No-Bake Cashew Coconut Balls
on May 04, 2020, Updated Jan 08, 2026
This post may contain affiliate links.
These simple, healthy, no-bake cashew coconut balls are ready in 10 minutes with just 3 ingredients.
About the Recipe
These yummy energy balls are vegan, gluten-free and easy to whip up with just cashews, dates and coconut! They make a great snack on-the-go and are perfect for meal prep.
Feel free to swap the cashews for peanuts, pecans, walnuts, almonds or a mixture of nuts or you can try one of my many other energy ball recipes like Cranberry Sunflower Seed Energy Balls, Peanut Chocolate Chip Energy Balls or No-Bake Chocolate Energy Balls.
The dates and sea salt give them a salted caramel flavour that is delicious combined with shredded coconut. Part snack and part dessert, especially if you add chocolate chips, stash a batch in the freezer for a sweet treat any time.
Ingredients
- Coconut: Use medium or fine unsweetened shredded coconut.
- Dates: Any kind of date works as long as they’re soft and moist. If your dates are hard and dry, you’ll need to soak them in hot water for 15 minutes then drain well before using.
- Cashews: Look for “raw” cashews, they should not have any added oil or salt.
This list is not complete. Please see the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete ingredient list with measurements and detailed instructions.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and blend into a thick, sticky dough.
If it’s not sticking together, add 1 tsp of water, blend again and repeat as needed until it does. Usually just a splash of water should do the trick, and only if needed, if your dates were nice and juicy you shouldn’t have a problem!
Step 3. Use your hands to roll the dough into balls.
Storing
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freezer for up to 3 months.
- They’re ok at room temperature for 3-4 days but will get soft if it’s warm. It’s recommended to keep them chilled.
More Energy Balls
- Coconut Goji Berry Balls
- Lime and Coconut Energy Balls
- Carrot Cake Energy Ball
- No-Bake Pecan Pie Balls
- No-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Bites
No-Bake Cashew Coconut Balls
Ingredients
- 1 cup packed, soft pitted dates, 225 g
- 1 cup raw cashews, 100 g
- 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, 60 g
- 1/4 tsp sea salt, optional
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and process into a thick, sticky dough you can press between your fingers.
- Use your hands to roll the dough into 15 balls.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on November 10, 2014.
Super-easy and delicious. Not overly sweet. Be sure to add the salt as it makes the flavors “pop”! Otherwise, they’d be a bit “flat” tasting.
So glad you liked them! Thanks for the feedback.
I’m vegan and recently started a raw diet and wanted something easy to satisfy my sweet tooth, because honestly I’m getting sick of fruit. Lol This was so very simple and they are so good!
These are simply outstanding!
Do you wash and dry the cashews since raw cashews need to be washed? Why can’t roasted and salted cashews be used and then just leave out the sea salt?
They aren’t really true raw cashews, they’re just commonly labeled as such. “Raw” cashews have been roasted to remove the shell. Then they’re packaged without added oil, salt or additional roasting. You can use roasted and salted if you’d like.
I love the cashew flavor. I added lemon zest and lemon juice. They were so fresh and I’m keeping this recipe on repeat!
So delicious – incredibly quick and easy to assemble. Made with sticky medjoul dates – yum!
This has become a summer staple in my freezer. It’s yummy as is, and yet, so versatile. I have swapped out the dates for prunes, apricots, and a mix of any of the three. I’ll be searching for another fruit to try. I’ve also used almonds and pistachios. I think I prefer regular shred coconut over the fine, but both hold up well. Notes to share: weighing is more accurate than measuring, but you have room. Freezing works beautifully for these, as they don’t go rock hard (I place mine on a wax covered cookie sheet, and when they’re ready, they get moved to a freezer storage tub). I’m wondering as I write this if I could coax this recipe into something spicy…. Thoughts?
Hello, has anyone tried to substitute the dates for another dried fruit? I’m not a huge fan of dates and it seems these kinds of recipes always use dates.
Thanks!
You could try dried apricots, raisins, or cherries but you may need to soak them first in order for them to have enough moisture to bind the balls. I haven’t tested these with any other fruit though so I can’t guarantee how they’ll turn out! I have made other no-bake recipes with raisins before and they do work but they have a much stronger flavor than dates.
Thanks so much for getting back to me Deryn!
I did actually go ahead and make these with dates as per the recipe and because of the intense flavour of the desiccated coconut I used, you can barely taste the dates.
They are so moreish – I don’t think they will last long! When that happens I think I will make another batch substituting maybe about half the amount of dates for apricots and see how that works out. The apricots I have are pretty soft rather than the more dried out and chewier ones.
I’m guessing the dates are needed for the stickiness and I don’t know if apricots have that. But I will try it 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed them despite the dates! I would agree, you can’t really taste them in these. Let me know how the apricots work out, I think if you do half and half it should be ok. Thanks!
How many dates would you say make a cup?
Sorry, I’m really not sure as it depends on the type of date used. Do you have any way to measure 1 cup or weigh out 225 g? I’d recommend an inexpensive kitchen scale for the future…makes things super easy!
I’ve made this recipe twice. It is soooo delicious!! And easy to make too!
I was buying something similar in the natural food section, but these are much tastier and cheaper!
My first batch I put them in the fridge and ate them all in a few days. My second batch I froze half and put half in the fridge.
Thanks!