These healthy little no-bake protein balls are a great midday snack, ready in about 15 minutes, and keep in the fridge for about two weeks!

Now that I’m officially in my 40s, I’ve been really thinking about what my health goals are. Not that 40 years old is old – it’s not! It is young and I feel very young myself, but I do want to keep myself feeling as good as I feel right now for as long as I can (in terms of strength and mobility).

Some of the things I’ve been really focusing on are drinking at least eight glasses of water (I’ve been sneaking 8 oz of coconut water into my smoothies lately instead of using almond milk – I may never go back), sleep – really working on being in bed and going to sleep at 10pm, which is really hard when you’ve got teens who want to hang out with you (a problem I’m very grateful to have!), maintaining a strength training focus with low impact cardio, and getting lots of protein into my diet without counting macros. I just don’t want to do it, guys! I’ve done the My Fitness Pal thing and I don’t want to go back (great tool, no knock on them – just don’t want to count calories).

I’ve been experimenting for the last two months with higher amounts of protein at meals, while still making sure I’m getting adequate fruits, veggies, and carbs. I can honestly say that I feel an improvement. I’ve noticed a very subtle but significant shift in how I feel in my own body. I don’t experience much bloating anymore, I’m not as cranky because I am feeding myself all day long, and I honestly feel more confident and stronger.

I’ve been loving making protein balls lately because they’re such an easy, quick snack to make, but also, they taste really good! I’m not the biggest chocolate lover, but one thing I do love is cold chocolate (which is good because you keep the protein balls in the fridge), so I knew I wanted to add chocolate chips to my protein balls. It kind of feels like a bit of dessert when I get a bite with a chocolate nibble in it.

Most of these ingredients you likely already have around the house (oats, cinnamon, chocolate chips), and a few you may have to add to your grocery list (flax, chia seeds, protein powder), but the list is pretty simple, and all good stuff. Including Amazon links below where possible, though we do get a lot of this stuff at Costco!

• Old fashioned oats – no need to use quick cooking or steel cut oats. Old Fashioned oats will give you that perfectly chewy texture you want. Gluten free oats can be used instead if need be!
• Almond butter – I prefer the flavor of almond butter, but you can use whatever nut butter you like. Cashew, peanut, whatever.
• Maple Syrup – You want to use real maple syrup here, not the sugary stuff. However, if you don’t have maple syrup, honey works great here too. Even better if it is a honey local to you!
• Protein Powder – You could use a flavored protein powder, like chocolate. But I had some plain protein powder on hand so that’s what I used. You could also leave this out, but it just ups that protein anti for ya.
• Ground Flax Seed – I pretty much add this stuff to everything anymore. It’s a great source of fiber, as well as protein, and mixes into smoothies and other baked (or in this case, unbaked snacks really well.
• Chia Seeds – Another great source of fiber as well as rich in antioxidants, and omega-3 fat. It’s a tiny little powerhouse ingredient.
• Chocolate Chips – I used dark chocolate and I also used a no sugar added dark chocolate chip. Use whatever kind of chocolate chip you like though.
• Ground Cinnamon – I pretty much also add cinnamon to almost everything. It adds warmth and flavor, and is high in antioxidants, which also aids in helping lower cholesterol, glucose levels, and inflammation.

I think you can see why these little protein balls are such a perfect little snack and like I mentioned earlier, they don’t take long to make. Under 10 minutes to mix together and another 3-5 minutes to roll into balls.

Tip – When it comes to rolling the protein balls, you can do this one of two ways. The first way is to form into balls and roll in your hand…after about 5 balls though, you might notice the ball not forming as well and that’s because of the ingredients on your hand making it difficult as well as the heat from your hand. You can just simply wash and rinse your hands and keep going until you come across the issue again. The second way is to simply chill the batter in the fridge for 10-15 minutes and then using a cookie scoop to shape into balls. This way may take a little longer, but it is a bit less messy, in my opinion. I’ve done it both ways and they both work well.

These protein balls will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks, but I doubt they will last that long, especially if you’re sharing them like I do with Josh! 😆

Curious as to how many you should eat in a day? No expert, but I would say keep it to one to two protein balls a day.

Other protein snack ideas to try:
Pumpkin Spice Protein Bites
Honey Oat Power Balls
Protein PB&J Smoothie
Chocolate Covered Blueberry Protein Smoothie
Homemade Granola Bars