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Looking for a healthy snack you can easily whip up that your kids will love?
As a dietitian and mom, I’m always on the lookout for snacks that provide valuable nutrition, fill my kids up (good bye snack requests every five minutes), and that also taste delicious.
These birthday cake protein balls are jam packed with protein, fiber, iron, and have a fun birthday flare to them.
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Birthday Cake Protein Balls
These birthday cake protein balls are quick, easy, have only five ingredients, and require no baking!
Quick Oats
You can use other varieties of oats, but I’ve found that quick oats help the protein balls stick together better than oats in their whole form like old fashioned or steel cut.
Ground Flaxseed
Make sure to purchase ground or milled flaxseed. Whole flaxseed is difficult for your body to digest and typically goes right through you – if you know what I mean. This is especially important for kids because they’re not the best at chewing their food thoroughly.
I recommend Tinysprouts Milled flaxseed because it has added vitamin D and probiotics.
Honey
If you don’t have honey, you can also use maple syrup, but your birthday cake protein balls will just have a slightly maple flavor.
Nut or Seed Butter
I use peanut butter, however if someone in your family has a nut allergy, you can opt for a seed butter like sunbutter. Any nut or seed butter will work.
If you’re planning to send these to school as a snack for your child, I recommend using sun butter just to be on the safe side and avoid nuts all together.
White Chocolate Chips
Using white chocolate chips helps give these birthday cake protein balls a bit more of the vanilla flavor that’s associated with birthday cake.
Sprinkles
Sprinkles are one thing we always have well stocked in our house. If you’re looking to avoid artificial dyes, try these dye-free sprinkles in bulk – these are the ones I used!
Vanilla
Nothing too fancy here, just plain ole vanilla extract.
Equipment for Protein Balls
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Scooper – optional, but makes scooping uniform bliss balls easy!
- Parchment Paper
- Baking sheet
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Ziploc bag
- Meat tenderizer
How to Make Birthday Cake Protein Balls
The hardest part about making these birthday cake protein balls is stirring all the ingredients together and trying not to eat them all at once.
You’re welcome to use a mixing spoon or rubber spatula, but eventually you may have to get your hands dirty. I recommend taking off any rings for this part.
Combine Ingredients
You’ll start by mixing together the oats, ground flaxseed, honey, nut butter, and vanilla.
The mixture might seem too sticky at first, but give it time. You’ll need all that stickiness to “glue” everything together. But, if you feel like your protein ball mixture is still too sticky, add a little more quick oats.
And if your protein ball mixture is too dry and isn’t sticking together very well, add more nut butter or honey.
Crush White Chocolate Chips
I haven’t found mini white chocolate chips yet so instead I add my regular white chocolate chips to a Ziploc back and crush them up with a meat tenderizer – it’s actually quite fun!
You can add your crushed white chocolate chips to the rest of the mixture and give them a good stir so they’re evenly combined.
Gently Fold in Sprinkles
In order not to crush all your sprinkles, you’ll want to gently fold in your sprinkles. This just means mixing them slowly.
Form Protein Balls
Once your birthday cake protein ball mixture is well combined, roll 1-2 tablespoons into a ball and place on a parchment-lined sheet tray. I like to use a scooper for this part to make consistently shaped bliss balls.
When all your birthday cake protein balls are rolled out and on your sheet pan, place them in the freezer for a few hours or overnight until they are individually frozen. I like to lay a piece of parchment paper down on the sheet pan so I have less dishes to wash.
From here you can place them all in an airtight container or freezer bag.
I like to store my protein balls in the freezer and pull out as needed since they thaw quickly. However, you can also store them in the fridge for a week at a time. Your bliss balls will last in the freezer for three to six months, but I promise you you’ll eat them all before then.
Variations
There are endless variations to these protein balls, also known as bliss balls. .
Protein Ball Variations
Keep the base ingredients: nut butter, honey, ground flaxseed, and oats and add your favorite mix ins:
- Mini chocolate chips
- White chocolate chips and craisins
- Reese’s pieces
- Shredded coconut
- Butterscotch chips
- Pistachios
- Freeze dried strawberries
How to Store Protein Balls
Store your birthday cake protein balls in an airtight container or freezer bag in the fridge for seven days or freezer for three to six months. I love the Rubbermaid Brilliance containers!
What to Serve With It
These birthday cake protein balls are great to enjoy by themselves, but I always like to pair a fruit or vegetable with any snack to either increase exposure to your picky eater or simply help you eat more fruits and vegetables in general.
Pairing Options for Protein Balls
- Fresh strawberries
- Celery
- Apple slices
- Banana
- Orange slices
How to Reduce Added Sugar
While these birthday cake protein balls do have some added sugar in them (15 g for two balls), I try to look at all the other things it’s providing you with such as protein (5 g), fiber (3 g), and overall a condensed form of energy.
The main ingredient that is contributing to the added sugar is honey.
If you’d like a lower sugar option, you can:
- Opt for 1 protein ball instead of 2
- Cut the white chocolate chips in half
- Choose a no added sugar nut butter
- Increase nut butter and decrease honey
Other Recipes You’ll Love
Chocolate Strawberry Bliss Balls
Christmas Peanut Butter Bliss Balls
Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal
Birthday Cake Protein Balls
Equipment
- Rubber spatula
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Ziploc bag
- Meat tenderizer
Ingredients
- 3 cups Quick oats
- 1 cup Peanut butter or any nut or seed butter
- 1/2 cup Ground flaxseed
- 1/2 cup Honey
- 1 cup Sprinkles
- 1 cup White chocolate chips crushed
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix together oats, peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and ground flaxseed in a large mixing bowl until well combined using your hands as needed.
- Add white chocolate chips to a Ziploc bag and crush into pieces with a meat tenderizer. Add crushed white chocolate chips to the energy bite mixture and stir.
- Gently fold in sprinkles until evenly distributed throughout the mix.
- Roll or scoop 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter bliss ball mixture into balls and place on a parchment paper-lined sheet tray.
- Freeze protein balls overnight or until frozen. Then place in an airtight container or freezer bag.
