Carrot Cake Bliss Balls

For the recipe, you’ll combine carrots with cashews, dates, oats, and shredded coconut. To make these energy bites taste more like carrot cake, add ground cinnamon and a little ground ginger.

The vegan energy balls are a sweet, no-bake treat that can be made in advance and frozen for later.  They’re great for meal prep, snacking, a healthier dessert, or kids’ school lunches (unless the school is nut-free).

For more healthy bliss ball recipes, try apricot bliss balls using dried apricots or peanut butter and date balls with chocolate chips.  For more oat-based snacks, try raisin oatmeal bars, baked blueberry oatmeal cups, blueberry lemon oatmeal cups, or banana nut oatmeal cookies.

Recipe features

• Quick and easy!
• Naturally sweetened with dates and raisins!
• Freezable!
• Plant-based, vegan, dairy-free, oil-free!

Ingredient notes and substitutions

The carrot bliss ball recipe uses simple ingredients, but please see the recipe card below for a complete list and exact measurements.

Raw carrots - Roughly chop the carrot before adding it to the food processor.  Then, chop it up finely with the food processor. Leftover carrots can be used to make vegan oil-free carrot cake muffins or carrot cake-inspired banana carrot smoothies.

Raw cashews - Use raw cashews to make the bliss ball recipe.  I haven’t tried making them nut-free, but sunflower seeds may work.  If the sunflower seeds don’t add enough fat to the vegan bliss ball mixture and the mixture isn’t sticking together, try adding a tablespoon of water at a time while the food processor is running (or see notes below for dry bliss balls).

Old-fashioned Oats - Use rolled oats as the main ingredient. If needed, use certified gluten-free oats for a gluten-free option. Oats are naturally gluten-free, but some products are processed in facilities that may cross-contaminate with non-gluten-free products.

Dates - I use pitted Deglet Noor dates for natural sweetness, but you can use another type of date like Medjool.  The dates not only add sweetness but they also help everything bind together.  Even if your dates say pitted, check for pits.

Raisins - I’ve always enjoyed the flavor of raisins in my oil-free vegan carrot cake muffins, so I’ve added them here too.  If you prefer to skip them, replace them with more dates for the stickiness that dried fruit adds to the energy bites.

Unsweetened Coconut - Shredded coconut adds flavor and texture to the carrot cake bites.  It’s optional to coat the bites in additional shredded coconut once they’re rolled out.

Ground Cinnamon and Ginger - The spices give the carrot cake balls more flavor.

Tips

• If your dates are not soft and mushy, soak them for 10-15 minutes, then drain and continue with the carrot bliss ball recipe.
• Measuring by weight is more accurate, but if you don’t have a scale make sure you tightly pack your half cup of dates for a more accurate measurement. 
• If your dough will not hold together, try blending it a little longer for all the ingredients to break down more and become sticky.
• If the dough still does not come together, add a tablespoon of water and blend again.  
• Check your dates for pits even if the container says pitted.  Even though the bag says pitted, sometimes there’s a stray pit.
• I would recommend a food processor for this recipe since most blenders will require liquid to blend ingredients.

How to make carrot cake bliss balls

1. Roughly chop your carrot, then use your food processor to chop the carrot finely.  You don’t want large chunks. 

2. Then, add the cashews and dates to the carrots in the food processor and blend until it becomes a wet, sticky dough. The dates and cashews should be finely diced from blending. 

3. Next, add the rest of the ingredients to your food processor and blend until the dough sticks together. In the picture below, you can see the dough starts to form a clump and rolls in from the sides. You want everything to be ground up so there are no large chunks.  This process also enables your mixture to start to stick together but keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth.

4. Then, with a spoon, scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough and roll the mixture in your palms to form a ball.  Optional: the bliss balls can then be rolled in shredded coconut while they’re still sticky.

Storage

Refrigerator: Store the energy balls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.

Freezer: Freeze them in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

Related recipes

• banana nut oatmeal cookies
• blueberry baked oatmeal cups
• whole-wheat carrot cake muffins
• vegan pumpkin muffins (oil-free)
• peanut butter date balls with chocolate chips

I hope you enjoy this recipe for vegan bliss balls! If you like the recipe, feel free to rate it and leave a comment.