A super easy chocolate protein ball recipe with a nice buckwheat crunch and rolled in shredded coconut. These have an amazing chewy texture with a nice crunch. Made with wholesome ingredients like oats, dates, and protein powder they’re fair game for a snack, dessert, and even breakfast!
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt about myself during my health and fitness journey, it’s that I always thank my past self for making easily accessible healthy snacks that are nutritious and leave me feeling light and energized.
When I’m working from home it’s pretty easy to grab snacks, but a few times I’ve been in situations where I was far from both home and food and these protein balls always save the day. I’ll pack these with me when I go mountain biking, and most recently on a hunting trip with friends who were quick to ask for the recipe once they had devoured them with me.
Chocolate Coconut Protein Balls Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this protein ball recipe:
- Pitted dates – I love using dates with pits because I find they are nice and moist, it may require more effort to pit but it takes barely any time to do and avoids having to pre-soak your dates.
- Milk – any milk you keep on hand will work, as long as it is unsweetened, this just helps add moisture to the mix. I prefer using Earth’s Own Unsweetened Almond Milk.
- Quick oats – I recommend using quick oats, and if you’re gluten free, be sure to use certified gluten free rolled oats.
- Protein powder – Any unsweetened protein powder will work here, with my preference being Unflavoured & Unsweetened Grass-Fed New Zealand Whey Protein Isolate by Canadian Protein (or their Premium Whey Protein Isolate). Let’s talk protein powders for a minute here, this is simply the highest quality whey protein isolate on the market. I did a comparison between quite a few different options and found this one to have the highest concentration of amino acids. Proteins are made up of amino acids EAAs & BCAAs. A complete protein contains sufficient amounts of all 9 EAAs.
- Cocoa powder – Of course, this is what gives the protein balls a rich chocolate flavour. I like to use the organic dutch processed baking cocoa powder found at Costco!
- Coconut oil – I use a scant 1/2 teaspoon of melted coconut oil to help the balls stick together.
- Cinnamon – A dash of cinnamon adds a lovely spiced contrast to the chocolate.
- Salt – I add a dash to highlight the rich chocolate flavour.
- Buckwheat groats – Despite its name, buckwheat is actually a gluten-free grain. These add a nice crunch, don’t skip it!
- Shredded coconut – Unsweetened shredded coconut to roll the finished balls in because I’m a coconut addict, but it’s definitely not necessary.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Process the dates and milk until combined. Then, add the remaining ingredients and process, except for the buckwheat groats and shredded coconut. Mix in the buckwheat groats by hand, roll the mix into balls and roll in shredded coconut!
Chocolate Coconut Protein Balls
Ingredients
- 15 Medjool Dates pitted
- 3 tbsp Almond Milk unflavoured & unsweetened
- 1 cup Quick Oats
- 2 scoops (60 g) Protein Powder unflavoured & unsweetened
- ½ cup Cocoa Powder dutch processed
- ½ tsp Coconut Oil melted
- ¼ tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp Fine Sea Salt
- ⅛ cup (2 tbsp) Buckwheat Groats
- about ¼ cup Shredded Coconut unsweetened
Instructions
- Add your pitted dates and milk to a food processor or blender and process until combined.
- Add oats, protein powder, cocoa powder, melted coconut oil, ground cinnamon & salt and process until combined. Then, by hand, stir in buckwheat groats.
- Roll into golf ball sized balls with your palms cupped. You might have a thin coating of the mix stick to your hands while you do this, if you do wash it off before rolling in the shredded coconut.
- Use a large flat plate to put your shredded coconut on and roll your protein balls in the coconut until they are evenly coated. That's it! Enjoy 🙂