Who doesn’t need all the comforting flavors of carrot cake wrapped up into a healthy snack!?! It’s clearly no secret around here that we love energy bites. They’re so easy to make, and they’re absolutely invaluable for keeping me on track for healthy eating.
It seems like more often than not I’m in need of a quick snack, and these fit the bill perfectly. They also keep well in the freezer for a month. So it’s easy to make a big batch every few weeks, and have healthy snacks available all month long.
Making your own energy bites might seem like one of those projects along the lines of making your own bread. But I promise you that energy bites are a gazillion times easier, and much faster to make. They also taste much better than store bought, and cost less than half to make your own.
For the pineapple flavor in these carrot cake bites, I used an unsweetened dried pineapple which is tough and leathery. So you’re going to want to soak if first before processing it together with the rest of the ingredients.
Once you have the texture you like for energy bites, you can shape them however you’d desire. Sometimes I do bars, but lately I’ve been really into rolling them into bites. From there, a quick roll in shredded coconut makes them pretty, and provides some extra flavor as well.
I hope you enjoy these, and if you’re looking for more energy bite inspiration, I’ve definitely got you covered!
- Molasses Ginger Cookie Energy Bites
- Chocolate Chip Energy Bars
- Lemon Meringue Pie Energy Bars
- Snickerdoodle Energy Bars
- Pumpkin Pie Energy Bars
- Peanut Butter Cookie Energy Bars
Carrot Cake Energy Bites
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 32 - 1 ounce bites 1x
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup grated carrots, 3 carrots, 8 ounces
- 2 cups walnuts, 7 ounces, see notes
- 1 cup almonds, 5 ounces
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- 12 medjool dates, 10 ounces, pitted and quartered
- 1 cup fine shred unsweetened coconut, 3 ounces
- 1/4 Teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon sea salt
- 4 ounces (10 rings) unsweetened dried pineapple, soaked 30 minutes in 1 1/2 cups hot water
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- Extra shredded coconut for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the grated carrots evenly on the pan, and roast for 15 minutes, or until softened and caramelizing on the edges. Cooking the carrots briefly really makes these taste more like carrot cake rather than adding raw carrots. Allow the carrots to cool, and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
- Place the walnuts, almonds, hemp seeds, dates, coconut, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sea salt into a 12-cup food processor. Pulse until the dates have been blended in, and only small pieces of the nuts remain.
- Drain the soaked pineapple, and roughly chop it. Add the pineapple, vanilla extract, and cooled cooked carrots to the food processor and process until the pineapple is blended in, and the mixture is like a thick cookie dough.
- Form the energy bites as desired. I roll mine into 2 tablespoon/1 ounce energy bites and roll them in additional shredded coconut.
Notes
All the nuts in this recipe are un-toasted.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
The instructions don’t say when to add the carrots into the batch. I’m guessing at around the same point as the pineapple?
Yes, you’re exactly right, the carrots go in with the pineapple! Sorry I forgot to list that, but I’ve added it in now – thanks for asking, so I could fix that!
Yummy, carrot cake! They look so yummy and healthy! We would love to see them on WholeYum!
Thank you, and of course I’ll be submitting it to WholeYum, I’m just a bit behind this week! 🙂
These look delicious. I love carrot cake, you’re right about it being comfort food. I’m going to make some of these and freeze some too. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
There’s just something about carrot cake that’s so comforting, not sure why, maybe it’s because I remember having it as a child! 🙂
Carrot cake is one of my very favorite cakes. I’ve totally been wanting to jump on this whole energy bite craze and I may start with these. Thanks for sharing!
I really got into energy bites because they’re so easy to make, and they’re a great on the go snack!
These sound so good!! How long will they keep?
I keep them in the fridge for 5-6 days, but they keep in the freezer really well for 6 weeks. I hope you enjoy them, and be sure to let me know how it goes, or if you have anymore questions!