These healthy no-bake Key Lime Pie Energy Bites are the perfect tropical treat!
Would you believe me if I told you that it wasn’t until I was well into my twenties when I tried my first slice of key lime pie?
Crazypants.
There was no lack of key lime piedom in my life, of course, being raised in South Florida and all. It was my dessert snobbery kept me from branching out from the usual suspects: brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and the always glorious carrot cake. If at least one of those three desserts was an option, there was no other option.
Team picky eater for life!
Paul, on the other hand, was raised on key lime pie. He had the honor of persuading me into my first bite and is pretty much responsible for all subsequent key lime pie face-stuffage.
“I’m in love! I’m in love! And I don’t care who knows it!”
This brings me to my next love affair: Key Lime Pie Larabars. If you’re one of the lucky few that has ever come across one then you know how absolutely delicious they are. Of course the problem is… most of us wouldn’t be able to find one without doing a crazy health food store search within a 2-4 hour radius from our home. In fact, I’ve done that crazy search and still couldn’t find one. So I got my butt in the kitchen.
Key Lime Pie Energy Bites
A few years have gone by since I first started making these (back in 2011, holy cow!) and I’m beyond excited to share the recipe with you today!
craving a key lime energy bar?
No problemo! You can turn these energy balls into key lime energy bars by simply shaping them into rectangles. These healthy snack balls are crazy tasty no matter how you choose to shape them!
Key Lime Pie Energy Bites
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw unsalted almonds
- 1 cup unsweetened pitted dates
- ¼ cup baking walnuts or pecans
- ⅓ cup shredded unsweetened coconut plus extra for topping
- zest of 1 lime
- 1/4-1/3 up lime juice (approx. 2 limes)
- ⅛ tsp salt
OPTIONAL EXTRAS
- 1-2 TBSP honey or maple syrup to sweeten if desired
- extra lime zest if desired
Instructions
- First add your almonds to a food processor
- Pulse a few times until roughly chopped.
- Add the remaining ingredients and blend/pulse to form a cookie dough-like consistency. You may need to push the mixture off the sides of the processor and towards the blades once or twice depending on your processor.
- Blend to desired texture [I like them a little bit chunky] and move mixture to a cutting board. If it's too sticky to handle, feel free rub a little coconut oil on yours hands while you roll your energy bites.
- Roll into bite-sized balls, then roll in shredded coconut for a burst of tropical goodness!
Notes
Nutrition
Dare I say they were better than the original? (spoiler alert: they SO are) This Larabar copycat delivers!
Much like my favorite pie, I like these key lime pie energy bites deliciously tart with just a kiss of sweetness, but absolutely feel free to add an extra date or two or a little raw honey if you’d like a wee bit more sweetness. They’re super tasty and SO EASY to customize!
Coconut and lime makes a perfect pairing for the naturally sweet dates and buttery almond-walnut combo. It’s no wonder they don’t last more than 24 hours in this house!
My husband and I are straight-up crazy for this recipe.
They’re great as a sweet treat at the end of a delicious meal and fantastic as mid day snack to help you power through the 2pm slump. I can’t wait for you to try them!
Looking for more key lime goodness? Try my Key Lime Pie Pancakes next. I also make a pretty rockin’ Cilantro Lime Quinoa!
:: pin it for later ::
If you get a chance to try these key lime pie energy bites let me know!
You can leave me a comment here (LOVE checking those daily!) or tag @PEASandCRAYONS #PEASANDCRAYONS on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creations! I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
THIS RECIPE WAS OUTSTANDING. THANK YOU PAT.
These are a must to try! I love cooking but am terrible at baking.. not now! ha !!
I have a request!! ??? a low fat Ranch Dip??? sadly I can drink the stuff lol ugh.. would love a real tasty lowfat ranch!!
Hi TerriLynn! I actually like making my ranch full-fat because the fat in the dressing helps all the vitamins/antioxidents from the raw vegetables dunked in it to get absorbed by our bodies. I feel like it’s a treat and a tradeoff lol! My favorite recipe is my make-ahead Restaurant-Style Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Recipe To make it more of a dip you can add an extra spoonful or two of sour cream to get it nice and thick!
I was about ready to give up on the whole snack ball thing after trying a bunch I didn’t find very edible. 😀 But these are crazy delicious, I’m going to be making big batches of these all the time.
Mac, you just made my day! I’m so glad these key lime balls were “the one” and I’m stoked you’re enjoying them! They’re hands down my favorite energy bite!
Soooo good. Did not add honey – perfect just the way they were.
Trying these with cashews because I have a ton of them on hand. I’m so excited because I’ve been craving key lime pie. Gonna make them right now. I’ll let you know how it goes!
The cashews (instead of almonds) worked great! Really wonderful healthy treat. Thanks for the recipe!
Im a key lime pie LOVER too… but am kind of excited about these as a quick pick me up. They’ll go perfectly in a zip lock bag to have when Im in my car doing errands! THANK YOU!
When I was a kid, I LOVED that no-bake ball cookie made with crushed vanilla wafers, butter and orange juice, rolled in coconut. These are every bit as good, only without all the “bad” stuff. Yum yum yum. I didn’t measure my lime zest, but it was a small lime and I used the zest off the whole thing. Perfect.
Just made these as an after school snack for my two girls – but I know what you mean about eating most of it out of the food processor – oh my goodness, absolutely delicious! So much tastier and fresher than the energy bars and balls you can buy in the shop! Thanks for the recipe – hopefully it will be a hit with my daughters!
LOL I’m glad I’m not the only one diving into the food processor to eat this key lime goodness! Thank you Irena – hope it’s a hit with the girls 😉
I just made these and LOVE them! I hope my 22 month old does too. I found I had particularly juicy limes, so I used 1.5 but found it a little tart so I added 2-3 teaspoons of honey and added a little extra coconut. Delicious!!!!
Oh my, these are *wonderful*!! I used a 1/4 cup of Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime Juice and it was just right for us, tart without being overwhelmingly so. They truly taste like Key lime pie!! I also love that I spent 10 minutes start to finish and now have pre-workout bites for the next several days. Thank you! (BTW, I’ve cooked a number of your recipes. Every single one has been delicious but the sweet potato chickpea burgers – definite favorite! My SIL comes over and we make double batches of those and the black bean burgers to keep in our freezers.)
Thank you, thank you! You seriously just made my day! 🙂 I’m so glad you loved the key lime bites and the veggie burger recipes + can’t wait to hear what you’ve tried next. Hope you’re having a fantastic weekend <3
So many energy bites have chocolate, not that I’m hating on chocolate, but its refreshing *pun intends limes :p* to see ones without!! Love it!!
It’s a total zest of fresh air right? 😉 Bahaha!
I’m down with anything lemon or lime. Sign me up please.
Umm nope! Not weird. Pretty sure I was the same way. It’s always been chocolate for my first choice!
O I love key lime! Of course not actual pie, but other key lime treats 😉