When I like something, I really like something.
I’ll play a song on repeat until I can’t stand to listen to it anymore; I’ll wear an outfit until people probably start wondering if I own any other clothes; and I’ll eat a particular food until… well… until I polish off an entire bottle of molasses 😯
It should probably come as no surprise, then, that I’m sharing yet another white chocolate and cranberry recipe with you guys today. I fell for the combo pretty hard after featuring it in my white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies, but I needed a new vehicle to fuel my addiction after eating cookies all week just to get my fix. Enter no-bake energy bites…
As much as I love all the sweets and treats that come out during this time of the year, I have to admit that I’m getting a little sugared out — the other day I actually found myself craving baked chicken, roasted broccoli, and a pickle… which is a pretty good indication of how much sugar I’ve been eating lately.
Don’t get me wrong — I couldn’t imagine Christmas without all the gingerbread, snickerdoodles, and sugar cookies — but there comes a point where you start craving a little distance from the butter, and the sugar, and the flour… just for a little while.
These cookie bites have given me that distance. They satisfy my sweet tooth without overwhelming it, and they’re made with what I consider to be one of the best foodie trifectas there is — almonds, honey, and oats. As an added bonus, they don’t require any time in the oven — just a quick whir through the blender followed by a brief stint in the fridge. No fuss, no muss, and every bit as delicious as their traditional counterparts. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say they can replace real cookies, they’re a wonderful alternative for those times where you could just use a little break.
I’d love to know if you make this (or any!) recipe! Tag @runwithspoons on Instagram and Twitter, and be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive more healthy and delicious recipes straight to your inbox!
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No-Bake Holiday Cookie Energy Bites
- Total Time: 30
- Yield: 10 1x
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, ground into a flour
- 1/4 cup almond butter (or other nut butter)
- 5 Tbsp. honey
- 1 tsp. orange zest
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 2–3 Tbsp. white chocolate chips/chunks
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- To make oat flour, place rolled oats into a blender or food process and process until they turn into a very fine powder. Set aside.
- In a small pan over medium heat, add almond butter and honey, stirring until the almond butter is melted and fully combined with the honey. Add the orange zest and almond extract.
- Remove from heat and add the oat flour. Mixuntil well combined. Add dried cranberries.
- Using a tablespoon, scoop out dough and use your hands to roll it into a ball. Place it on the baking sheet and repeat until all the dough has been used.
- Optional: place chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and nuke on high in 30 second intervals, mixing between each. When chocolate is fully melted, drizzle over the top of the bites using a spoon.
- Place baking pan into fridge and allow to cool for ~20 minutes until bites have set.
- Prep Time: 10
I hope you guys are keeping sane during all the last-minute holiday prep craziness! I’ll be taking the next couple of days off from blogging so that I can focus on getting ready for Christmas, but I’ll be back on Thursday to share some random holiday thoughts for Thinking Out Loud. See you then!
Oh these sound amazing! Another recipe I can’t wait to make once I get a working food processor/blender. These sound perfect for the christmas flavors and healthier than the cookies I have been baking.
Yum! Just pinned these, thanks Amanda!
Thanks for the comment you left on my blog today. It’s nice to hear from someone who understands. I responded back to you.
Oh and I so understand loving something to “death!” When I find a song I like everyone knows it because I listen to it over and over until it drives everyone crazy but me of course. Eventually I move on and find a new victim 🙂
Merry Christmas!!
Us introverts gotta stick together 😀 Merry Christmas, Jen!
You know how there’s the trifecta of ingredients for jambalaya, I think red peps, onion and celery? I could be wrong on that. But you’re so right with the almonds, honey and oats thing! It’s energy bite trifecta. I bet the orange zest adds a wonderful bite to these. Yum!
I am with you on the sugar overload.. I still have three more Christmas dinners to go to, not to mention my families annual Christmas Eve cookie baking party..
I’m a sucker for white chocolate. Considering it’s a base of butter and sugar I’m not at all surprised. I love all the healthy ingredients in these: oats, honey, cranberries, and I can relate to craving veggies. It’s usually my body’s way of saying enough sugar, bring on the nutrients.
Have a wonderful Holiday.
I totally feel ya on craving some distance, considering I went ham on the double chocolate peppermint cookies I posted today! Tis the season for boatloads of suga and buttah. Thank God there’s fab food bloggers like you to keep us sane with yummeriffic healthy cookie bites! Love it.
Oh Yum!!!! I am SO making these!!!
I am all over these little gems! In fact, Im so all over them that Im making them….right….NOWWW.
Merry Christmas to you and your family babe!
LOL- Is ‘Whir’ a word? If not, it better be- best way to express the motions in a processor!
Love the no bake aspect- We must be on no baking wavelengths this week! Have a great Christmas buddy- secretly hoping mama spoons makes you pancakes Christmas morning.
It is a word! 😛 And you better be sharing the recipe for those truffles soon!
Have a great couple of days off for Christmas! I hope you have a great time with your family! These cookie bites look really tasty – thanks for the recipe! 🙂
This recipe looks awesome – my kind of “baking” for sure!!!
I think I’m slowly getting to the oversugared point myself…not quite there yet though, considering that I just ate some post-lunch cookies 😉 I definitely agree that the white chocolate and cranberry combo is delicious. Definitely keep these in mind for when I need some not-quite-so-sugary treats!
you put my bites to shame.. haha. Wanna come work for me? LOL!
