Guess what, guess what!
No, it isn’t my birthday… No, Santa Claus didn’t fall down my chimney… No, the sky isn’t falling…
In exactly one week, baseball season starts!
This is my favorite time of the year. The sun shines a little longer, the air feels a little warmer, the grass grows a little taller, and the stadium gates open for the first time since October. Happy days!
Although my dad and I are just 8 stadiums away from completing our MLB ballpark tour (we started the list when I was 11 as a special father-daughter adventure!), my parents bought season tickets again this year, so nearly every other weekend, you’ll find me in my home-away-from home above the visitor’s dugout, in the dark green stadium seats even with the bag at third base.
Before every game, I stuff my oversized purse with the essentials: sunscreen, water bottles, hair ties, pencils, my scorebook, and snacks. Since Dad and I always arrive at the ballpark extremely early to watch batting practice, the entire outing lasts 6-8 hours, depending on whether the game heads into extra innings, so I pack as much food as I can carry!
Even though concession stands circle around the entire stadium on both levels, their healthier options are extremely limited. Dad doesn’t mind chowing down on a loaded sausage and peanuts, but me… I prefer fruit, veggies, and leaner protein. These Lemon Poppy Seed Energy Bites are one of the best homemade ballpark snacks for me!
And not just because they’re yellow-themed, like my home team’s colors. Each serving boasts over 17 grams of protein for less than 150 calories! How’d I do it?
Simple: my favorite vanilla protein powder from PlantFusion. It’s gluten-free, sugar-free, vegan, and clean-eating friendly—so these bites are all of those things too! I haven’t tested the recipe with other protein powders, so you may need to tweak the ingredients if you use another brand. Not all protein powders absorb equally. If the bites seem too wet, add extra protein powder. If they’re too dry, add a touch more water.
While the protein powder makes up the majority of the dry ingredients, there are also some oats to provide a little chew and heartier texture. Use gluten-free oats for gluten-free energy bites, if necessary. And don’t forget the poppy seeds in your dry ingredients either!
The bites are held together with equal amounts of freshly squeezed lemon juice and water. That’s almost too easy, isn’t it? No nuts or nut butters, no coconut oil—just lots of lemon juice. It provides some of the bright sunshiny flavor, but the lemon zest adds the most. Don’t skip it! The zest from one medium lemon goes into the mix, and if you prefer a really tangy taste, go ahead and add the zest from a second one too.
Now just 7 days and 6 cookbook recipes are left until I can enjoy these energy bites during long lazy afternoons at the ballpark!
And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your energy bites and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Lemon Poppy Seed Energy Bites | | Print |
- 3 scoops (90g) PlantFusion vanilla protein powder
- ½ c (50g) old-fashioned oats (gluten-free, if necessary)
- 1 tbsp (9g) poppy seeds
- ½ tbsp (7g) Truvia
- 1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest (about one medium)
- 6 tbsp (90mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice (about two medium)
- 6 tbsp (90mL) water
- In a large bowl, combined the protein powder, oats, poppy seeds, Truvia, and lemon zest. Add in the lemon juice and water, stirring until fully incorporated. Shape the mixture into 28 small spheres, and place into a Tupperware container. Seal and store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
Instant oats (gluten-free, if necessary) may be substituted for the old-fashioned oats. Instant oats are also called "quick-cooking" or "one-minute" oats. Do not substitute steel-cut oats.
Any granulated sweetener may be used instead of Truvia. If using liquid sweetener, add it along with the lemon juice and water instead, and you may need to decrease the water by a similar amount.
For a more prominent lemon taste, add the zest from the second lemon as well.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, low carb, high protein}
More energy bite recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ Peanut Butter Mocha Energy Bites by Recipe Runner
♥ Golden Raisin No Bake Energy Bites by Well Plated by Erin
♥ Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Energy Bites by Gimme Some Oven
♥ Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Energy Bites by Happy Food, Healthy Life
Dear amy
do you have any other energy bites with no
protein powder!!!!!
I’d love to here!
It means a lot that you’d like to try more of my recipes, Alicia! Most of my “energy bites” contain protein powder, but I have some cookie dough bite recipes that don’t, like my chocolate chip cookie dough bites and my oatmeal raisin cookie dough bites. I also have lots of other snack recipes that don’t use protein powder. (← You can find them at that link or by clicking on the “Recipes” tab in the top pink menu bar of my blog, scrolling down, and then clicking on the “Snacks” category.)
I’d love to hear what you think of any of my other recipes you end up trying too!
Hi Amy, would the balls not set if you used no protein powder but did more oats?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe! It was specifically designed for protein powder. Since I haven’t personally tried that substitution, I don’t know how omitting the protein powder and/or replacing it with additional oats would turn out, and I really don’t want to lead you astray.
If you do end up making these energy bites, whether as written or experimenting with additional oats instead of protein powder, I’d love to hear what you think of them!
These look amazing! I’m hoping to make them soon… can I use any kind of vanilla protein powder or would it mess with the consistency? Thank you!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Sonya! I’ve actually covered this in detail in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions!), as well as my Protein Powder FAQ Page. There’s a link to that FAQ Page in the Notes section too. I know it can be easy to miss though! 😉 I’d love to hear what you think of these energy bites if you try making them!
Trivia and other artificial sweeteners give me migraines. What would you suggest as an alternative?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Angela! I’ve already touched upon this in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions!). I know it can be easy to miss though! 😉 I’d love to hear what you think of these energy bites if you try making them!
Any thoughts on making these with an unflavored protein powder? Maybe adding a tiny bit more sweetener and some vanilla extract? I have a plain plant based protein powder and are worried these won’t taste very good without that extra vanilla flavor and sweetness the flavored powders provide
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Marisa!
If your protein powder is unflavored, then yes — I’d definitely recommend adding more sweetener. The protein powder that I used has a fairly sweet taste, so you’d probably need the equivalent of a few more tablespoons of Truvia to compensate.
The vanilla flavor from the protein powder isn’t too strong compared to the flavor from the lemons, but you could easily add a bit of vanilla extract if you’d like!
I’d also recommend reviewing my Protein Powder FAQ Page before beginning (if you haven’t already!), just because all protein powders tend to behave differently in recipes like this. There’s a link to that FAQ Page in the bottom of this recipe’s Notes section! 🙂
I’d love to hear how your energy bites turn out if you do end up making them!
I used collagen peptide protein powder (90g) and it didn’t set at all. I ended up adding all purpose g/f flour and baked it in the oven haha. Any thoughts as to why they didn’t set? I saw you also said whey protein wouldn’t set and I’m pretty new to baking so I’m just curious.. what makes the whey protein (and likely the collagen) unable to set in this?
Oh jeez I just realized you have a whole protein powder FAQ section. I’m on it! 🙂
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Miranda! Collagen-based protein powders behave more like whey-based powders than plant-based ones, so that substitution would be why your energy bites didn’t set. However, you already have a great baker’s intuition — popping the mixture in the oven is what I would’ve suggested to do! 😉 I hope you at least enjoyed their flavor!