These Chocolate Date Balls are perfect when you need that sweet chocolate fix. Made with Medjool dates, pumpkin, and cocoa powder they’re rich, sweet, and offer a great afternoon energy boost. No-bake and easy to prepare!
The Best Chocolate Balls
These chocolate balls, aka date energy balls, can be eaten as a snack or dessert when you’re craving chocolate but don’t want just sugar. They’re made with just a few ingredients – dates, walnuts, pumpkin puree, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract – and are so rich and delicious.
They will cure that chocolate craving as a quick treat but are also filling enough that they make a great afternoon snack and are perfect for taking on hikes or if you know you’ll be in the car for hours.
You might also like these pumpkin pistachio date balls or these no-bake fudgy snow balls.
Why You’ll Love This Date Ball Recipe
We LOVE these chocolate balls. Here are a few reasons why.
- No baking required. All you need to do is combine the ingredients, form the dough into balls, and chill. No oven or stove required.
- Easy to customize. There are so many ways to customize these date energy balls to fit your preferences. I’ve included a list of recommended variations below.
- Store well. These keep in the fridge for up to a week and in the freezer for months, which means you can always keep them on hand for when that chocolate craving strikes.
What You’ll Need
These date balls are made with just a handful of ingredients. Scroll down to the recipe card below for measurements.
- Walnuts: Most of the walnuts get mixed with the other ingredients. You crush the rest and roll the chocolate energy balls in the nuts to coat them.
- Dates: You’ll need ten pitted Medjool dates.
- Pumpkin: Use a quarter cup of canned or homemade pumpkin puree.
- Salt: Add a pinch of sea salt to balance the sweetness.
- Cocoa Powder: I used Dutch process cocoa powder, but any kind will work.
- Vanilla Extract: Add a half teaspoon for extra flavor.
What is the difference between regular dates and Medjool dates?
Medjool dates are bigger, softer, and richer than regular dates, also known as Deglet Noor dates, which are firmer and less sweet. Medjool are my favorite, but you can substitute them with regular ones. Since they’re smaller than Medjool, you may need to add a few extras.
How to Make Date Energy Balls
These chocolate balls come together in a few easy steps. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for more detailed instructions.
- Prepare the Walnut Coating: Process a third cup of the walnuts in a food processor until they resemble coarse sand. Transfer them to a small bowl for later.
- Process All the Ingredients: Add the remaining walnuts to the food processor and process until finely ground. Pour in the dates, pumpkin, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla and process until the ingredients are combined and smooth.
- Form into Balls: Scoop out the mixture and roll it into eight balls the size of a golf ball. Roll each one into the reserved walnuts. Serve them immediately, or store in the freezer or refrigerator.
Date Energy Balls Variations
Once you have the basic date ball recipe down, you can customize these chocolate balls in a variety of ways. Here are a few suggestions.
- Nuts: Swap the walnuts with pecans or almonds.
- Nut Allergies: If you have a nut allergy, you can use hemp seeds or pumpkin seeds.
- Pumpkin: Swap for mashed banana or other fruit puree.
- Dates: Substitute regular dates, but add a few more since they’re smaller than Medjool. Or use prunes instead.
- Cocoa Powder: Sub protein powder for cocoa for extra protein.
- Coconut: Add shredded coconut to the dough.
How to Store Date Chocolate Balls
- Fridge. Store your date energy balls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.
- Freezer. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. I recommend flash-freezing on a baking sheet then transfering to a ziploc bag or freezer container, to prevent them from sticking together. To thaw, transfer them to the refrigerator or let them sit on a counter for a bit before eating.
More No-Bake Dessert Recipes You’ll Love
- No-Bake Cheesecake
- Banana Ice Cream (Nice Cream)
- Berry Yogurt Popsicles
- No-Bake Strawberries and Cream Crepe Cake
- Red, White, and Blueberry Trifle
Chocolate Brownie Date Balls
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup walnuts, 2.6 oz total
- 10 pitted Medjool dates
- ¼ cup canned or homemade pumpkin purée
- Pinch sea salt
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, I used Dutch process
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place 1/3 cup of the walnuts in a food processor fitted with a metal blade.
- Process until nuts resemble coarse sand. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
- Add remaining walnuts to the food processor and process until finely ground.
