Double Chocolate Banana Protein Energy Bites

Fuel your day with these double chocolate banana protein energy bites! Packed with protein, healthy fats and tons of fiber, these energy bites will give you the flavors you crave without any of the junk! Vegan, gluten free, allergy friendly.

Dave and I recently moved cross county from Austin, TX to Wilmington, NC. We had just made a similar trip a year ago and knew how hard it was going to be to travel 20+ hours with a dog and 2 cats in the car with us. Add to that the fact that Dave has some serious food allergies and I’m picky about where I get my food.

So that meant we needed to pack healthy food for the road instead. I knew I wanted to make energy bites and had a bag of freeze dried bananas that were calling my name. In the process of making these double chocolate banana protein energy bites, I was constantly tasting the recipe to make sure it was going to turn out correctly. I finished rolling out the energy bites when I finally decided that the recipe was perfect and there were only 12-13 energy bites. I had eaten so much of the mixture I had to make a second batch!

The combination of dates, cacao, protein powder and those little freeze dried bananas is addicting to say the least. I had to really control my urge to eat them all every time I went into the fridge on the days leading up to our trip.

It was really important to me that these energy bites not only be delicious but also packed with nutrition. The sunflower seeds provide a healthy fat, the dates provide a good carbohydrate source that is quick to be utilized by the body but is also filled with vitamins, minerals and fiber. The protein powder was absolutely a must since I wanted to be sure these were going to be filling, satisfying but also help us get our protein in for the day. I hate when I find a protein bar at Whole Foods and the protein content is like 2. Talk about a major sugar crash waiting to happen.

Compared to store bought protein bars, I highly suggest making your own energy bites instead. This way you get to control the ingredients, the flavors, and the portion size! These double chocolate protein energy bites are a little bit decadent with the addition of mini chocolate chips (I use the Enjoy Life brand) but you could also add roasted cacao nibs to keep the added sugar to a minimum.
These double chocolate banana protein energy bites are perfect for a post workout snack or an afternoon pick me up. Much better than anything you will get out of the office vending machine! And they are chocolate and super rich, so you will feel like you are having a pretty indulging snack (that just happens to be healthy).

I use a vegan protein powder in this recipe. It’s allergy friendly and tastes amazing. If you have never tried vegan protein powder, it tends to be a little more dense than whey and is great to bake with since it doesn’t dry out the recipe like whey tends to. However, if you decide to make this with a whey protein or collagen peptides, you could also add in 2-3 tbs. of coconut flour to offset the dense quality of the vegan protein powder.