Easy 4-ingredient lemon balls (no coconut oil)
These homemade lemon balls are irresistibly zesty with perfectly chewy centers. Easy to make with just cashews, lemons, dates, honey and a food processor, these lemon bliss balls are ready to enjoy as a quick snack, elegant dessert bite or a quick breakfast on the go.
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Making these cafe-style lemon balls at home isn’t difficult at all. No fancy ingredients required. I’ll show you all the steps, and you will see how super easy they are to make. The best part? You can adjust how lemony you make them 😋 and they are way less expensive.
Table of contents
There are times when I want to just open the fridge and grab a delicious snack and go. These lemon cashew balls are perfect. I love the zesty lemon flavor, and they are perfect with a cup of tea, coffee or just as is. Just coat them in cashew meal or coconut flakes to prevent them from sticking to each other and you can keep them in the fridge or freezer for whenever you like.
So often when I buy something that is supposed to have a lemon flavor, I am disappointed, because the lemon flavor is too bland or artificial tasting. With this lemon cashew ball recipe, the lemon lover in me can go all out and put in as much lemon as I like. And I don’t feel guilty eating them, because I know exactly what’s in them.
Why you’ll love this lemon balls recipe:
- Simple ingredients: cashews, lemons, dates and optional honey and coconut flakes. That’s it. No need for any hard-to-find ingredients like protein powder, coconut flour or coconut oil.
- Quick and easy – Just 3-4 ingredients and ready in 5 minutes, perfect for when you want something sweet but don’t want to spend ages in the kitchen.
- Real lemon flavor from lemon zest and lemon juice
- No coconut oil – One less ingredient to worry about and the flavor is pure lemon. While I don’t mind coconut oil, I don’t want it in all my bliss balls!
- No soaking required
- No bake energy balls
- Perfect snack for anytime, especially late afternoon pick-me-up or breakfast on the go
If you are looking for more energy ball recipes, you can also try this chocolate almond energy ball recipe. Or if you are looking for more lemon recipes, try my whipped lemon ricotta dip or this lemon ricotta quiche with phyllo dough (my favourite quiche!). Yes, I love lemons! So happy we have a lemon tree in our yard here in Australia 😀
Ingredients for the Lemon Balls
- Raw cashews – they make these lemon bliss balls really creamy
- Dates – regular is fine or medjool if you want to splurge, but I use the regular ones
- Lemon zest and fresh lemon juice – the stars of the show here. Lemon zest makes it really lemony!
- Honey – balances the acidity from the lemons
- Shredded coconut or coconut flakes (Optional to roll the lemon energy bites in)
Substitutions
Not many substitutions here as there are only a handful of ingredients in these lemon energy balls 🙂
Cashews – use raw cashews and not toasted. Raw are much creamier. You can also try almonds, but I would then soak them as they are a harder nut.
Dates – plain are fine. You can use Medjool dates, but you may then want to skip the honey as Medjool dates tend to be a bit sweeter. I use plain dates all the time in these no bake lemon balls.
Additions
Hemp seeds – I have not tried these in this recipe, but you could give them a go.
Poppy seeds – You can roll the lemon energy balls in poppy seeds for a more dramatic look.
Mini white chocolate chips – Skip the honey and mix in 3-4 tablespoons with the dough and roll out balls as usual. Delicious!
Melted white chocolate – Skip the honey and melt 2-4 tablespoons of white chocolate in the microwave and drizzle on top of the lemon balls.
Serving Suggestions
Stack up in a pretty small bowl and serve with a cup of tea or coffee.
Drizzle with melted white chocolate to turn it into a fancy dessert.
Keep in the freezer and hand out to your kids or yourself as needed…
Instructions to Make the Lemon Bliss Balls
Zest and juice the lemons.
Put cashews in a food processor and blend on high for about 1 minute until cashews make a flour like meal (but not so long that it becomes butter).
Stop the mixer and take out about 3 tablespoons of the ground cashews. You can use these ground cashews to coat the lemon cashew balls if you like (otherwise coat them in shredded coconut).
Add the lemon zest and juice and honey to the food processor and mix again until you get a very find cashew meal.
Add the dates and mix on high until the mixture starts getting quite sticky and all the ingredients are ground up. Test the mixture by pinching some between your fingers – it should hold together easily. If too dry, add a touch more lemon juice or honey. If too wet, add more ground cashews (use some of the reserved ground cashews). It should be almost a thick cashew butter consistency.
Remove from the mixing bowl and place in the fridge for 30 minutes, until mixture starts to firm up.
Take a teaspoon or tablespoon of the dough and make balls with your hands or use a small cookie scoop to make balls about 1 inch in diameter.
Coat in almond meal or unsweetened coconut flakes to prevent balls from sticking to each other. (And to make them beautiful).
In the photo, I coated the top lemon balls in the ground almond meal that I set aside, the other lemon bliss balls I rolled in shredded coconut.
Tips and Notes for Lemon Balls
- Use cashew nuts that are fresh. Old nuts just do not taste nice.
- Taste the dough to see how lemony you like the balls. My recipe makes the lemon bliss balls quite lemony. You might start by putting in 1/2 the lemon zest and juice and add the rest in at the end if you would like the no bake lemon balls more lemony.
- Make sure you finely grind up the cashews before adding the dates.
- Reserve 2 tablespoons of the finely ground cashew nuts to roll the lemon balls in to keep them from sticking to their neighbors (or use shredded coconut).
Storage
- Refrigerate the no bake lemon balls for up to 7 days in an airtight container.
- Freeze for up to 2 months. I keep my lemon energy balls in the freezer. They only take a few minutes to thaw and I love them cold.
- You can store them in an airtight container on the counter for a day, but really they are much better from the fridge or freezer. Otherwise, they have a less firm texture, which is ok, but I prefer it firmer.
Easy 4-ingredient lemon balls Recipe Card
Easy 4-ingredient lemon balls (no coconut oil)
Equipment
- Food processor
- lemon zester
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups raw cashews
- 1 cup dates pitted
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest
- 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 2-3 Tablespoons Shredded coconut
Instructions
- Place cashews in a food processor and blend until finely ground (but not so long that it becomes butter). About 1 minute.
- Remove about 3 tablespoons of the finely ground tablespoons to use as a coating for the lemon balls (Forget this step if you are using shredded coconut to coat the lemon balls).
- Add the pitted dates, lemon zest, lemon juice and honey. Process until the mixture starts to come together and forms a sticky dough.
- Test the mixture by pinching some between your fingers – it should hold together easily. If too dry, add a touch more lemon juice or honey.
- Place in fridge for 30 minutes or so to firm up a bit.
- Roll mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter.
- If desired, roll balls in reserved cashew meal or shredded coconut.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
Notes
- Use cashew nuts that are fresh. Old nuts just do not taste nice.
- Taste the dough to see how lemony you like the balls. My recipe makes the lemon bliss balls quite lemony. You might start by putting in 1/2 the lemon zest and juice and add the rest in at the end if you would like the no bake lemon balls more lemony.
- Make sure you finely grind up the cashews before adding the dates.