- Add the dates, pumpkin purée, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla extract and continue to process until ingredients are combined and smooth.
- Using a spoon (or your hands), scoop and roll mixture into 8 equal (golf-ball- size) balls.
- Roll each ball in the reserved walnuts and serve immediately or store in the freezer or the fridge.
Last Step:
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Variations:
- Nuts: Swap the walnuts with pecans or almonds.
- Nut Allergies: If you have a nut allergy, you can use hemp seeds or pumpkin seeds.
- Pumpkin: Swap for mashed banana or other fruit puree.
- Dates: Substitute regular dates, but add a few more since they’re smaller than Medjool. Or use prunes instead.
- Cocoa Powder: Sub protein powder for cocoa for extra protein.
- Coconut: Add shredded coconut to the dough.
These are excellent! The first time I used sweet potato puree and today I used pumpkin puree. Both equally delicious. I’m looking forward to trying other combinations and incorporating dried cherries. Note to others about the medjool dates: I always buy ones that are dark and softer-looking~if you have to soak them they’re probably not fresh.
This did not work for me at all. I think if you soak the dates in hot water, the items might blend and chop correctly. All I know is I am out of 10 dates.
Can you use cacao powder instead of cocoa?
yummy!!! very good and easy to make
Delicious Easy and No Bake It hits the spot for a chocolate treat!
These are absolutely delicious! Perfect for someone trying to eat healthy but still need a sweet treat every once and awhile
Love this recipe! Delicious.
These are the perfect healthy treat 🙂 Delicious! I didn’t have walnuts so used pecans, worked great.
Delicious! I was out of walnuts so I swapped for Brazil nuts, almonds, and pistachios and it worked wonderfully.
Can you use dried dates for this recipe?
These ARE dried dates. The Medjool variety is softer than the Deglet Noor variety. Sometimes you can find date paste sold ready to use in a block form.
This was amazing for my gluten dairy oat and egg free friends! Everyone loved it
Looking for nut free version. The rest sounds amazing!
Bran buds
Uhm wow, these are delicious!!!!
LOVE LOVE LOVE! Gluten free, refined sugar free, but full of flavor and a hit at parties!
These are sooo good! Used a mix of walnuts and raw cashews. Medjool dates are a must to keep things moist.
So satisfying! Even better frozen!
Made this for the first time today. This recipe is awesome! Easy to make and great for a WW member. Definitely a keeper.
Eh very cocopowdery… I added banana, coconut oil, nut butter, protein powder, and coconut flour to lessen the bitterness. Also, you should soak your figs beforehand to soften them up a bit.
If you used figs instead of dates it may be the problem, dates are very sweet and gooey.
Ok, this was hard to make, especially when the figs were a bit dry from a box that had been open for a while. Used a ripe banana instead of pumpkin, because the banana needed to be used. Added about 1TB orange juice to make it easier for the food processor to break up the figs and added a few drops of orange extract for fun. Like others, I had to scrape down the bowl many times. But the taste was awesome! Will try to make these again.
Hmm I never tried with figs
I love these, they taste delicious and are easy to make!
These are very good! You can’t taste the pumpkin. One tip I would add is to soak the dates in hot water for a few minutes before adding to the food processor. That makes it easier for them to break down into the paste consistency you want.
How many Grams of pitted dates?? I buy pitted date paste.
I love dark chocolate and dates and this recipe proved to be a blissful truffle like combination of both.
Making a double batch off these was the perfect use for the 1/2 cup pumpkin puree that was languishing in my freezer. I didn’t have enough walnuts on hand, so I use walnuts inside the balls but rolled them in shredded coconut. Delicious! I think they are even better the next day after the flavors have had some time to meld. I’ll be making these again!
Sounds like mostly everyone loves this recipe. I live in Canada so medjool dates are too expensive to buy. I want to know exactly how many regular dates or prunes I need to use. I’m a stickler for measurements.
Walmart sells Traders brand in a good size bag for $3 here in NS.
These are amazing! So tasty and healthy, great for gifts! I made the recipe as is, no changes necessary.
It’s very good! My grand daughter loves them and so do I!
Just made these and WOW! So good!! I’m 34 weeks pregnant and was looking for ways to eat more dates. This is it!!
Great!!
