21 Day Fix Protein Balls

These 21 Day Fix Protein Balls are the perfect healthy snack! They’re a filling peanut butter oatmeal recipe that is super easy to customize with your favorite add-ins–chocolate chips, raisins, cranberries, flax seed, and more.

We always have these on hand for snacking, dessert, or when we go on road trips! Kids love this recipe, and I love making a big batch to have on hand.

These are the perfect delicious snack for after school. Or Netflix time snack. Bedtime snack. Pre-workout snack… See where I’m going with this? Just a handful of simple ingredients like oats, peanut butter, honey, and a few chocolate chips (I love dark chocolate!) will satisfy your sweet tooth cravings like no cookie can!

I love these balls because they’re just the right amount of sweet–no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners. In our house we consider this a healthy snack. They’re perfect quick energy bites with no baking required.

Where’s the Recipe?

Here at My Crazy Good Life we work hard to provide nutritious and delicious recipes for all of our readers. We are committed to creating healthy recipes that are perfect for your healthy eating journey. Whether you are on the 21 Day Fix, or you are just trying to eat healthier, we’re here to support.

We write our recipes with detailed instructions, tips and tricks, healthy eating plan points, and nutritional information. If you are ready for a more simplified recipe, simply scroll down to the bottom of the page where you’ll find our easy to print 21 Day Fix Protein Balls Recipe.

Ingredients in 21 Day Fix Protein Balls

• Oats: I prefer to use quick cooking rolled oats in our bite sized balls. If you are looking for a gluten-free version of this recipe, just be sure to make sure the rolled oats are gluten-free, as well as the chocolate chips. We love the texture of the rolled oats over using steel cut oats.
• Peanut Butter: We use natural peanut butter. I love that it has fewer ingredients and less sugar. We love the natural peanut butter that is a little thin, not overly thick.
• Honey: We try to support local shops and purchase local honey that is processed in our area. If you aren’t able to find a local source, grocery store honey is totally fine!
• Shredded unsweetened coconut: If you don’t like shredded coconut you can leave this ingredient out! The 21 Day Fix balls will be just as delicious with or without the shredded coconut.
• Chocolate chips: Chocolate chips are totally optional, and I actually prefer mini chips because they allow the balls to hold together easier.
• Vanilla: Yum. The teaspoon of vanilla extract balances out perfectly with the oats and peanut butter.
• Protein powder: I like to use vanilla protein powder or unflavored, but if you’re looking to make these chocolate protein balls you can add chocolate protein powder. You could also use vanilla shakeology if you have that on hand. This is an easy way to give yourself more protein!
• Our protein energy balls are so easy to customize! Some of our favorite optional ingredients are:
  • MCT Powder: Contains medium-chain triglycerides. It’s pretty much coconut oil in powder form.
  • Flaxseed: Great source of omega-3 and fiber.
  • Chia seeds: Chia seeds are full of benefits such as fiber, protein, antioxidants, and magnesium.
  • Raisins: Raisins are a good source of fiber, and a perfect possible addition to our 21 Day Fix protein balls.
  • Chopped Nuts: I think chopped pistachios, chopped almonds, or chopped walnuts would be delicious in our energy balls.
  • Dried Cranberries
  • Cinnamon
  • Maple Syrup: Feel free to use maple syrup instead of honey if you are looking for a vegan 21 day fix treat.
  • Other flavored Chocolate Chips: Peanut butter, white chocolate, so many options.

How to Make 21 Day Fix Protein Balls

1. In a large or medium bowl, add all of your ingredients.
2. Mix well. Using a stand mixer for this recipe is the best way to get the ingredients to stick together nicely and make the protein balls easy to roll. If you don’t have a stand mixer, a hand mixer will do!
3. Optional: Chill mixture in the refrigerator for an hour, then roll out balls about an inch in diameter. The chilling helps you roll the mixture. You can also roll them right away if the mixture cooperates. For tips about how to fix a mixture that is too dry or too sticky, see our recipe tips below!
4. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Recipe Tips

• I don’t think a food processor would do well with this recipe because it’s so thick. Not mixing this enough will result in balls that don’t stick together well, so I definitely recommend mixing very well. We like to use a hand mixer or stand mixer instead of the food processor.
• We prefer rolling the balls onto parchment paper or wax paper. We find the balls stick less to these surfaces than a regular cookie sheet.
• We recommend storing our 21 Day Fix Protein Balls in an air tight container inside the fridge. These are best chilled. They should be fine to enjoy for a few weeks as long as they remain refrigerated. We’ve never managed to keep them in the fridge that long, they always go fast in my household. Do note, that these won’t last as long if they aren’t stored in the fridge.
• If you prefer to make these into granola bars, check out my post on healthy granola bars. I’ve included a lot of detailed tips and tricks in how to form the bars successfully.
• You might have to play with the recipe a bit depending on your ingredients, but know that it’ll be worth it in the end! Different brands of peanut butter change the way these come together, and I’ve found that using mini chocolate chips instead of full size chocolate chips really helps them stick together better.
• If your protein balls are sticky – If you’re struggling to roll these peanut butter oatmeal balls because they’re too sticky, add a bit of extra oats to dry them out. You’ll want to mix the recipe again after adding the oats so that they become fully incorporated and soak up that extra peanut butter and honey.
• If your protein balls are too dry – They need some more peanut butter or honey! This recipe can vary quite a bit depending on the type of peanut butter you use. I prefer Costco’s Kirkland Organic peanut butter for this recipe because it’s very thin and mixes really well. Using a thicker peanut butter, like JIF, could cause the peanut butter oatmeal balls to dry out a bit. It’s very easy to ‘fix’ the balls at this point by adding a few tablespoons more peanut butter or honey, or oats like stated above.
• We recommend using peanut butter, but you could modify the recipe to use almond butter or other nut butters like cashew butter. Just be sure to recalculate your healthy eating plan points if you make any recipe swaps. Also note that we haven’t recipe tested these versions.
• Our protein balls are able to be stored in the freezer. I love making extra batches before vacation and freezing them so I can bring a few containers along with us. I’ve frozen them for up to six months, and they taste as delicious as the day I made them. We have also frozen them to ship them in the mail, and they arrive perfectly.

Healthy Eating Plans

21 Day Fix

For the 21 Day Fix, I treat these like a healthy dessert. 2 balls = 1 yellow treat swap. If you’re comfortable pushing the top of the calorie range for treat swaps, you could have three.

Weight Watchers

Check out our Weight Watchers Protein Balls recipe for the recipe and point plan information.

Other Fix Recipes

• Healthy Tuscan Chicken Pasta
• Instant Pot Chicken Ramen Stir Fry
• Instant Pot Lemon Chicken
• Instant Pot Cauliflower Fried Rice

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