cooking oats on hand, is just use regular oats and give them a couple of whizzes in a food processor – that will break them up a bit and they’ll be fine. I’ve used this trick many times when I needed smaller oat pieces and didn’t have anything on hand but regular oats.
Hi Jules! I would make sure to weigh them for this then because the volume amount will change that way and I wouldn’t want the balls to turn out too dry.
Thanks for making the chai blend recipe for the exact amount needed. No need to reduce the recipe! Thanks Brandi. 😊
My pleasure Sue! Let me know after you make them!!
Delicious! Thanks
Yay, so glad, thank you Sue!
Brandi, why do I ever doubt you! I decided to make just a half recipe, because Chai isn’t my very favorite flavor. Now I could kick myself for only making a half recipe! LOL. These are over-the-top delicious. I tripled the recipe when I made the chai spice, and so happy now that I did that! I can make more! Once again, winner winner, Chai dinner…err, you get what I mean. XO
Aww yay Carol! So happy you loved these! That blend is so good, I think it would make everything taste better, haha!!
This is my second time making these delicious energy balls! They are perfect for snacks, as well as a fast breakfast. I made your amazing chai blend too.
So…….asking for a friend 😉……. if one would be eating the entire batch in a day…..how many calories would my friend be consuming?
Haha, I’m so glad to hear you love them Marie! I snack on them often, too! I just added the nutritional stats onto the recipe card, which shows the nutritional breakdown per ball (based on 16 total) so you can get an idea of it by how many balls you eat!
Thanks!! Looks like I need to slow down my consumption 😳
Oh my goodness! I love chai and searched your site because of making your chocolate donuts yesterday. These are so amazing and will get me through the next long week of parent teacher conferences! Thank you for your awesome site and recipes!
Hi. Does the chia spice blend contain chia? I don’t see it in the recipe
It is chai spices, not chia seeds.
So easy to make! These are so good it’s hard to eat just one! The chai spice blend adds a perfect chai flavor. I love that no food processor is necessary to make these (I feel like mine is always on the verge of dying when i use it to process dates). Would definitely make again!
So happy you loved them!