Delicious! Easy to make and a real treat when you are trying to eat more healthy! I’ve already made my second batch this week.
Amazing!!!! I doubled the recipe, and using my cookie scoop, the recipe yielded 21. I shared with my neighbors, and they loved them too! They are already asking when I am making them again. =)
This recipe is great. I used dried plums (aka prunes) instead of dates and banana instead of pumpkin. I like Sunsweet brand of prunes which are preservative free. My little food processor did great. It’s a KitchenAid. I also added a touch of peanut butter. Great recipe!
These are amazing! Tastes dark chocolate truffles! I double the recipe and use a small scoop to wind up with 4 to a serving. We keep these in the freezer for an after dinner treat.
Tried this recipe and WOW! delicious! I rather have this than candy anyday
These came out so good! Can’t taste the dates or pumpkin!! Wow, this is a keeper;)
Holy cow, these came out so good! Taste so chocolatey, cant taste the dates or pumpkin, what a creation!! Def a keeper 🙂 Thanks Gina!!
Very delicious ! More like a truffle! This will be my go to treat. Even my 6 year old loves them .
These are really good and can easily be adapted to use what you have on hand. I made one batch with almonds and rolled in coconut and one with cashews then rolled in coconut. I would definitely make again and even though they aren’t super sweet they do satisfy my sweet cravings.
These were super easy to make. I have to double the recipe next time as they were soo soo soo good I want more! I didn’t have any issues with the food processor.
Made this several times and once with banana when I didn’t have pumpkin. They turn out great every time. I make them smaller at about 1 tablespoon each. So great!!
I usually love skinny taste but this recipe was a fail to me. Couldn’t get them to blend up without liquid then it was a muddy mess. I had to pre freeze them before rolling and still barely came together. I think they needed some oats.
This doesn’t work in a blender.
Used food processor.
So I learned a few things with this recipe … 1) if you overprocess the nuts you end up with paste, which is hard to roll the balls in. 2) you need a heavy duty food processor because the dates are big and bulky and broke my little processor with plastic motor parts. 3) this is less “process” and more “process, scrape, process, scrape, process, scrape” ad infinitum until you have something resembling paste. But if someone else has a food processor that handled this recipe like a boss please let me know the brand. Still I’m giving it 5 stars for the amazing taste!
Two things – I have a Vitamix blender and it’s stupidly high-powered, and also almost indestructible. They’re not cheap, BUT they’re a bit like a Kitchen Aid mixer – you “buy it for life” because they’re absolute workhorses. I’d recommend seriously considering saving for a Vitamix [I bought a refurbished Ascent series one, and I’m so glad I splurged on it]. There is also a food processor attachment that you can buy in the US. I can’t get one here in the Southern Hemisphere, but I’ve seen dozens of reviews from people saying that they’ve replaced both their food processor and blender with their Vitamix. So, there you go!
My other comment is RE: your frustration with date business. I learned a looooong time ago, via two broken food processors, that the best thing to do with dates in ANY of these “energy ball/bliss ball/insert-adjective-here-ball” recipes, is Self, Soak Thy Dates. Seriously. Bung your pitted dates in a bowl and cover them with boiling water [or just water, if you’re lazy like me] and leave them for as long as you can prior to making the recipe. You can even soak them while you’re gathering all the other ingredients – that’s usually more than enough time. Then, just pluck their squidgy, soft, Nigella-level-plump selves out and drop straight into your blender. I find that I sometimes reduce a little bit of whatever liquid/semi-liquid ingredients are called for, just so the mixture doesn’t turn into an un-ball-able gloop [a delicious gloop, but a gloop, mind you], but it’s made life so much less stressful for me when attempting these types of recipes. Also also, last tip [sorry, I know I said two – think of me as the Spanish Inquisition of recipes] – if you throw the nuts in the freezer prior to this, they’ll be harder to accidentally turn into paste. Alternatively, if you roast them, they’ll be easier to grind down [and you’ll have to watch more carefully when blending] but they’ll add an amaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing toastiness to the recipe.
RIGHT. There you go, there’s some unwanted advice from the internet. 😆
Now, if I could only get the hang of portion control…
Thank you for the info!!!! I found your tips VERY useful!
Thank you, I was wondering about using the Vitamix. I don’t have a food processor. Gonna make these today!
