Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Balls
Oh no, I couldn’t stop at Peanut Butter Protein Balls, and I certainly couldn’t stop at the Nutella Fudge Protein Cookies!
Chocolate + Peanut Butter = Magic
… the combo just had to be done.
To tell you the truth, I was so happy with the basic peanut butter recipe I didn’t even think of making a chocolate version until recently… OH NO, is there something wrong with me?!? *bites nails*
Well, if I could make these awesome treats, then there is definitely nothing wrong with me…
I’m sane, I swear! (says the girl with crazy eyes and melted chocolate all over her face)
Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Balls
Ingredients
- 32g (1 scoop) Chocolate Whey Protein Powder
- ½ tsp Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder
- 32g (2 tbs) Natural Peanut Butter
- 42g (2 tbs) Honey
Instructions
- Put the protein powder and cocoa powder in a bowl and mix.
- Add the peanut butter and liquid sweetener of choice and stir until moist and crumbly. Using your hands, form the mixture into one large ball and then divide that by how many servings you want.
- Eat immediately or refrigerate for later.
Adorable little snack, you have met your fate:
Mwahaha!
YUM. Deliciousness. Do you see how fudgy and chewy and decadent these Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Balls are? You must make these now, it’s only 4 ingredients and 4 minutes away… you will not regret it 🙂
.
With love and good eats,
.
– Jess
.
Indulge − no strings attached!
Love love LOVE this!
Looks tasty! I’m lovin that you added chocolate because it makes everything better 🙂
Very Nice blog and beautiful food pictures! Can you repalce the honey with stevia or sukrin. Love All your sweet treats!
Thanks! I’m sure the honey can be replaced with granulated sweeteners, but you may need to use more peanut butter (or you can try warming the peanut butter in the microwave). You can also try mixing the peanut butter with the sweetener of your choice and a thick “milk” like almond milk or coconut milk, then slowly add the protein powder until it’s crumbly, but moist enough to shape into a ball. Hopefully this works, I’ll have to try this when I get the chance!
This looks amazing!
Those look delicious
I just saw these on food gawker and they look like a perfect snack to bring to work!
I am gonna make smaller versions so I could squeeze them in my pockets and shove them in my mouth 3 at a time…LOL! Thanks for sharing.
HAHA! I literally laughed out loud when I read that, but what a great idea, I need to do that!
They look great!!! How many calories would be in one of these?
It depends on the brands you use, but for me, one entire batch should be 413 calories. Just split that up on how many balls you make.
These look SO GOOD! Going to make them right now. Just found your blog and I love it!
Hey Jessica!
Thanks for this recipe, it looks really tasty 🙂 But before I try to make myself some protein balls, can you answer two questions regarding it:
1. What peanut butter do you recommend? I mean do you have favorite brand you trust, or should I prepare the butter myself?
2. Is there any way to figure out how much protein such protein balls contain? The thing is that I’ve been tracking my protein intakes for several months now and I feel really great now, so, I want to continue consuming the right amount of proteins. Thus, I need to know how much protein such balls contain to properly calculate my daily intakes.
In any case, your protein balls drive me crazy 🙂
I recommend all-natural peanut butter where peanuts are the only ingredient (no added sugar, salt or oil). I don’t have a favorite brand yet, I just buy what is cheapest 😉 I can’t really tell a difference between brands anyways. The peanut butter I have contains 7g of protein for 2 tablespoons, and the protein powder I used (Optimum Nutrition brand) contains 24g of protein per scoop. So one batch of this recipe will have 31g of protein!
could you use stevia or splenda if you are on a no sugar diet?
I’m sure you can use stevia to replace the honey. Here is a chart on how to convert sugar>>stevia (I would assume 1 tbs of honey = 1 tbs of sugar):
http://sweetleaf.com/sweetleaf-usage
You should also add more liquid to the recipe, I would recommend ~1 tbs of unsweetened almond milk (or creamy “milk” of choice) and ~1 more tbs of peanut butter. I haven’t made these without honey but I hope this works!
If I only have vanilla protein, how much cacoa powder should I use?
You can make the recipe with vanilla protein without making any changes. If you want more chocolate flavor, just add some chocolate chips 🙂
Mine came out grainy and yours looks so creamy. What suggestions do you have to help with the consistency?
Hmmm, not sure what went wrong… may I ask what kind of protein powder you used?
I used Pure Protein whey
I checked out the Pure Protein website and it says that one scoop is 42g, while one scoop of the protein powder I used is 32g. Because the scoop for that protein powder is slightly larger, I would increase the honey and peanut butter by a tiny bit too. Hopefully your next batch works great 🙂
Have you ever considered writing an ebook or guest authoring on other blogs?
I have a blog based on the same topics you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information.
I know my subscribers would value your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an email.
These worked like a charm! I seriously could just sit around and eat the whole batch. I’m probably going to experiment with ground flaxseed and oats as additions. Great recipe!
