These healthy pumpkin spice protein balls are the perfect fall snack – easy to make, naturally sweetened, and packed with real food ingredients.
If you liked my chocolate peanut butter protein balls (all 5-star reviews), you’re going to love this seasonal variation.
Made with natural peanut butter, oats, real pumpkin puree, warm spices, a touch of honey, and non-caloric sweetener to taste, these are soft, satisfying, and high in protein without being loaded with sugar.
How To Get The Perfect Pumpkin Spice Protein Dough
After some trial and error, I landed on the ideal balance of dry and wet ingredients to create a cookie-dough-like texture.
This mixture should not look like pancake batter. It shouldn’t be pourable or easily spooned. It should be thick and moldable.
A little stickiness is normal when forming the balls. But if the mixture clings heavily to your hands in wet clumps, you’ve added too much liquid. In that case, add more dry ingredients and double-check your measurements next time.
It’s actually better if the mixture looks slightly too dry at first. You can always add more pumpkin, water, or milk one tablespoon at a time to reach the right consistency.
Adding extra peanut butter or honey will also increase moisture — but remember, that also increases calories.
You can substitute ingredients – almond butter instead of peanut butter, sweet potato puree instead of pumpkin, different nuts or seeds – but keep the dry-to-wet ratio consistent or the texture will change.
How To Roll Perfect Protein Balls
It’s simple:
Scoop a portion of dough and form balls no larger than a golf ball.
Roll them between your palms to compress and create smooth, firm spheres.
What Is The Best Protein Powder To Use?
I used vanilla whey protein powder, and along with a teaspoon of vanilla extract, it’s a nice enhancement to the flavor. However, feel welcome to use any type or flavor of protein powder you prefer.
Make a note: Measuring by weight using grams is the most accurate method, but an even 2/3 of a cup of protein is the exact volume amount for this recipe.
Usually a standard scoop is 1/3 of a cup which is 31 grams, but I stopped using “scoop” in my ingredient lists because I’ve discovered that the scoop sizes can vary in different brands of protein powder.
Pumpkin Seeds Version – More Flavor And Crunch (And Macro Changes)
The version with pumpkin seeds adds more flavor and a great crunch. It does add more calories though. (Read labels – some pumpkin seeds are overloaded with sodium too). Here are the macros with 2 tablespoons (2 oz / 56g) of pumpkin seeds added (one serving):
Calories: 135
Protein: 9.5g
Carbs: 14.4g
Fat: 5g
Sweeteners: How To Control Calories Without Losing Flavor
The honey is a natural sweetener, but more importantly, it’s part of the wet ingredients and the “glue” that sticks together the dry ingredients.
To control calories, I kept the amount of honey low, and simply included several packets of non caloric sweetener (powder) for the right amount of sweetness. I usually use stevia / erythritol (Truvia, etc). Adjust the amount to satisfy your tastebuds.
What Is In Pumpkin Spice?
Pumpkin spice typically includes some or all of the following: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Allspice is often added in, but it’s not mandatory.
An alternative would be the cinnamon, plus 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of pre-made pumpkin spice (available in most grocery stores and online).
In my recipe, I used a full teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp of the other three spices, giving a nice strong pumpkin spice essence, but not over the top. Adjust the spice amounts to your tastes.
Where To Buy Pumpkin Puree
If you can’t find pumpkin (puree) at your local grocery store, you can get it easily online at Amazon, including Libbys or Farmer’s Market organic.
How To Mix And Form The Dough
Remember that once all your ingredients are in the bowl, you need to “mix and mash.” First, stir them all together so they’re evenly dispersed, then you can mash it all together. A large wooden spoon works well.
As you compress the ingredients together in the bowl it will make them stick together until you have a large clump of dough. Then you’re ready to form your treats into those delicious little spheres.
How Many Servings Does This Make?
With this amount of ingredients, you’ll get 8 pumpkin protein balls, each about the size of a golf ball, or just slightly smaller. Scale the ingredients by 50% or even double if you’re feeding a crowd or want to save a bunch for later.
Protein Balls Or Protein Bars?
I’ve made many batches of these pumpkin spice protein treats and they work great as balls, but you can also form them into pumpkin protein bars.
These are portable, healthy, high in protein, and very nutritious compared to the majority of commercial protein bars.
If you eat more than a couple, they are also a high energy snack that can keep you well fueled when you don’t have a sit-down meal at hand. (1 or 2 of these is a snack. If you ate 4, that would be the equivalent of an entire meal, with a great macro balance, including 36 grams of protein!)
Storage Tips (Refrigerate Or Freeze?)
You can eat these right away, or store them in the refrigerator first. They’re great at room temperature or chilled, and as they cool, they also get more solid so they’re not sticky or messy at all in your hands. If you make huge batches, of course you can freeze the extras as well.
A Portable No-Bake Fall Snack You Can Take Anywhere
This is a neat recipe because you don’t need a food processor, no baking is required, and it’s a portable food you can take with you anywhere. Lately, I’ve been taking these with me on my autumn fall foliage hikes instead of store-bought protein or “nutrition” bars. These home-made treats are healthier with better macros, and it beats trail mix!
-Tom Venuto
Author, Meal Prep For Fat Loss
PS. Looking for more protein dessert recipes? Browse the full collection on our protein desserts main page
PPS. Try the oatmeal pumpkin spice protein cookies too! And if you love Pumpkin recipes, you will also love sweet potato recipes! Check out: The best sweet potato protein pancakes and the best sweet potato protein brownies
Healthy Pumpkin Spice Protein Balls
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup Pumpkin puree (87g)
- 3 Tbsp Peanut butter, natural (48g)
- 1 Tbsp Honey (21g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1.25 cups Old fashioned rolled oats (100g)
- 2/3 cup Whey protein, vanilla (62g)
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp Cloves, ground
- 1/4 tsp Ginger, ground
- 4 packets sweetener (stevia, etc)
- 2 Tbsp Pumpkin seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
- Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.
- Mash the ingredients together by pressing down with a large spoon or spatula until it congeals into a cookie-dough-like consistency.
- If the ingredients remain too dry or powdery, add a tablespoon at a time of wet ingredients (pumpkin, milk, or just water) to get the desired consistency. If too sticky or wet, you can add a little more dry ingredients (oats and protein powder).
- Once the ingredients have become semi-solid, form them into balls with your hands.
- Eat right away, or store in refrigerator to cool and solidify more (in a sealed container or ziplock bag).
Nutrition
About Tom Venuto
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilding and fat loss coach with 35 years of experience. He holds a degree in exercise science and has trained hundreds of clients in person and thousands online. He is also a recipe creator specializing in fat-burning, muscle-building cooking.
A former competitive bodybuilder, Tom is now a full-time evidence-based fitness writer, blogger, and author. His classic book Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is an international bestseller, first as an ebook and later as a hardcover and audiobook. He is also the author of Meal Prep For Fat Loss, a practical guide to smart shopping, batch cooking, and kitchen strategies that make healthy eating simple and sustainable.
Tom’s work has been featured in Men’s Fitness, Oprah Magazine and dozens of other major publications. He is best known for his no-BS, scientific approach to natural fat loss and muscle-building.
Tom is also the founder of Burn the Fat Inner Circle, a fitness support community with more than 59,000 members worldwide since 2006.
Would love to see more pumpkin recipes!!
More pumpkin recipes on the way!!
Wow. Those sound great and really healthy and nutritious. I’m definitely goi g to try that recipe.
Thanks Tom.
They’re good! Enjoy