Throughout my childhood, I looked forward to Easter almost as much as Christmas. Although it lacked presents and traded a bunny for Santa, the spring holiday still involved many of my favorite celebration customs.
It started a few weeks prior with a special shopping trip with Mom, where she let me pick out a fancy Easter dress to wear to church. We browsed through the different options at the store, pulling hangers off of the racks, and after trying them all on in the dressing room, I usually picked out the one with the biggest skirt that twirled the best.
On Sunday, before slipping into that new dress, I dashed downstairs with my brother, skidding to a stop at the kitchen table, to check out what the Easter bunny left us overnight. We discovered colorful baskets full of plastic eggs nestled into shiny faux green grass, and we eagerly popped each one open to reveal the contents inside.
Marshmallow Peeps… Milk chocolate eggs… Starburst-flavored jelly beans… A few miniature peanut butter cups… A large milk chocolate bunny… Basically, a little kid’s dream come true—especially when Mom allowed us to eat a piece or two of the candy before church!
Over the years, I slowly lost most of my love for jelly beans and Peeps, and eventually, Mom and I replaced those Easter treats with carrot cake. As chocoholics, we could never give up the chocolate candy!
After indulging a little bit too much this weekend, I’m so relieved to have these Easy Coffee Energy Bites sitting in my fridge for snacking—instead of turning to all of the leftover Easter chocolate! With just 5 healthy ingredients, they’re really easy to make, and they’re packed with over 12g of protein!
Like I mentioned, these are so simple to make! You’ll start by mixing together warm milk and instant coffee. Don’t substitute regular coffee grounds or brewed coffee! The former doesn’t dissolve, which means your energy bites will be gritty and grainy in texture, and the latter’s flavor isn’t quite strong enough. This is the instant coffee I use (although sometimes I use their decaf variety!), and it’s shelf-stable and keeps for ages.
You’ll sweeten your energy bites with one of my favorite ingredients: vanilla crème stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly, and it’s highly concentrated. You just need ½ teaspoon for this entire recipe! This is the kind I buy because I love its warm vanilla flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertastes like with some other stevia products. You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, but I always buy mine online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Finally, you’ll mix in instant oats and protein powder. This recipe was designed for plant-based protein powders, specifically PlantFusion’s vanilla bean powder. I bought mine online here. Don’t substitute whey-based protein powders! They aren’t nearly as absorbent as plant-based protein powders, so your energy bite mixture will be a sticky, gloopy mess if you try using whey-based protein powder.
Now all that’s left to do is shape them into spheres and…
Enjoy your healthy snack! ☕️??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!
Easy Coffee Energy Bites | | Print |
- ¾ cup (180mL) warm nonfat milk
- 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
- ½ tsp vanilla crème stevia, or adjusted to taste
- 3 scoops (90g) PlantFusion vanilla bean protein powder
- ½ cup (50g) instant oats (gluten-free, if necessary)
- Add the milk and instant coffee to a medium bowl, and stir until the instant coffee has completely dissolved. (It will take a few minutes!) Stir in the stevia. Carefully pour in the protein powder and oats, and stir until completely incorporated.
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper.
- Working with a small amount of the mixture at a time, shape into a ball, and place on the prepared baking sheet. (The mixture doesn’t roll very easily, so I recommend squishing it into a spherical shape instead!) Repeat with the remaining mixture. Transfer the energy bites to an airtight container, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Old-fashioned oats (gluten-free, if necessary) may be substituted for the instant oats. I prefer instant oats because they’re smaller and hold together the mixture slightly better. Do not substitute steel-cut oats.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
Do not substitute regular coffee grounds! They don’t dissolve in milk, so your energy bites will have a grainy or gritty texture. In a pinch, double-strength coffee may be substituted for both the milk and instant coffee, but the taste and texture of the energy bites will be different.
After a few minutes of stirring together the instant coffee and milk, I’ve found that any remaining granules that haven’t dissolved will often do so by themselves if I walk away from the bowl for a few minutes and simply let them sit in the milk. (Just a helpful hint in case you feel a little concerned or frustrated after stirring for a few minutes and still seeing lingering instant coffee!)
