The words “Healthy Snack Balls” have always kinda grossed me out. Like, do I really want to eat something with the word “balls” right there in the name, unabashed? I think the only food that can safely use “balls” in the name is “meatballs” …because there’s really not a better word for a ball of meat. But healthy little morsels of oats, dates and nuts? We can do better than “balls”.
So these are cookies. Or bites. Or morsels. Or bars. Anything but balls.
I’ve been trying to up my protein intake lately, and since I don’t eat meatballs, it’s proving to be a little harder than I thought without my daily calories jumping to 3000 (okay, not quite 3000, but you get the idea…nuts, chickpeas and lentils are calorie hefty foods!). So I made these no bake cookies as a way to sneak in a little more protein at snack/dessert time. They’re made with protein rich oats, cashews, almond butter and an extra scoop of plant based protein to really pack it in. I added some dates for natural sweetness…and then I drizzled some dark chocolate on top, because I love myself.
I hope you love these as much as I do. Honestly, I think I like them better without the protein powder but I’m leaving it in the main recipe because if you omit the protein powder THESE TASTE JUST LIKE CANDY and I would eat the whole batch in one sitting…is that a bad thing? Idk… probably because the point is to add protein (without a gallizion calories, and if I ate all of the cookies in one sitting that would be exactly 1 gallizion calories), I’m keeping the protein powder in the recipe. Feel free to omit if you like.
While I’m talking about calories and protein, its important to note I AM NOT a nutritionist. Do not rely on me for nutritional advice – I only know what works for my own body. This is also the reason I do not include nutritional information with my recipes. <3
Prep Time:
Yield:
Print
PinDescription
These Protein packed No Bake Cashew Cookies are perfect for snack time or as a healthier dessert option!
Ingredients
- 1 cup medjool dates (about 15–17 dates)
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup thick cut oats
- 1 scoop (42g) plant based protein (plain, vanilla or almond)
- 3 tablespoons creamy almond butter
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- flakey sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the s blade, puree dates until smooth. Remove dates from food processor bowl and set aside.
Place the dry ingredients (oats, cashews, salt and protein powder if using) into the bowl and pulse until you have a very fine crumb. Add date puree into dry ingredients (I like to break up the puree into 4 clumps before placing in food processor bowl – I find it help incorporate more smoothly), as well as almond butter. Run processor on high for 60 seconds then add almond milk 1 tablespoon at a time. If your almond butter is very runny, you may find you only need 1 tablespoon almond milk. Pulse a few more times until wet ingredients are thoroughly mixed in and the mixture’s texture is fairly smooth and sticky.
Scoop out mixture onto parchment paper and roll out until 1/4 inch thick. If your mixture is too sticky to roll, place another piece on parchment paper on top before rolling. Cut into small discs or whatever shape small cookie cutter your have (about 1-1 1/2 inch cutters will get you 36 cookies). Bunch up scraps and roll out again to be cut, repeating until you have no more dough mixture.
Place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and let chill until firmed up – about 20 minutes.
Using either a small sauce pan over low heat or microwaving in 30 second increments, melt chocolate and coconut oil together. Drizzle over cookies and sprinkle with sea salt and additional cashew pieces if desired. Chill again until chocolate is firmed up.
Keep refrigerated until ready to snack, but these also keep just fine wrapped in plastic at the bottom of your bag for a day’s outing.
Yields 36 1 inch cookies.
Notes
Feel free to leave out the plant based protein powder – these cookies pack a protein punch without it. Just reduce the almond milk to 1 tablespoon, unless your almond butter is very very runny, then you can omit the almond milk all together.
If your dates are dried out, you should soak them prior to using in the recipe.
If you don’t feel like rolling and cutting out cookies, you can just press them into a parchment lined 8×8 pan and then cut into little squares.
Keywords: no bake cookies, protein cookies, healthy cookies, cashew cookies, naturally sweetened
Any suggestions on what could be used in place of the date’s? My tummy is not a fan of date’s…
Dates work best here, but you could substitute another dried fruit like apricots. I would soak them first though, since they’re not usually as soft as medjool dates.