No-Bake Carrot Cake Bites
When you’re in need of a quick, healthy snack (or sweet treat), these carrot cake bites are the perfect recipe! They require no cooking, are quick to make, slightly sweet and packed with healthy ingredients!
What sets these energy bites apart? In addition the nuts and dates (which you’ll see in most recipes), we’ve been able to sneak in a nice helping of fresh veggies. And as I’m sure many of you agree, it doesn’t get much better than hidden veggie snacks that taste like dessert!
All you’ll need to make these energy bites are a few simple ingredients and a food processor.
We’ll start by blitzing some raw carrots in the food processor until they’re finely chopped (almost a mealy consistency). Then you’ll transfer those to a bowl and add in your dates and nuts. The dates act as a kind of sticky binder and provide a nice touch of natural sweetness. They also help the balls stay together.
For this recipe I chose to use pecans. I love the caramel flavor they have, but you could easily swap in your favorite nut. (walnuts would also be delicious).
To this mixture, we’ll add the rest of the ingredients and then just pulse everything together until it forms a dough that you can roll into balls.
A few notes on this recipe before you make them:
- These are a little softer than traditional energy bites due to the high water content in the raw carrots. I recommend keeping them in the fridge
- If nuts are an allergen in your house, you can swap in sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds for the pecans and sunflower butter/tahini for the nut butter
- If oats are a sensitivity, you can use your favorite flaked grain (quinoa flakes would be great here!)
- If you want a sweeter option, increase the number of dates, but you’ll also have to increase the amount of oats
Other than that, I think you and your little ones are really going to love this recipe. They’re crazy simple to make, taste like carrot cake and are fun to snack on. Hope you enjoy and have a happy start to the summer!
Alyssa is the blogger and cook behind Simply Quinoa, a gluten-free website dedicated to healthy food, always with a little quinoa twist.
No-Bake Carrot Cake Bites
Ingredients
Instructions
- Add the carrots to the bowl of a food processor and process until finely ground. Transfer to a plate or bowl and return the bowl to the food processor base.
- Add in dates and pecans and process until combined. Return the carrots to the food processor and add in the remaining ingredients.
- Process until a dough forms and you can roll them easily into balls. If the mixture is too wet, add in a tablespoon or two of flaxseed meal (or more oats). Roll the mixture into balls and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.
Nutrition
www.superhealthykids.com
Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
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I thought they were falafel balls at first! They look yummy though and way too healthy! Great recipe – thanks for sharing!
These are alright. I don’t know if I’d make them again, but if I did I’d cut the ginger in half.
Just finished making these, they’re lovely! I didn’t have dates so substituted ‘dried’ figs, which seem to have worked well.
I love your snack recipes but my son can’t anything to school with nuts, what do you suggest for a substitute? Or other recipes?
These are great! Only thing I did different was to roll them in coconut flakes at the end. They were delish 🙂
Love these no bake bites for the holidays!
Just made these as a healthy snack for myself (guess I’m a big kid) and they are definitely delish as a vegan snack. I didn’t add the ginger. It was so good, I’ll be making again!!
Very good! My daughter loved them!
My son loves it! “Yummy!”
we added maple syrup so it was a little sweeter 🙂
I substituted nut-free pumpkin & sunflower seed-based trail mix for the nuts, and sunflower seed butter. They were a little sticky even with added oats (we cannot use flax) so I rolled them in shredded coconut and served them in mini cupcake liners. I am allergic to oats so couldn’t taste them but my kids enjoyed them!
It’s pretty good for a healthy option snack. I would probably add a few tablespoons of maple syrup for a little more sweetness. But overall ?? pretty good! My two year old enjoyed them so it’s a win ????
My kids loved these. I thought they were kind of a weird texture. Next time I will try less processing of the carrot.
I’m impressed?I added oats to firm them a bit and rolled them in almond flour. My kids are grown, but we are always looking for healthy tasty deserts. These definitely satisfy.
Great idea! Thank you Tina.
My kids loved these and they’re super easy to eat
Hi there we simply love theese bites – thank you for the great idea
Hello! Can u freeze these?
I haven’t tried it, but you should be able to.
This is a keeper! I had left over dates from the holidays and 3/4 of a bag of mini carrots–that no one in my house will eat, so this was perfect. I was looking for something I could have for breakfast on the run that was somewhat healthy. FYI, I googled how many cups is 3 medium carrots shredded–it’s 1 1/2 cups and the 6 dates are about a 1/2 cup. I was afraid it was going to make way to many balls as my food processor was full, but nope, 12 balls perfect for a weeks worth! Thanks for sharing-super easy to whip up in 15 minutes.
Thanks for sharing Nancy! Glad you like them. 🙂
My kids have a huge sweet tooth, so I was nervous about how they’d react to these. They (and I) LOVED them! Thank you so much for the recipe! Quick question- how much is considered a “serving” in the nutrition information?
Thanks for sharing, Hanan! The serving size is two Carrot Cake Bites. Thanks for catching that omission; I updated the recipe.