Any sweetener may be substituted in place of the vanilla crème stevia. However, you may need to adjust the amount of protein powder if the dough is too wet OR add more milk if the mixture is too dry. You’ll need the equivalent of 3-5 tablespoons of granulated sugar. (I highly recommend using the vanilla crème stevia, if at all possible! I buy it here. And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
For more tips and answers to all other questions, including substitutions {and videos for similar recipes!}, see my Protein Powder Recipes: Tips & FAQ Page.
{gluten-free, vegan option, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, lower carb, low sugar, high protein}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Snickerdoodle Energy Bites
♥ Pumpkin Spice Latte Energy Bites
♥ Lemon Poppy Seed Energy Bites
♥ Brownie Batter Energy Bites
♥ Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Energy Bites
♥ Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Energy Bites
♥ Dark Chocolate Strawberry Energy Bites
♥ Chocolate Fig Energy Bites
♥ Dark Chocolate Blueberry Energy Bites
I am such a huge fan of these simple protein bites! Coffee flavor is also super delicious. These are great with vanilla, but I could see “mocha” bites made with chocolate protein powder and coffee too! Thanks for another great recipe, Amy!
You know me and chocolate Andrenna… So I’m ALL for a mocha version! 😉 I’m so glad you enjoyed these energy bites!
I tried the coffee-energy bites and they definitely have coffee flavor! Could you please say how much a scoop holds? I have 3 different protein powders in my house and they all have a different size scoop. I followed your amounts exactly and had soup so I kept adding powder/oats until I got to a scoopable consistency. Thanks for the great recipes!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Betty! If the mixture was soupy, then I’m guessing you used a whey-based protein powder. Is that true?
Dear Amy, I tried your Easy Coffee Energy Bites but had some problems. I used a Soy based protein powder but it all was a soup with the 3/4 cup of milk. Then I doubled the protein powder and oats and let it sit on the counter for half an hour, still soup. I decided to pour it into 6 muffin cups and bake it, now I have 6 nice hockey pucks. Do you have any idea what went wrong. I live in CANADA and ordering food products from the US is extremely expensive and problematic at the border. Any help would be greatly appreciated, Monika
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Monika! What’s the exact protein powder that you used? Unfortunately, not all protein powders absorb equally, so if you didn’t make any other substitutions, then it was probably your protein powder that caused the issues you observed. If you provide me with its information, we may be able to figure out how to modify the recipe to work with that particular protein powder!
Dear Amy,
Thank you for your reply.
Here is the information: I used 2 scoops of Whey protein isolate (which you mentioned is a problem) and 3 scoops of Presidents Choice Soy protein chocolate shake mix (this is made with soy protein isolate, cocoa and a ton of other ingredients). If I ever bake this again I would add baking powder, but using less milk might be a better option.
Regards, Monika
It’s my pleasure Monika! If you make these again, use all soy protein and no whey protein. The whey protein is exactly what caused the “soup” issue that you saw. I’d recommend using your soy protein and starting with ½ cup of milk, and you can easily add more milk as necessary. 🙂
I was just wondering if you, per chance, had tried using cold brewed coffee in this recipe which can be warmed in the microwave.
I’ve actually answered whether brewed coffee will work in the Notes section already. It can be easy to miss! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these energy bites if you try them Mike!
Hey Amy,
Looking forward to try this recipe, as i’m a huge fan of coffee! Two questions before i try this…i live in India, and the stevia proudct you mentioned is available on Amazon, but super expensive…can i replace that with jaggery or honey instead? Also, when you say instant oats, is it the same as Oatmeal, that is generally eaten as cereal? (Quaker Oats is a brand that is popular here). Would i need to powder it?
Do you also do healthy biscuits made of whole wheat/oats? Looking for a recipe for those 🙂
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Sneha! I’ve actually answered your sweetener question and oats question in the Notes section underneath the Instructions. It can be easy to miss! 😉 As for biscuits (I’m assuming you mean what Americans call “cookies?”), the best way to find any specific recipe is to click on the “Recipes” tab at the top of my blog or use the Search Bar (located at the top of my blog, if you’re viewing on a computer, or the bottom of my blog, if you’re viewing on a mobile device). 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these energy bites — and maybe some of my oatmeal cookie recipes too!
Hi Amy! Can I substitute anything else for the protein powder?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Wendy! This particular recipe was specifically designed for protein powder. You’re welcome to try substituting something like oat flour, but I can’t guarantee that the amount, taste, and/or texture will remain the same. (If you’re asking because you can’t find the protein powder in stores, I actually buy it online at the link I provided!) 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try making them!