NEVER! (in regards to putting your bites to shame — you’re the queen of bites). As for work — YES! You can pay me in bites 😉
I pressed save before I even read your post on these since I knew I’d want to make them 😉 I couldn’t wait for our roasted chicken and veggies dinner to be done last night after all the sugar I’ve eaten in the past few weeks…no regrets from me but I’m with you on needing a tiny sugar break before the grand finale tomorrow and Wednesday 😛
I am so with you on being sugared-out. I am trying to slowly wean myself with overnight oats 🙂 I like how you are transitioning with these energy bites. Happy Holidays.
I’m totally the same way! When I like something, I really like it haha 🙂 I drive people crazy listening to the same songs over and over again!
This recipe looks SO GOOD! I love “no bake” snacks and goodies. They’re easy and seem to be extra chewy and amazing. Merry Christmas pretty lady! xoxo
Merry Christmas to you too, Ashely! Give your little guy a hug for me 😀
I still love the white chocolate & cranberry combo… it’s great! I’m like you with my love of something… especially the new song – wear it out til I hate it. lol
Happy Holidays!!
Swoon…These look unbelievable. Not to mention, they’re the perfect way to indulge after I’ve been indulging like a crazy person. Like you, I’m getting slightly sugared-out. But I’m sure the feeling will pass soon enough…
PS: Please, please, please teach me your photography ways. Your photos are always stunning. I’m actually planning to invest in a new camera sometime soon. What do you use? Thanks, lady!
xoxo
Practice, practice, practice! That’s pretty much all there is to it — and not being afraid to play around with your camera’s manual settings. As for what I shoot with, I have a Canon EOS7D 🙂
You had me from “no bake” hhaha oh and white chocolate I suppose. These looked amazing when you posted them on Instagram and they look amazing now. I love any kind of energy ball because I think they can be made year-round and because they’re suuuuper simple. Happy Holidays!
I’m getting a tad bit baked out myself… and the worst part is that it’s not over yet 😆 Merry Christmas, Erin!
OMG I cant wait to try these. Thats an awesome flavor combo that I love!
I will take a dozen of these, please! You can ship them my way in time for Christmas! 😉
Have a great Christmas, Amanda. I hope to hear from you soon!
Girl! What a great recipe! I love this!:) I’ve never been big on cranberries, but these sure are pretty! So festive<3 I hope you have a lovely holiday Amanda! I'll think of you when I use my brand new camera Wednesday!:)<3
Eeeee! I’ll e-mail you back STAT! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it 😀
Have a very Merry Christmas! I hear you on the overdoing sugar – as much as I love my sweet tooth, I often crave “real” food when I have had one too many cookies, frozen yogurt and/or chocolate desserts.
You and me both, girlfrand. I wear the exact same outfits until I wear a hole in them and replay songs until I’m ridiculously tired of them! Love this recipe for a change of pace 🙂
At work we were discussing if there were any alternate name for these dessert (or healthy) balls. I like yours – bites. I’m going to go with that. Regardless, these look delicious. I love anything that doesn’t have to be baked! Good luck with the Christmas prep! See ya on Thursday!
Balls definitely don’t sound the most appetizing 😆 And I just wanted to say again… your post today? Loved it <3
I’ve definitely been feeling all. the sugar!
TOO FUNNY! Great minds think alike, I have Lightened-Up White Chocolate Cranberry Scones on my blog right now! Such a great flavor combination and these look absolutely delicious 😀
those look so freaking tasty. I can’t wait till I actually get the time/energy to make my own energy balls like that. I still have yet to try LCotter’s bites but I swear they are on my ‘need to order’ list. These look right up there!
Wow!! THese look amazing!! So delicious!! YUM!! Thanks for sharing! I hope that you have a lovely Christmas!
Will you forgive me if I tell you that I’m not sure I’ve ever tried the white chocolate cranberry combo? I promise I’m planning on changing that!! Between these and some white chocolate cranberry scones I’ve seen, I think I’m destined to try the combo soon.
Have a lovely Christmas, Amanda!
It’s one of those combos that I never paid much attention to either, but it’s quickly become one of my favourites so I definitely recommend giving it a try soon. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas as well, Alex <3
Have a wonderful holiday, Amanda! I will “see” you when you return!
These bites look delish!
Love no bake foods, especially around this time cause I get lazy. Plus I think my body could use some healthier foods lol I think it’s about to give up on me
These look so pretty! I think they’re even too pretty to eat (read: not). And the frosting….I’m not sure if it would actually make it on the bites…..
Merry Christmas Love!
I go by the “one for the cookie, two for my mouth” principle 😉
These look delish. I had two white chocolate cranberry cookies right before bed last night… mmmm!
These look scrumptious! Perfect for a healthier holiday snack amongst all of the sugar and butter filled Christmas desserts!
These energy bites sound fabulous specially seeing they are so healthy!
I have been craving healthy stuff too – made a huge pot of broccoli and olives last night and eat 2 plates of it!
Merry Christmas to you and your family Amanda!
White chocolate and cranberry are one of my favorite combinations of flavors. That and chocolate+raspberry or chocolate+orange. Both are really good. Those look really good and they certainly photograph well. 🙂
I didn’t get to do enough with the chocolate-orange combo this year 😥 But it’s a winter combo, right? Meaning I still have a good 4 months to do some baking with it? 😆