Oh good I’m glad you liked the recipe! While I haven’t incorporated flax meal or oats INTO the balls, I have used them as a “coating” of sorts. The flax meal coating helps prevent your fingers from getting sticky, and the oats add a nice comforting flavor 🙂
-Jess
Hi there,
these look really good! ..I want to try them, but I’m wondering about if the whey protein powder could be replaced with anything else? if so, what do you recommend? what purpose does it play in the overall product? and how many teaspoons or tablespoons is 35 grams? Thank you!!
Sadly, the whey protein can’t be replaced. It’s the only dry ingredient and it helps bind the ingredients together. Along with texture, they whey also adds flavor and sweetness 🙂
I’m not sure how many tablespoons are in one scoop, I would recommend using the scoop in the container. Hope this helps!
-Jess
Hi,
I was wondering how long these balls lasted outside the fridge/freezer.
I wanted to make them and take them with me to work, but I don’t want them to melt on me after an hour.
Thanks!
Linda
The protein balls won’t melt or anything, they’ll just get pretty soft and super duper fudgy 🙂
When I bring these with me on the go I place them in a sandwich bag and stick them in the freezer for an hour or two before I leave. This way, in a few hours they’re the perfect texture!
-Jess
These were so good! I have made snacks like these before, but with fresh cashews or pecans and dates. Your recipe was much faster and easier 🙂 Next time I think I will use less honey and more cocoa, because..well..chocolate <3 I really like your blog and all your healthy recipes! (sorry if I misspell something, I´m writing from Finland and my English is not that great..)
I’m so glad you liked the protein balls! 😀
I’m not sure if they’ll work with less honey, they might be too difficult to stir together… but you can give it a shot! Aaaand great idea with the extra cocoa 😉
-Jess
PS: Your English is great! 🙂
You are right, if I use less honey, it needs some liquid that it won´t be too dry. Maybe just more PB! I often use less sweetener than the recipes say, but more cacao/chocolate 😀 I just love the rich chocolate flavor! <3
Yummm, can’t go wrong with more PB 😉
Pingback: Chocolate Nut-Butter Protein Balls - The Fit Cookie
Hey Jessica, these look tasty, nice blog post. If you’re interested in a delicious and nutritionally balanced recipe for protein balls, I make choc peppermint bliss balls.
Hi I used Stevia grains instead of honey and almond butter instead of peanut plus more cocoa for a stronger choccy flavour.The mixture was a bit dry so added small tsp of coconut oil to bind it and then rolled them in cocoa to give it a truffle finish. This gave a nice variation on the original recipe. I’m sure other nut butters could be substituted for peanut like cashew for nutrional variation. Yummy
Would it be possible to use Sunwarrior rice protein instead of whey?
I haven’t tried using sunwarrior in this recipe, but in my experience, rice protein thickens WAY more and WAY faster than whey. If you’re looking for a dairy-free protein alternative, maybe try my Triple Chocolate Fudge Protein Brownies! 😀
-Jess
Made these last night and they were out of this world!!
These are delicious, ive made them a few times, dont last long in my house. And the fudgyness…..oh yes!!
😀 shiny edible chocolate marbles <3
Pingback: Peanut Butter Chocolate Energy Bites to Get You to Friday – Gordy's Kitchen Table
I never comment on these website, but I just made these and had to tell you how AMAZING they are!! Thank you so much for this recipe!!
Hard to improve upon but roll into fine ground almonds to finish off. Nice to eat something sweet while being healthy.
I tried to make these today and they were super sticky, so much so that I couldn’t form them into balls. I used PB2 and not near the amount of honey the recipe called for, then the amount of cocoa and protein powder the recipe called for. I tried adding more cocoa and protein powder to make the mixture less sticky, but it didn’t help. Any tips? Thank you!
PB2 is not peanut butter, that’s why the recipe didn’t work out. I’d recommend just using regular peanut butter here 🙂
Pingback: 20 Healthy Desserts You Can Eat For Breakfast! | Desserts With Benefits
Pingback: Chocolate Nut Butter Protein Balls • The Fit Cookie
Pingback: 30 Minute Desserts | 30 Recipes You Can Make in 30 Minutes OR LESS!
I made these yesterday and was so excited in the process that I misread the amounts or ingredients. I put the two tbls of protein powder (I used unflavored because I didn’t have chocolate) with the two tbls of cocoa powder (this is where glossed over the correct amount…)
I realized that was a lot of cocoa, and then reread the CORRECT measurement and just added another tbls-ish of honey when adding the wet ingredients. I rolled the mixture into dime-diameter balls and layered them in a plastic container, with parchment paper in between the layers so they wouldn’t stick together. They turned out really good! Very rich in flavor and not very sweet, which I like 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Omg YESSSS I’m so glad you liked the protein balls! I swear, I could eat these every single day for as long as I live <3