This Vegan Pumpkin Spice Energy Bites recipe is made with pumpkin puree, almond butter, oats, pepitas, raisins, and chia seeds, and maple syrup.
The Pumpkin Spice Bandwagon
Yes, I am jumping on the pumpkin spice bandwagon. I couldn't resist doing a pumpkin recipe (it is fall after all) and if you do a sweet pumpkin recipe, you have to add pumpkin pie spice, right? This kind of reminds me of the time I accidentally wore the school colors on spirit day when I was in high school and I had to spend the whole day explaining to everyone that no, I didn't have school spirit, and that the navy blue t-shirt I was wearing was just a coincidence.
"Hey Kiersten, do we have a quiz today in biology?"
"I DIDN'T MEAN TO WEAR THIS SHIRT TODAY! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! I HATE THIS SCHOOL!"
That was the worst day.
About the Recipe
Sometimes I throw things together just to eat, not really intending to blog about it; this is one of those recipes. I bought an adorable little pie pumpkin and made puree with it for another recipe and had just a little bit left, so I added a little almond butter and maple syrup, folded in oats and raisins and pepitas, put in a little sprinkle-sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice, and rolled the mixture into balls. Random! But they were so good, I decided they were definitely worthy of sharing.
In addition to being delicious, these will also give you energy. You'll have the strength of a bull, the reflexes of a cat, and the mental acuity of one of those really smart chimpanzees. Eat these Pumpkin Spice Energy Bites and you will crush your enemies and run a 5K afterwards.
Or not. (Probably not.) Energy bites aren't exactly Red Bull. But they're healthy and get you over that mid-afternoon hump better than a bag of M&Ms or potato chips. Every ingredient in these energy bites is good for you—maple syrup is rich in manganese and zinc, pumpkin is full of fiber and Vitamin A, pepitas are high in magnesium, etc. And then there's the pumpkin spice too, which is full of deliciousness.
Ingredients
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup almond butter
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 ⅓ cup rolled oats
- ⅓ cup pepitas
- ⅓ cup raisins
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
Instructions
- Combine the pumpkin puree, almond butter, maple syrup, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl and stir until smooth.
- Fold in the rolled oats, pepitas, raisins, and chia seeds. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours, or until the mixture is chilled and easy to work with.
- Roll the mixture into balls. (If you have a small cookie dough scoop, that works perfectly!) Store the balls in the refrigerator or freeze and thaw for a few minutes before eating.
I LOVE the Fall and all the delicious fruits and veggies that are in season. These Pumpkin Spice Energy Bits look yummy! Are these Gluten Free? If not, any recipe substitutions you could offer?
They're gluten-free if you use gluten-free oats. 🙂
I must try these!
I've been spending way too much money on energy bars lately...need to try these! They look so perfect for fall.
I have a weakness for those bars too. 🙂
mmmmmmmmmm those looks soooooooo good....
I'm so making these...any idea many calories, fat and fiber???...I'm on weight watchers
and would love to know how many points for one serving...and how much one
serving is.
I'm sorry, I don't have access to Weight Watcher's etools, so I can't tell you the points values. I'd enter each ingredient in and figure out the points that way.
I use My Fitness Pal. Using the recipe (minus the chia seeds) to create 25 bites =
73 calories per bite
3.7g fat
8.6g carbs
1.3g dietary fiber
4.1g sugars
hope that's helpful!
Thanks!
wat about protein content ??
I have a little pie pumpkin on the counter waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. These energy bites sound like a great idea! With the pumpkin puree' I bet they are quite moist and very flavorful with the pumpkin spice.
Yes, they're a lot softer than typical energy bites because of the puree, but they firm up after refrigerating. 🙂
These bites are my kind of snack, I made something similar last week, haven't thought of pumpkin puree, it's a great idea.
These guys and I need to become BFFs! Seriously, I would never stop eating these.
I've been on the pumpkin spice wagon for a month, now... :-/ I even sprinkled it on top of my vanilla ice cream. 🙂
Pumpkin spice on ice cream?! Yes, this must happen soon!
