If you want a protein-packed sweet treat, Coconut Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls are the answer!
![Coconut Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls from Weelicious.com](https://weelicious.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Coconut-Peanut-Butter-Oatmeal-Balls-2-1.jpg)
One of the greatest pleasures in my life is getting to cook with my kids (thank goodness it’s also what I do for a living). Having said that, there are certain recipes that are more appropriate for certain age groups to make than others. Since I’ve got two young children, cooking activities that don’t require the stove are a huge bonus, especially when I’m trying to get both kids involved in the same task at the same time.
There was definitely a mess to clean up when we were finished making these, but it was totally worth every minute. While Chloe was busy licking spoonfuls of peanut butter, pressing her tiny fingers into the coconut on the plate and saying “snow”, Kenya was focused on rolling the peanut butter oatmeal mixture into balls.
![Coconut Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls from Weelicious.com](https://weelicious.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Coconut-Peanut-Butter-Oatmeal-Balls-1-1.jpg)
Halfway through he decided to improvise and said, “look Mommy, now they’re logs!” I looked down at his creation, then up at him and said “Kenya, you’re a genius!” Maybe that was a little too much praise for a kid just having some fun with food, but to a mom always trying to come up with new and exciting recipes for kids to eat, it was an inspired idea.
But the best idea is cooking with your kids. No matter what you make, the experience is always delicious.
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Coconut Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (you can also use almond, cashew, or sunflower butter)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
- Place the oats in a food processor or blender and pulse until finely ground.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the peanut butter and honey.
- Add the ground oats to the peanut butter mixture and continue to stir until thoroughly combined.
- Using 1 tablespoon of the mixture at a time (I like to use a mini ice cream scooper or a spoon), roll into balls or logs.
- Place the coconut in a separate bowl or plate and roll the balls in the coconut to completely cover.
- To Freeze: place balls on a sheet tray and freeze for 30 min. Remove, place in a ziploc bag, label and keep frozen up to 3 months. They're delicious to eat right out of the freezer, too.
I got a similar recipe from Trader Joe’s organic flax meal package- only it calls for the one cup of oats (whole not ground), maple syrup 1/3 cup, peanut butter 1/2 cup, flax meal 1/2 cup, vanilla extract 1 tsp… but I like the idea of grinding the oats – I use Bob’s Red Mill organic oats.
I got a similar recipe from Trader Joe’s organic flax meal package- only it calls for the one cup of oats (whole not ground), maple syrup 1/3 cup, peanut butter 1/2 cup, flax meal 1/2 cup, vanilla extract 1 tsp… but I like the idea of grinding the oats – I use Bob’s Red Mill organic oats.
I love these and make them often for a healthy snack for my 4 y/o (and me!). Has anyone ever tried freezing these with good results?
My family loves these! My husband is a huge peanut butter lover and who knew coconut would pair so well with it??
I have made these two days in a row now, and both times my husband and two girls (1 and 4) have eaten them ALL before I was done rolling them! Per some other suggestions, I used a 1/4 cup of honey rather than a 1/2 cup. Even using fresh ground, unsweetened peanut butter and unsweetened coconut the 1/4 honey made these plenty sweet enough. These are a huge hit in my house, and I thank you for these easy, kid (and husband) friendly recipes. I haven’t made one thing from your site that we haven’t liked! Keep up the great, very appreciated, work!
Thank you all for the tip on the honey. I made this tonight and barely used 1/8 c honey because the coconut peanut butter I used was sweet. These are waaaaaay relish for kids’ school snacks. Only made about 9 balls though, fyi
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These are such a wonderfully delicious, protein packed snack! My daughter is sooo picky, and would probably eat crackers all day if I let her. At least with these I know that pb is giving her some protein. Super easy to make, and lasts a long time in a tupperware!
I didn’t have any honey in the house, so I used maple syrup. They are delicious. For some reason, my daughter doesn’t want to eat them though. She is so picky. I guess I will have the tough job of eating them all myself.
I add cashew nuts (or mixed nuts), dried cranberries, a tablespoon of good cocoa powder and sunflower seeds into the mix- delicious and super nutritious! The kids just devour them. The recipe as printed is great as a base.
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Great recipe. The reviews below we’re helpful. 1/4 cup of honey worked perfect for us. Recipe is great, it’s just a personal preference. Thanx Catherine. You are doing great work. Love your recipes. God Bless!
