These Molasses Ginger Cookie Energy Bites are based off my favorite and classic cookie, but made healthy enough for a snack. These tasty no bake bites are naturally sweetened with dates and full of ginger cookie flavor. They’re also gluten free, dairy free, vegan and paleo as well.
My favorite cookie of all time is my Grandpa’s Molasses Ginger Cookies which I made into a gluten free version last year. They’re highly addictive, and so good that I don’t make them too often because I lack a little thing called ‘willpower’!
So I thought it might be fun to take the same flavors of this classic cookie, and turn it into and energy bite/bar that you can feel good about eating every single day. These bites are sweetened with dates, and have all the addictive qualities of my favorite cookie without the butter and sugar.
They’re warmly spiced, sweet, and have the texture of a good cookie dough. And I don’t know how you feel about baking, but eating cookie dough is half the fun for me!
The funny thing with Molasses Ginger Cookies is the cookie dough isn’t actually that good in comparison with the baked cookies, and nothing like a good chocolate chip cookie dough. So you can imagine my delight when these energy bites came out tasting like you’d imagine Molasses Ginger Cookie dough to taste, (in other words… my idea of perfection).
Let’s talk about how to make these Molasses Ginger Cookie Energy Bites!
Tip #1: Medjool dates are my favorite date to use in energy bites/bars because of their soft texture and caramel like flavor. For the best deals, try and find dates in bulk because they’re much cheaper when you buy a couple of pounds at a time.
Tip #2: And the same goes for nuts, they’re quite expensive in small quantities. If you buy several pounds at a time, you’ll find the price really drops. Another budget tip for nuts is to look for pieces rather than whole nuts. Since you’re chopping them up in the food processor, there’s no need for whole nuts in this recipe.
Energy bites are really easy to make, simply place all the ingredients into a food processor…
… and process into a cookie dough like texture.
From there you can shape the dough into bites or bars, then enjoy some now, and maybe freeze some for later.
I absolutely love having a container of these in the freezer, (they keep for at least a month) for easy snacks. They’re also sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth, and they’re great for cookie dough cravings as well!
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Molasses Ginger Cookie Energy Bites
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 28 – 1 ounce bites 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These Molasses Ginger Cookie Energy Bites are based off my favorite and classic cookie, but made healthy enough for a snack. These tasty no bake bites are naturally sweetened with dates and full of ginger cookie flavor. They’re also gluten free, dairy free, vegan and paleo as well.
Ingredients
1 cup almonds, raw, 5 ounces
2 cups pecans, raw, 8 ounces
1 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut, 3 ounces
12 medjool dates, pitted, 8 ounces
1 Tablespoon + 2 Teaspoons Vietnamese cinnamon
1 1/2 Teaspoons ground cloves
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 Teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup molasses, unsulfured
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoon water
Instructions
Place the almonds, pecans, coconut, dates, spices, and sea salt into a 12-cup food processor.
Process until the dates have been incorporated and the mixture is mostly fine textured with some bigger pieces of nuts. Be sure to monitor the machine because it can jump around on the counter sometimes.
Add the molasses and vanilla and process again until they’re completely mixed in. Add the water 1 Tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes together in a thick cookie dough like texture.
Shape the mixture as desired, I like to roll mine into energy bites about 1 ounce each, or about 2 Tablespoons.
Store the energy bites in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 week, or up to 1 month in the freezer.
Notes
1. You can easily halve this recipe if you’d like to make less servings. These do keep well in the freezer which is why I make big batches.
2. The amount of spices may seem like a typo, but I promise that it’s not. It takes more spices to flavor energy bites than you would typically use in cookies.
3. Both nuts and dates are much cheaper if you buy them in bulk.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Category: Snack
- Method: Food Processor
- Cuisine: American
These are delicious! I make them regularly and and they turn out amazing every time. They make for a great snack any time of day but especially for that mid-afternoon pick-me-up.
So glad you’ve been enjoying these, I just love having my favorite cookie flavors in a healthy snack!
These are fantastic, I added 1/4 tsp of black pepper to bring out the heat of the ginger!
So glad you enjoyed these, and the black pepper sounds like a wonderful addition!
Hello. Recipe looks awesome. I see where the recipe all’s for almonds and pecans. I have a lot of unsalted, mixed nuts. Do you think it would be a good substitute? Thanks for your time.
I think a mix of nut would be ok, but mixed nuts are usually toasted which would greatly effect the flavor and I’m not sure if that would be good or not as I always use un-toasted/raw nuts. I hope you enjoy the recipe, and be sure and let me know how it goes, or if you have anymore questions!
Wow! Delish!
I hope you enjoy them!
These look so amazing. I love when I find healthy excuses to have all the cookies I can consume. They seem they have a nice balance between the sweetness of the molasses and the bite of the ginger. Nice job. Happy Holidays!
I love it too when cookies are healthy enough to justify eating on a daily basis, and Happy Holidays to you too!
Great budget tips for dates and nuts! And I’m the same way – I rarely ever bake (except around the holidays) because I don’t want to eat all the treats, ha!
Yes, it’s definitely a problem staying out of the baked goods!!!
I love no bake bites sweetened with dates! These looks absolutely perfect 🙂
Thank you, I love them too, and I figure you can never have too many flavors!
I love molasses cookies, so I know I’ll love these adorable bites, too!!
I really hope you enjoy them, I’m actually about to have one for a midmorning snack right now!
I love how festive and creative! I love a simple energy bite and Santa will be digging on these!
Santa is going to be getting some healthy ‘cookies’ this year, but I promise he won’t know the difference! 😉
O.M.G. Molasses cookies are my most favorite cookie, and snack balls are my most favorite snack. You may have just made the greatest thing ever!! I always make snack balls when i travel, and I travel this week, so you know what I’ll be making…
Yeah I’m glad these are the perfect combo for you! 🙂 I also absolutely love Molasses cookies and snack bites/balls are a real lifesaver aren’t they!?!