Good thing you measured your ingredients for these so that you could share the recipe! Lately when I make energy balls as a snack I just throw things in the food processor too until it sticks together enough...The next time I have leftover pumpkin puree, I'll have to try this version though - bonus that you don't need to clean out your food processor after!
I didn't measure the ingredients, so I had to make them again! 😉 This happens to me ALL the time. A dash of this and a spoonful of that doesn't work so well with recipes.
Thanks so much for the idea! I made these with Sun Butter instead of Peanut Butter and Dried Sweetened Cranberries in the place of Raisins and they are SO Good! Thank You again!
Ooh, I thought about using cranberries in mine too! I'm glad you liked them! 🙂
I'm still fighting strong urges to plunge into the pumpkin fever. This delicious bites are definitely nudging me towards it 🙂
Well, it's October, so if there's anytime to give in, it's now. 🙂
These look SO good, I must make them... and I have all the ingredients - hooray! These will make a great snack for the weekend. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
It's meant to be! 😀 I hope you like them if you make them!
These look like great little snacks to have hanging around. The pumpkin & almond butter combo sounds awesome!
I made these and my almost two-year old niece loves them! I love how easy they are to make and are surprisingly quite filling. Thanks!
I'm so glad they were a hit--thanks for your comment! 🙂
These energy bites are really amazing. They're not only healthy and autumnal but they will satisfy my sweet tooth. I'm glad that you decided to share this recipe and these little treats are already on my "to do" list 🙂
I hope you like them! 🙂
OMG I'm laughing so hard at your school spirit story! I would have done the same thing.
I love the recipe, good thing you shared!! xoxo
High fives! I never really got the whole school spirit thing. Like, why should I have pride that I go to this school? My parents bought a house in this school district--yay? Go team?
You mean you don't blog everything you eat?! I love these - so easy and have the flavors of the season!
There are days when I feel like I do--ha!
Can you please tell me what is in Pumpkin Spice?
It's cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Here's a link to a recipe for it: http://www.kitchentreaty.com/homemade-pumpkin-pie-spice-mix/
I wish I could post a pic of my 2 year old helping me make these. She was in charge of stirring as I added ingredients. Every time I turned around she had her fingers in the bowl stealing bites. when we were done I let her have at the bowl. She was a very happy mess.
Aw, I love hearing that! I stole bites as I was mixing too, but I bet it wasn't nearly as adorable when I did it. 😉
A few quick questions on ingredients,
What grade of Maple syrup did you use and are the rolled oats cooked or uncooked?
Thanks
I made it with Grade A the first time and Grade B the second time, so both types definitely work. And the oats are uncooked.
Update...just spent my Saturday night making these and I'm totally obsessed. I flattened out the mixture in an 8x8 so I can have bars! Thanks for all your fabulousness 🙂
Yay! I'm so glad you liked them! I love the idea of baking them into bars too. That's a little bit easier than shaping them into balls. 😉
Making these with the kids today. Sound really really good!
I hope you enjoy them!
Thanks for the recipe! As a nut allergy sufferer, I love any recipe for energy bars that doesn't revolve around nuts! Do you have any suggestions for non-nut substitutions for the almond butter? Thanks so much!
I would try SunButter. I haven't used it myself, so I can't say for sure whether the recipe will work out the same, but I think that's probably the closest you can get!
What could I use instead of oatmeal? My daughter is allergic.
Honestly, the oats are such a big part of the recipe, I don't think you can really substitute anything for them. I would just make a different recipe.
Hello! I made these tonight as a yummy Halloween treat - they were a hit! I would definitely recommend keeping them in the fridge right before serving, or even in the freezer and then thawing slightly. I used a bit less maple syrup than called for and found them sweet enough.
Thanks for the great (and simple) recipe!
I'm glad you enjoyed them--thanks for your comment! 🙂
I love bliss balls...they're so versatile, portable and always delicious! Im going on a road trip next week and these will definitely be included in my box of goodies for the road 🙂 thank you for the great recipe x
Yay, I'm glad to hear it--I hope they're a hit!