These lemon protein balls only take a few minutes to put together and are naturally gluten-free, vegan, 100% whole grain and dairy-free.
I’m back! I unintentionally took a 2-week summer vacation from the blog, it seems. I traveled to Munich to give a class on healthier baking and totally underestimated the time it’d take to prepare everything before we left. So the week before the class was madness and since we came back from Munich, all I’ve done is try to clean up the side effects of the chaos. ;)
It’s a 6-hour train ride to Munich from Berlin and I had always wanted to visit Munich so we made a little vacation out of it. If you’re thinking of traveling to Germany, I can definitely recommend Munich! In my opinion, there’s way more to do there than in Berlin. I’ll share more about it in a later post!
I’m all about no-bake goodies right now. It’s too warm and humid to turn on the oven (nobody has air conditioning at home here) but I hope that changes soon because I have loads of fruit desserts that I’m hoping to make and post!
So until the weather changes, we have these super easy lemon protein balls. It’s one of those recipes where you just mix everything together and roll into balls. It really couldn’t be any easier!
Want a peanut butter version? Try these peanut butter protein balls which are also vegan, gluten-free and whole grain!
After making this paleo vegan lemon fudge, I’ve been trying out loads of cashew butter based goodies. It’s super creamy and goes so well together with citrus! I’m just bummed it took me so long to try it.
In these lemon bites, you can definitely taste the cashew butter but lemon is the predominant flavor. I used regular (formerly Grade A) maple syrup, which has the lightest maple flavor. If you use a darker maple syrup, it’ll likely compete with the lemon flavor.
I’m guessing store-bought cashew butter is probably incredibly expensive so I just dump some salted cashews in my food processor and process a few minutes (it’s much quicker than making almond butter!).
If you need these lemon balls to be vegan / dairy-free, make sure to buy vegan / dairy-free white chocolate chips or make your own dairy-free white chocolate. Or just omit the white chocolate chips all together!
Lemon Protein Balls (vegan, gluten-free, whole grain, dairy-free)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 18-22 balls
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (225 grams) natural cashew butter (the kind with just cashews and salt)
- 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (7 grams) lemon zest
- 3/4 cup (63 grams) shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 cup (90 grams) rolled oats (use certified gluten-free oats, if necessary)
- pinch of salt (or a little more if your cashew butter is unsalted)
- 1/4 cup (43 grams) white chocolate chips (use vegan / dairy-free white chocolate chips, if necessary)
Directions
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the cashew butter, maple syrup, lemon juice and lemon zest until well combined.
- Add the coconut, rolled oats, salt, and white chocolate chips, if using.
- Stir until thoroughly mixed and then roll into 1” balls. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
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36 comments on “Lemon Protein Balls (vegan, gluten-free options)” — Add one!
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these are AMAZING!!!! I have had these on the ‘to make’ list for a long time and I am LOVING these so much!! You always come through! Thank you for sharing!!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad that you finally got to try them out and that you liked them (and the recipes!). Thanks for your feedback! :)
I had been eyeing this recipe for awhile and finally got around to making it. And wow! So yummy?! I put the white chocolate but I’m sure it would be good even without it. This had me licking my hands haha. Thank you for this recipe!
Haha. A little hand licking is always a good thing! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the balls. Thanks so much for the feedback! :)
sounds like a great recipe…how long will these last in the fridge? how do they fair from freezer to fridge?
Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Freeze them after that – they freeze well! Enjoy. :)
Ok, just made these…made a few substitions…sunbutter for the cashew butter and I didn’t have the lemon but I had key lime so I thought, hey, it took me this long to get the sunbutter, I’ll just try it… Not good! Don’t do that…my husband and I were like, NO! So I am going to try it the correct way at some point, although the reason I wanted to make these is because my son loves lemon (and I am coming around to lemon as well) and he is allergic to nuts so this recipe with the cashew butter will not do him any good. But I do want to try it out myself.
I’m sorry key lime didn’t work out! Now that I’ve made sunflower seed butter, I can’t imagine making a lemon treat with it. It sounds like a weird combination (but maybe I’m wrong)! If you do try it again with lemon, I hope you and your son will both enjoy them. :) Thanks for your comment!
Just made these. Spot on again! This may be the most delicious no bake “cookie” I’ve tried–and healthier than others, too. I’m bringing them to a picnic tomorrow.
Aww, yay! I’m so happy to hear that you liked them so much. :) I hope the others at the picnic liked them, too! Thanks a bunch for your comment (as always! ;))
I’m really into energy bites right now! And I want these with the extra white chocolate chips!