I found these were way too sweet with 1/2 cup honey & needed more oats as they were still too runny/sticky. Probably will cut honey to 1/4 cup next time.
These are fantastic, but they were too sweet. 1/4 cup honey is perfect.
This is a great treat to satisfy that sweet tooth! My 20 month old daughter loved them, so did my husband. I followed the recipe exactly. It was super quick and easy. I would like to try rolling in some form of chocolate next time to experiment.
My husband and boys love these. I use Adams creamy pb, Bob’s Red Mill Old Fashioned Rolled Oats, Clover honey, and Whole Foods Organic Coconut Medium Flakes and it works perfect. I keep them in the fridge, covered and use them as a snack! Delicious and nutritious.
I bet these would taste good half dipped in dark chocolate!
We are going to make these tonight! What I love about your recipes is that I usually never have to make a special trip to the grocery store to purchase the ingredients. I almost always have them in my fridge or pantry. They are just our staples!!!
These sound great! Can’t wait to try them!
Steel cut oats take longer to cook and tend to get rubbery in baked goods so I wouldn’t try those. Quick oats may work, but those cook so quickly and are a smaller cut that they might get mushy. Choosing between the two I would go with the quick oats and not grind them too fine.
Will steel cut oats work? I have that, but not regular oatmeal. Oh and I have quick oats….will one of those work since its grinded up anyway? Thanks!
Awesome recipe! Loving it like you would not believe. No oven or stove action. Sold!
This has become our new favorite snack food. We use almond butter and mix a bit of coconut flour in with the oat flour. My littles love them and I love that they are getting protein during snack. They’ve got dairy allergies, so it has been a challenge finding snack-friendly protein. Thanks for the great recipe!
Measure the oats and then grind them! How many did you get out of the recipe? Make sure you’re using a 1 teaspoon measure and not 1 tablespoon. 🙂
I tried this recipe and it didnt even come close to the amount of balls you say it should (using 1 tsp.). Im wondering if Im reading the recipe wrong. hould I be measuring 1 1/4 cups of already ground oats or mesure the oats and then grind them up. I did the later and Im wondering if thats where I went wrong. They still tasted great!
These were wonderful! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I added a little wheat germ as well and my boys loved them!
made these with the kids just now, they had a blast making them. didn’t have any coconut so we used ground flax meal and also used natural organic almond butter. another great hit from weelicious :))) cannot wait for your cookbook
I have a 6 yr old and love making nutritious lunches and snacks for her. I just made these and they are AMAZING. And so simple. I used organic natural peanut butter and agave nectar instead of the honey. I didn’t have unsweetened (and didn’t want to use sweetened) coconut, so I ground up more oats, added some ground flax seed and coated them in that. Amazing!
Perfect for school snack during “snow” week. Thanks!
We made these for the first time today. “Snow” balls were the perfect treat/activity for our first day of advent. Thanks Catherine!
I did and it was perfection. Same measurement as honey
could i substitute the honey for agave nectar? if so how much of the nectar would i need to use?
can you use quick oats for these by chance?
I just made them and used half of the ground oats the recipe calls for and for the other half I put in flax seed meal. In addition to the coconut I also threw some dark chocolate chips in the food processor so my kids could roll them in either one…although the chocolate seems to be winning! (because it’s ground so fine, they’re really not getting much chocolate when all is said and done)
Ok, this might seem like a silly question, but once you freeze them, how do you serve them? Do you just take them straight from the freezer and pop them in your mouth OR do you let them defrost a bit before serving? LOVE THIS RECIPE!
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OMG so easy yet so delicious!!!! Thank you!
Thats interesting, I have never heard of that. The peanut butter should be smooth and will thicken with the mixture.
Is the peanut butter pretty thick when mixed with the other ingredients? I spread it thinly on tortillas, bread, etc now because I’m always a little wary of the choking warnings I’ve heard.
Just made these with two of my daughters for them to take to school tomorrow for class snack. Came together so fast, the kids had fun rolling the balls, and they loved the ones they taste-tested.
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I have made these ever since I was little, but using milk powder instead of ground oats. Now I make them for my daughter and use the oats to give her a fiber boost. I only use half the amount of honey and we think they are plenty sweet enough. 🙂 I also mix the coconut right in, in addition to putting some on the outside. YUM!!!
As others have said, they are delicious with a little cocoa powder too.
I just found weelicious, and I am hooked! I tried these today, Amazing! I rolled mine in cocoa powder instead and they were great!