Easy Chocolate Vegan Coconut Balls
These vegan energy balls are packed with chocolate flavor. With only whole foods, plant-based ingredients. This makes an easy, healthy dessert!
Satisfying that Chocolate Craving on a Healthy, Plant-Based Vegan Diet
Since I was little, I’ve had a sweet tooth. It led to an eating disorder that included binging and then compulsive exercising. My weakness was always desserts. In particular, chocolate was a trigger food. Brownies, cupcakes, frozen yogurt, ice cream…I would even fish out the chocolate chips from cookies. I was addicted.
However, eating a whole foods, plant-based diet helped me break that addiction. For 30 days, I cut out all refined foods, including refined sugar, flour, and oil. Yet, I was still allowed to have chocolate. Well, it was unsweetened, plain dark cocoa powder. This is chocolate in its most natural form: no added sugar, milk, or cream.
Using Whole Foods, Plant-Based Ingredients with Chocolate, Dates, and Coconut
Raw cocoa powder can be pretty bitter on its own. It’s similar to coffee — just as many people add cream and sugar to make coffee tolerable, we also add fat and sweeteners to cocoa. However, you can balance the raw cocoa flavor with whole foods, plant-based ingredients.
- Sweetness: For sweetness, blend raw cocoa with dried dates, frozen bananas, roasted sweet potatoes, or dried cherries.
- Richness: Richness can be achieved with ingredients higher in fat. Adding almond butter, peanut butter, avocado, or walnuts can help add richness to cocoa.
- Creaminess: Raw cocoa comes in a powder form. For creamy texture, blend it with bananas, sweet potato, tofu, or chia seeds.
Watch the Recipe Video for these Vegan Chocolate Coconut Oat Balls
Chef Katie’s Plant-Based Cooking Tips:
Make it Raw: Almonds and cocoa powder are technically not raw. Almonds are pasteurized for food safety reasons. You can substitute with raw macadamia nuts or Brazil nuts. You can substitute the cocoa powder for raw cacao.
Whole Food Ingredients: I’m on a mission to use only whole food, plant-based ingredients. You won’t find any refined flours, sugars, syrups, or oils in my recipes. Only whole food, natural goodness.
Toasted Coconut Flakes: Unsweetened toasted coconut flakes have a nutty, rich flavor. They make a beautiful decoration on muffins and pudding. Or, add to recipes for more intense coconut flavor. You can find them in the baking aisle or online retailers.
Strawberry Dust: For a red coating, create strawberry dust. Place freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor or blender. Puree until you reach a dust. Roll these chocolate balls in the dust for a red coating. Or, sprinkle over Whoopie Pies and lemon bars to replace the powdered sugar often used in decorating.
Dark Cocoa Powder: For the best flavor, use a high-quality dark baking cocoa powder. It’s worth investing in a product that has deep, rich flavor. This will make your chocolate baking more delicious.
Dates, oats, and toasted coconut flake create the base for these vegan chocolate balls 
The oats, dates, and cocoa powder create a whole foods base for these vegan balls 
Add water, as needed, to get a mixture that clumps together 
The mixture should clump together. 
Use your hands to roll the mixture into small, bite-sized balls 
Roll the chocolate balls in shredded coconut for a pretty presentation.
Easy Vegan Chocolate Coconut Oat Balls
- Easy
- Servings: 6
- Ready In: 10 minutes
- Yield: about 12 balls
These vegan energy balls are packed with chocolate flavor. With only whole foods, plant-based ingredients. This makes an easy, healthy dessert!
If you like these, you’ll also love Mayan Raw Cacao Chia Energy Balls, PB and J Chewy Oat Bites, 5-Ingredient Cocoa Peanut Butter Energy Bites, and 4-Ingredient Raw Chocolate Walnut Brownies.
Print Recipe
Easy Vegan Chocolate Coconut Oat Balls
Ingredients
- ½ cup 100g pitted dates
- ½ cup quick oats
- ½ cup toasted coconut flake
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoons 16g almond butter (or any nut or seed butter)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Dash of salt
- 2-4 tablespoons water as needed
- 4 tablespoons shredded coconut flakes
Instructions
- To make the Easy Vegan Chocolate Coconut Oat Balls: In a food processor, combine the dates, oats, toasted coconut flake, unsweetened cocoa powder, almond butter, vanilla, and salt. Pulse 20-30 times, until well-chopped. Add 2 tablespoons of water and puree. Add more water, as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the lid and check the consistency of the ball mixture. You want it to be wet enough to hold together, but dry enough not to stick. Add more water or cacao powder to adjust.
- Place the shredded coconut flakes in a small bowl. Portion about 2 teaspoons per ball. Roll between your hands. Place the ball in the coconut flake. Roll around to lightly coat the ball. Repeat with the remaining chocolate ball mixture.
- You can roll and dust a few balls at once (about 4 usually works for me). You should get about 12 balls total.
- Keep refrigerated for up to 10 days or freeze for longer storage.
- Yields: About 12 balls
Video
Notes
Servings: 6
Ready In: 10 minutes
Yield: about 12 balls
Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving (1/12 recipe, about 2 balls)
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings 12.0 | |
| Amount Per Serving | |
| calories 129 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 5 g | 8 % |
| Saturated Fat 0 g | 2 % |
| Monounsaturated Fat 1 g | |
| Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g | |
| Trans Fat 0 g | |
| Cholesterol 0 mg | 0 % |
| Sodium 3 mg | 0 % |
| Potassium 180 mg | 5 % |
| Total Carbohydrate 19 g | 6 % |
| Dietary Fiber 5 g | 21 % |
| Sugars 11 g | |
| Protein 3 g | 7 % |
| Vitamin A | 0 % |
| Vitamin C | 0 % |
| Calcium | 6 % |
| Iron | 6 % |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
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