These no-bake cookie dough oatmeal balls taste like an oatmeal raisin cookie! Naturally vegan and gluten-free, these oatmeal balls are perfect for snacking and lunchboxes.

Coming to you with a new no-bake ball recipe for you! You know we love oatmeal ball recipes for snacking and have quite a few different options: PBJ Balls, Blueberry Chickpea Cookie Dough Balls, Raspberry Tahini Chickpea Balls and our Carrot Cake Chickpea Balls. These cookie dough oatmeal balls with raisins are bean-free, as many of you have been asking for!

We love how easy these balls are to throw in lunchboxes or in snack bags for our kiddos. While we originally made these for our kiddos, we won’t deny that we also love them with a cup of coffee in the morning or to snack on in the afternoon.

If you love our other ball recipes, and especially for those who have asked for a bean-free version, you’ve gotta try these raisin oatmeal balls!

Key Ingredients

Cashews and Cashew Butter. These are going to make your cookie dough balls taste the most like actual cookie dough, but if you have a cashew allergy or prefer another nut butter you can use almond or peanut butter instead.
Medjool dates. You’ll need softened dates to make these balls work. If your dates are not soft enough, then I recommend soaking in warm water for 10-15 minutes first.
Spices. Like ground cinnamon and vanilla extract.
Oats. Oats help to bind these no-bake balls together and make them safe to enjoy raw.

Variety and Substitions

Any nut butter will work for this recipe. You can also add in chopped chocolate or additional nuts with the raisins depending on how you like your dough!

How to Assemble these Oatmeal Balls

These healthy cookie dough bites come together quickly and easily. You will need a food processor, but a blender may also work. If you do use a blender, then you may need to stop and scrape down the cashew, oat and date parts.

Place the oats and cashews in the base of a blender and pulse until a course flour forms. Add in the dates and pulse again until dates are well combined. Put the rest of the ingredients in the food processor and pulse again until well combined and a dough forms.

Use a 2-tablespoon scoop and roll into a ball, then continue with the rest of the dough until the rest of the balls are made. Store in the fridge for up to a week and in the freezer for 3 months.

Tips for Success

These balls work best if the dates are soft enough to create some of the moisture that’s needed to hold the balls together. If your dates are hard, then this recipe will not come together. For hard dates, soak them in warm water for 10-15 minutes first before blending.

If your oatmeal balls are still too hard, you can add in additional cashew butter or a little maple syrup. I find that these balls don’t need additional sweetener with the raisins, but if you substitute in a more tart fruit, like a dried cranberry, then you may want to add in some extra liquid sweetener.

You don’t need to purchase cashew butter! Make it yourself in a blender, directions below.

How do I make cashew butter?

Cashew butter tends to be expensive and hard to find. Thankfully, you don’t need to buy it when you can make it yourself. Simply add plain cashews to a food processor or blender. Grind until a powder forms, then blend the cashews until a creamy butter forms. This process will take a few minutes and you’ll usually have to start and stop the blender or food processor as you go.

I often use my Nutribullet for making small amounts of nut butters as the base is smaller to contact with the blades. You likely won’t be able to make just the 3 tablespoons of cashew butter that you need for this recipe. I find the smallest amount I’m able to make is about 1/2 cup. Save the leftovers in the fridge to use as you would any other nut butter!

If you try these oatmeal balls, make sure to come back to leave a review and a rating! Your feedback helps other readers and we LOVE seeing you make our recipes.

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