No-Bake Banana Bread Bites

Craving banana bread but don’t feel like baking or consuming more than a cup of sugar? These sweet little energy bites are exactly what you need. You can make them with only six ingredients in just 10 minutes. Not only are they vegan and gluten-free, but they are also great snacks for kids and adults alike. Keep them in the fridge and enjoy when ready, or make a big batch and store them in the freezer, taking them out whenever you want a snack.

Although this recipe calls for walnuts or pecans, almonds work too. Feel free to mix and match the nuts you enjoy for this recipe, so long as they total one cup. For the oats, we chose rolled oats, but you can use gluten-free oats if you don’t eat gluten. And to keep it vegan, the chocolate chips have to be dairy-free. If you cannot find dairy-free chocolate chips, you can use chopped dark chocolate, but the chocolate chips are recommended.

When it comes time to make the banana bread bites, start by adding the nuts to the food processor. Pulse until you achieve a crumbly consistency. Then you can add rolled oats, dates, banana, cinnamon, and vanilla extract and blend until grainy and broken down. At that point, add the chocolate chips and pulse until you get a sticky, dough-like consistency, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Form the mixture into little bite-size balls with your hands and refrigerate them to harden. You can place them in the freezer to accelerate that process, which helps you enjoy them quicker!