Thank you for the helpful tips! When I didn’t see the recipe say anything about soaking the dates, I was wondering whether they needed to be dry for this receipe. I’m glad I read your post!
I actually use my ninja blender to mix it all together. I have to scrape the sides a few times but it works well
My heavy duty ninja is not doing well with this recipe. Won’t blend the dates 😞
Delicious. Easy. Few ingredients. Made more than I expected.
Delicious! We have nut allergies so I used pumpkin seeds and rolled them in unsweetened coconut. Great snack for my athlete sons!
Definitely satisfied my sweet tooth! Easy to make and delivered in the taste. I ran short of the nut coating for the last few, so I rolled the remaining 3 in unsweetened coconut!
Easy and yummy. Not too sweet which I like. It makes more than you think.
I love your dates recipe. I would like to know what kind of mixer you’re using for the dates. Let me know.
Thanks it’s a food processor.
Meh…what a mess! Food processor didn’t do the trick. Tastes ok, but not great. Sorry, not for me.
Very easy & delicious. Just the thing to tame a sweet tooth.
These are delicious!! I had regular dates so I added a few extras. Such an easy recipe. Thank you for another great option if I need a quick fix of chocolate.
Yum, made today using almonds. Used unsweetened coconut to roll into also.
Yum, made today using almonds. Used unsweetened coconut to roll into also.
WOW- These little morsels are easy to make and very yummy. I used mashed sweet potato (one small, microwaved) instead of pumpkin. The cocoa powder was a good quality organic brand. Not too sweet and a fabulous texture. For hostess gifts, I plan to roll a chocolate chip inside for an extra special treat.
Looks great I will try it
These are so good! Made with pecans as I had them on hand. Will make again and again!
These are delicious! I substituted pepitas for walnuts and made 16 smaller balls. They are actually really rich, so chocolatey. I froze them and they are really fudgy straight out of the freezer.
I don’t think you can taste the pumpkin at all. My daughter loves them, and won’t eat pumpkin normally.
This is delicious! I can’t have nuts right now so I used Pepita seeds and hemp seeds instead of walnuts. Thank you for this recipe!
I just made these today and they are delicious! I will be making them again and again! Thank you for a fabulous recipe!
Can you substitute the pumpkin with sweet potato?
Is there any way to make these without a food processor?
Do these have 5 WW points a piece?
Can anyone give me a better idea of the amount of dates you use? There is a size difference between the two types of dates. Perhaps the weight in grams of the 10 Medjool dates?
I have the same question?
Anyone figure the WW points on these?
The points are listed on every recipe! The blue circle… these are 5 pts
What can I use in place of the walnuts? We have a tree nut allergy.
pumpkin seeds or hemp seeds
I love the coconut chocolat combo and will roll these beauties in shredded coconut. I will likely use coconut butter instead of walnut in the mix! Or seeds are good as well. So many options!
Any substitute for canned pumpkin. I don’t want to buy a whole can and just use a little bit.
Pumpkin puree freezes well for use later in a second batch or other recipes.
What if we hate pumpkins? Any thoughts on an alternative “mush” that we could use?
Baby food (pumpkin puree) works great when you don’t want to use a whole can.
Great idea. Thanks!
I’m not that fond of pumpkin so I will use sweet potatoes.
I’m allergic to squash, is there an alternative to the pumpkin?
mashed banana
I’d love to try these! How can I make them if I don’t own a food processor?
pretty tough to do without
Could you use a blender if you don’t have a good processor
I am also wondering about the blender. It seems like it might be okay, but also like it might get too frothy. My food processor is a manual processor, so I think I need an in-between consistency.
I feel like it may get stuck, there’s no liquid.
Just made these and they are so good! Doing Whole30 and these are compliant! Definitely satisfy a sweet tooth.
Would it work with pecans? I can’t stand walnuts. Thanks!
sure, any nuts you like!
For a person allergic to tree nuts what would be a good substitution?
What about seeds or pretzels?
I was about to ask the same thing. Do you think sunflower seeds would affect the flavor negatively? I also like the idea of pretzels…
That would be great too!
I was going to ask the same and was also thinking of subbing walnuts for oats?
My son is allergic to tree nuts but he can eat peanuts. I’m going to try it with peanuts.