If you need a healthy snack for work, pre working out, to pack for a road trip, or just cause you’re hungry, you’ve come to the right place. These healthy vegan chocolate protein balls are filling, full of nutritious ingredients, and of course delicious!
What you’ll need:
For this recipe, you will need oats, peanut butter, agave, chocolate protein powder, cacao powder, hemp hearts, cacao nibs, vanilla, a pinch of salt, and a couple of tablespoons of dairy free milk (I used almond milk).
Protein: The oats, peanut butter, protein powder, and hemp are all good sources of protein.
Cacao: For these protein balls, I used raw cacao powder, which is different than cocoa powder. Both give recipes their chocolatey flavor, but they are made quite differently. Raw cacao powder is the less processed and contains more minerals. You can usually find cacao at any health food store. As far as flavor is concerned, you can use either raw cacao or cocoa.
How to make your vegan chocolate protein balls:
In a large bowl, combine all of your ingredients and mix them well (leave the almond milk for last). I usually start mixing them with a fork, but eventually end up using my hands because it’s easier.
Now you have combined all of your ingredients except the almond milk. Add one tablespoon of almond milk at a time until all of the ingredients are well combined. You might only need 1 or 2 tablespoons. You don’t want to add too much and make it too runny, or you won’t be able to shape them.
After you get a good thick mixture, start shaping the mixture into balls (about 1 inch in diameter). Refrigerate or enjoy right away!
If you choose, you can use this same recipe and make it into protein bars instead of balls. All that you would do differently is use a shallow baking pan or dish to transfer the chocolate protein mixture to, instead of forming it into balls.
If you liked these vegan chocolate protein balls and want more nutritious and easy to make recipes that you can grab on the go, try these:
- maca protein bars
- banana muffins
- blueberry almond oatmeal cups
- chocolate chip muffins
- frozen yogurt fruit cups
- all are vegan and gluten free 🙂
Healthy Vegan Chocolate Protein Balls
Ingredients
- 1 cup oats
- 1/3 cup agave
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 3/4 cup chocolate plant protein powder
- 3 tbsp cacao nibs
- 2 tbsp cacao powder
- 1/2 cup hemp hearts
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 pinch of salt
- 3-4 tbsp almond milk
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix your dry ingredients first. This is the oats, plant protein, cacao powder, hemp hearts, and salt.
- Add the peanut butter, agave, and vanilla to the mixture.
- Then fold in the cacao nibs.
- Add almond milk as needed. You want the mixture to be thick and sticky. You don’t want any dry parts, but also don’t want to make the mixture too liquid.
- Take about a tablespoon at a time from the mixture and form into balls. At this point, the protein balls are ready to eat.
- You can refrigerate them for about a week.
