If you're looking for a quick and easy snack when you're in a pinch, you need to try these Apricot Bliss Balls. They're sweet, tart, and the perfect healthy snack for any age group. Make them ahead for meal prep and pop them in your mouth in a matter of minutes.
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📋 About the Recipe
- Apricot bliss balls are perfect for lunch boxes. If your kids aren't a fan of fresh fruit or simply need a bite-sized treat for their lunch boxes, these bliss balls are the perfect thing.
- A versatile, healthy treat. Try these balls as a healthy dessert, delicious snack, or an easy grab and go breakfast. Simply make the recipe ahead and store the bliss balls in your fridge or freezer.
- They're made with wholesome ingredients. Enjoy the health benefits of ingredients like dried apricot, natural nut butter, and whole grain rolled oats packaged into bite-sized energy bites. Experiment with more unique flavors listed in this roundup of 21 must-try bliss balls recipes!
🛒 Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Old-fashioned oats - Old fashioned oats or rolled oats are the best oats to use in bliss balls. They have the best texture that's neither too soft nor too hard. They also help bind the balls together without making them too dry or difficult to chew.
- Almond butter - A neutral tasting nut butter with a creamy texture that adds moisture, healthy fats, and also helps in the binding process.
- Dried apricots - Most of my bliss ball recipes are made using medjool dates, but in order to give these bliss balls the best apricot flavor, I replaced the usual dates with dried fruit. Dried apricots provide a similar sticky, gooey consistency and help the mixture form into a consistency that easily holds together.
- Maple syrup - Dried fruits, like apricots, aren't as sweet as medjool dates, so I find a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup add a bit of additional natural sweetness to the bite-sized balls.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
- Almond butter substitutions: Try another nut butter or seed butter, such as cashew butter, macadamia nut butter, or sunflower seed butter for a nut-free option. Peanut butter will also work, but will compete with the apricot flavor and may not be as desirable.
- Roll in shredded coconut or crushed nuts/seeds: Similar to my Lemon Bliss Balls, you can roll these bliss balls in a bit of desiccated coconut. Or, try rolling them in hemp seeds, or finely chopped walnuts, pumpkin seeds, or almonds.
- Drizzle or dip in chocolate: If you like the combination of dried apricots and chocolate, feel free to drizzle this healthy sweet treat with your favorite semi sweet chocolate or dark chocolate for an extra indulgent twist.
- Maple syrup substitutions: Try other natural sugars, such as agave nectar, brown rice syrup, or even simple syrup.
📓 Instructions
- Pulse the main ingredients. Place the oats, almond butter, vanilla extract, dried apricots, and salt, if using, in the bowl of a food processor.
- Add water. Pulse again until the mixture turns into a sticky dough and starts to combine.
- Form into balls. Using a cookie scoop, form small bliss balls, about 1 to 2 tablespoons each.
- Refrigerate. Place the bliss balls on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to set.
- Enjoy! Once chilled, enjoy these energy balls immediately or keep stored for meal prep.
❄️ How to Store
To store: Leftover apricot energy balls will keep for up to 10 days when stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
To freeze: For longer term storage, store these treats in the freezer for up to 2 months. It can be helpful to flash freeze them before transferring to a storage bag to prevent the bliss balls from sticking to one another.
To flash freeze, spread the bliss balls on a baking sheet and place in the freezer until frozen solid
🔍 Recipe FAQs
That depends on your personal preference. If you like a sweeter bliss ball, I recommend using a liquid sweetener, like maple syrup or agave.
For longer term storage, store bliss balls in the freezer for up to 2 months. Keep them in a freezer zip top bag with excess air removed or an airtight, freezer-safe container.
I wouldn't recommend it. Steel cut oats are far less processed and will not be as pleasant to eat raw.
💭 One More Tip
Adjust the sweetener to taste! If you'd like these healthy apricot balls to be a bit sweeter, add up to 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup to taste. If using a full 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, use just 2 tablespoons of water. Or, if using 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, use 3 tablespoons of water, etc.
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
📖 Recipe
Apricot Bliss Balls
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 cup natural almond butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup dried apricots (about 32 dried apricots)
- pinch of salt, if there is no salt in your almond butter
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, optional
- 2 to 4 tablespoons water SEE NOTES
Instructions
- Add all ingredients, besides water and maple syrup, to the bowl of your food processor. Pulse until it forms fine crumbles.
- Add maple syrup (if using) and water. Pulse again until the mixture turns sticky and starts to combine.
- Using a cookie scoop, form small balls of the mixture, about 1 to 2 tablespoons each.
- Place balls on a cookie sheet and put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to set.
Notes
- If you like sweeter bliss balls, add the 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. Then, only add 2 tablespoons water. If not using the maple syrup, use up to 4 tablespoons water to maintain the same consistency.
- If you don't have almond butter, you can use another nut butter. However, I recommend a neutral tasting nut butter over peanut butter, since the peanut flavor would overpower the flavor of the apricots.
Nutrition
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