Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Bites – Raw, Vegan, Gluten-Free

Who doesn’t love a good oatmeal raisin cookie!? I sure do but I don’t love the loads of sugar and butter they were most likely made with. The solution? Raw vegan oatmeal raisin cookie dough bites!

Raw Vegan Bites for Pre-Workout

These oatmeal raisin cookie dough bites are a perfect pre-workout snack due to the natural sugars from the raisins and dates, plus carbs from the oats and a dose of healthy fats from the almond butter. They’ll provide a wonderful boost of all-natural energy and whether it’s before a workout or as an afternoon snack, it will be tasty either way!

I go to the gym early in the morning and I don’t usually feel like eating much at 5 am. I love keeping no-bake bites in the fridge just for this purpose! These cookie dough balls are easy to grab and hit the road, they taste great and they have everything I need to fuel me up for a good training session.

Plus that 4:45 am alarm clock isn’t so bad when I know I’m minutes away from popping a few of these.

More Pre-Workout Bite Recipes

• Maca Mocha Energy Bites
• Lime Coconut Energy Bites
• Nut-Free Raw Gingerbread Cookie Dough Balls
• Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Balls

These cookie dough bites are made with simple ingredients you most likely have on hand already. They taste just like a batch of oatmeal raisin cookie dough: addictive, delicious, sweet with hints of vanilla, cinnamon and sea salt. They’re super easy to make too, just blend up the ingredients, roll into balls and you’re done! They’re healthy enough for snacking, delicious enough for dessert and nutritious enough to grab for a quick breakfast on the go.

What Dates to Use

Make sure the dates are soft and moist. If you find your dates are very dried out, just soak them in hot water for about 15 minutes before draining and using in the recipe. I like medjool dates the best for recipes but neglect dates are also a good choice. I can usually find fresh, soft dates at my local grocery store but if you can’t find any, you can either order dates online or soak dry dates before using.

What Nut Butter Is Best?

Preferably, you’ll want to use almond butter that is quite runny with a lot natural oils, if it’s too dry the balls won’t stick together. I used the Organic Almond Butter from Nuts to You Nut Butters and it worked perfectly.

You can substitute the almond butter with another nut butter but I find peanut butter to be quite overpowering in this recipe so I prefer to make them with almond butter. Almond butter compliments the oatmeal raisin flavour nicely whereas the peanut butter turns it into peanut butter oatmeal raisin cookie dough, which is also awesome it’s just a different flavour. Up to you! Cashew butter or sunflower seed butter would also be suitable.

What If My Dough Isn’t Sticking Together?

If your dough isn’t sticking together, use wet hands to roll the bites or add 1 tsp of water at a time to the dough until it does. I found using wetted hands to really mix everything together worked great and I didn’t need to add any additional water. If you’re dates and/or nut butter was too dry, you might need a bit of water to roll them up.

No Food Processor or Blender?

I use my food processor or blender to mix up the dough but you can also just add all the ingredients to a bowl and work it together with your hands. Keep kneading it together until it forms a thick dough, then roll into balls. This is a little more work but at least using your hands means no food processor parts to clean! See more healthy recipes