No Bake Hazelnut Raisin Energy Balls

These no bake raisin balls are healthy, delicious and nutritious! You’ll love these hazelnut raisin energy bites that are so easy to make with simple ingredients.

Today I am sharing no-bake energy balls with raisins and hazelnuts.   If you want to eat sweet and healthy,  these healthy snacks are for you.

Raisins not only give energy but they are also natural sweeteners in this recipe.  I’ve used dates in my almond date balls and date nut bars as natural sweeteners before.  You can check those posts for alternative recipes.

I also used figs in my fig balls as a natural sweetener before. But today is raisins’ day.

Hazelnut and chocolate combination is one of my favorites.  I’ve used them in my flourless cookies. Today I am combining those two ingredients in a healthy recipe.

The Ingredients for No Bake Energy Bites

• Raisins-give energy, full of vitamins, minerals and fiber. If you want to read more about the nutrition of raisins, you can click the link. I use the sultana raisins.  Currants may have a sweet and tangy flavor. You can read more about the types of raisins by clicking the link.
• Hazelnuts-nutritious, give energy, full of antioxidants and healthy fats.  You can read more about the health benefits of hazelnuts by clicking the link.  
• Cocoa Powder– I use cocoa powder as I like it a lot with hazelnuts but while I searched for the benefits I read that it makes you feel full, so you may eat less and lose weight. So this is a win-win situation! You can read more about the health benefits of cocoa powder by clicking the link. 
• Dark Chocolate–You can omit dark chocolate if you want but it is nutritious and full of antioxidants.  If you want to get the benefits of dark chocolate, you should use at least with 70% cocoa. You can read more about the health benefits of dark chocolate by clicking the link. 

How Long Do These No-Bake Balls Last?

You can keep these raisin balls in an airtight container up to a week in the fridge, or up to a month in the freezer.

Let’s see the steps;

How to Make Raisin Energy Balls

First, place the hazelnuts in a pan and toast over medium heat for almost 3 minutes.  Stir in every 15 seconds to prevent them from burning. Take them from the heat when they give off their aroma.  Let them cool on the baking sheet before you put them into the food processor.

When the hazelnuts are cool, place them into the food processor and start to ground them at medium speed and gradually increase to high.  It takes almost 20 seconds to ground them. If you want larger pieces to be in these balls, you can process less. But be careful not to over-process it otherwise the hazelnuts can turn into hazelnut butter.

Then add the raisins and the cocoa powder and pulse until they turn into a paste.

You should be easily making balls out of the paste.  If you can’t, pulse for some more seconds.  

You can taste the mixture, if you find it dry, you can add 1 teaspoon of water and pulse again( you can taste again and add more if needed. You should always add gradually). 

If you want it to be sweeter you can add more raisins. Don’t add more than 2 tablespoons, otherwise, they will be too sweet. 

Next start to roll the dough into small balls.  You can use a small cookie scoop which is 2 teaspoon big.  The balls are 15-16 grams.  Place them on to a parchment paper-covered baking sheet.

These healthy balls are delicious as they are.  If you like you can eat them without dipping into dark chocolate.

Or you can go one step further and add another level to these mini bites by dipping them into chocolate.

You can melt the chocolate over bain-marie by placing the chopped chocolate into a heat-proof bowl that sits over a pan of simmering water. The bowl shouldn’t touch the water.

Using a fork, dip the balls into the melted chocolate and let the excess chocolate drip off by gently tapping the fork on the side of the bowl.  Then gently place the balls on the parchment paper with a fork.

If you like you can drizzle chocolate on top.  If you want to make a more distinct drizzle, instead of drizzling the chocolate immediately, you should keep the balls in the fridge for 15 minutes until the chocolate sets. As the chocolate sets, you can dip your fork into the melted chocolate and drizzle it over the balls.  Then you can keep in the fridge to let them cool.

I hope you enjoy these healthy raisin balls!

No Bake Hazelnut Raisin Energy Balls

You can make these healthy no bake energy balls with only 4 ingredients.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Healthy Snacks

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 balls

Calories: 114kcal

Author: Meymi

Ingredients

• ▢ 120 g (1 cup) hazelnuts
• ▢ 75 g (½ cup) raisins*
• ▢ 6 g (1 tablespoon) cocoa powder
• ▢ 110 g (4 oz) dark chocolate, roughly chopped

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Instructions

• Toast the hazelnuts in a pan over medium heat for almost 3 minutes. Stir in every 15-20 seconds to prevent them from burning. Take them from the heat when they give off their aroma. Let them cool on the baking sheet.
• When the hazelnuts are cool, place them into a food processor and start to ground at medium speed and gradually increase to high. If you want to feel the hazelnut pieces in your balls,  don’t process too much. Especially don’t over-process the hazelnuts(same for any nuts in a different recipe too) otherwise, they can turn into hazelnut butter.
• Add the raisins and cocoa powder into a food processor and pulse until they turn into a paste.  If you can’t easily make balls out of the paste pulse for some extra seconds.  At this moment, you can taste the mixture. If you find the paste dry, you can add 1 teaspoon of water and pulse again. You can gradually add more water if needed.   You can add up to 2 tablespoons of raisins if you want the balls sweeter. More than 2 tablespoons will be too sweet.
• Roll the dough into small balls (15 grams-2 teaspoons big).  If you like you can eat them without dipping into chocolate. If you want to cover the balls with chocolate, melt the chocolate over bain-marie: Place the chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl that sits over a pan of simmering water. Stir often. OR Melt the chocolate in the preheated oven at 210F(100C): Place the chopped chocolate into an ovenproof dish. When the chocolate starts melting, stir the chocolate. Continue melting-stirring as needed.
• Using a fork or a dipping tool, dip the balls into the melted chocolate. Let the excess chocolate drip off by gently tapping the fork on the side of the bowl. Place the balls gently on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet with a fork or dipping tool. If you like you can dip a fork into melted chocolate and drizzle over the balls. For a more distinct drizzle, keep the chocolate covered balls in the fridge for 15 minutes or until the chocolate sets. Then remove the balls from the fridge and drizzle the chocolate over the balls. Let them cool in the fridge.

Notes

*I use sultana raisins but you can use your preference. Please keep in mind that currants may have a sweet and tangy flavor.

 

How to Store: You can keep these energy balls in an airtight container up to a week in the fridge, or up to a month in the freezer.

You'll need 90 grams of chocolate, I use extra to make the dipping process easier.  Calorie is calculated with 90 grams of chocolate.

The calorie information above is an estimate that is provided by an online nutrition calculator. If you don't dip the balls into melted chocolate, one energy ball is 83 calories.

Nutrition

Calories: 114kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 164mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg

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Update Notes:  I originally shared this recipe on March 21, 2017.  Today I republish it with extra information and some new photos.