Postpartum Oatmeal Energy Balls: A simple one-handed postpartum snack recipe

During the “fourth trimester” (the first 3 months of your newborn’s life), you are going to be getting used to a lot of new things. You will be sleeping in shorter spurts, soothing a fussy baby, resting and recovering from birth, and figuring out how to keep yourself fed while there’s a baby in your arms most of the time. That's where postpartum energy balls come in handy!

One of our favorite postpartum snacks to make for clients during our postpartum doula shifts are these simple postpartum energy balls, originally created by Gimme Some Oven. These postpartum snacks are packed with protein, taste great, and can be eaten with one hand (trust us, you’ll do lots of eating with one hand). 

These use ingredients you probably already have in the pantry. They can be made in a big batch and frozen. When you’re ready to eat some, simply put them in the fridge overnight or leave them on the counter for a few hours to defrost, then enjoy!

The best Postpartum Energy Balls recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• ⅔ cup shredded coconut (you can toast this in a pan, but who has time for that when you’re postpartum?!)
• ½ cup ground flaxseed
• ½ mini chocolate chips (the mini ones work better, but if all you have is regular-sized, you can use those)
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter
• ⅓ cup honey or maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Stir everything together in a big bowl. We recommend mixing the first 5 dry ingredients first, then adding the final 3 wet ingredients.
2. Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours (if you can wait that long to eat these!)
3. Roll into balls. (TIP: Wet your hands a little bit, it makes the mixture stick to your hands less.)
4. Serve. Enjoy immediately! You can also refrigerate in a sealed container for 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.