Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls Recipe | Desserts with Benefits

Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls

Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls

These Peanut Butter Protein Balls are definitely one of my favorite snacks — they are so easy to make, modify, and eat!  The recipe hasn’t failed me yet (I don’t think anything with peanut butter has failed me).  These are soft and fudgy and sweet and oh so rich, you’re gonna love them 🙂

Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls recipe (refined sugar free, gluten free, high protein) - Healthy Dessert Recipes at Desserts with Benefits
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5 from 17 votes
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Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls

Servings: 4 balls
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Put the protein powder in a bowl, then stir in the honey and peanut butter.
  • Stir until everything is incorporated (it takes a while).
  • Add any toppings you want (pictured below).
  • Roll into balls with your hands. Serve immediately or refrigerate for later!
Nutrition Facts
Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls
Amount Per Serving (1 batch)
Calories 440 Calories from Fat 153
% Daily Value*
Fat 17g26%
Saturated Fat 2.5g16%
Cholesterol 5mg2%
Sodium 430mg19%
Carbohydrates 42g14%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 33g37%
Protein 31g62%
Calcium 40mg4%
Iron 0.4mg2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Course: Breakfast, Snacks
Cuisine: Edible Cookie Dough

Here are some possible mix-ins:

Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls - Healthy Dessert Recipes at Desserts with Benefits

These are my favorite pairings:

 

dark chocolate chips and flaked coconut

Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls

 

ground flaxseed and rolled oat coating

Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls  Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls

 

raisins and crumbled walnuts

Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls  Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls

Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls  Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls

 

If you want to hide a surprise inside of the ball, you can flatten it out like pictured, wrap it and roll it into a ball.

Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls

These Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls make for a tasty, nutritionally-balanced snack with energy-providing healthy fats, long-lasting carbs, and complete proteins.  Low-glycemic foods provide constant and prolonged energy levels so your blood sugar doesn’t spike and crash as it would if you were to eat a pop tart–both the pop tart and these protein balls taste really good, but the pop tart has no benefit, so choose the protein balls!  You won’t get hungry right away and you’ll feel good about eating them 🙂

Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls - Healthy Dessert Recipes at Desserts with Benefits

Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls - Healthy Dessert Recipes at Desserts with Benefits

So cute!

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With love and good eats,

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– Jess

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68 comments on “Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Balls”

  1. is it like Eating raw cookie dough?
    cause i gained so much weight eating raw dough it just so good!but this looks like a healthy version.I’m on the dukan diet now so i hope this is good for me!

  2. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I have made it and i like it. It is very tasty.5 stars

  3. I tried this recipe and it is so good!
    I put myself Anonymous again because i don’t want anyone to know who i am . when i asked if this tasted like cookie dough it’s because I’m on a diet.i gained a lot of weight eating raw cookie dough i mean it’s just so delicious i would buy 5 packs to eat raw the same day!this is a huge help because right now i weigh a lot I’m to embarrassed to say..but thanks for the recipe !5 stars

    • don’t beat yourself up. You’re making better choices now you have to forgive yourself. I was a weight watcher leader for 10 years and I kept my weight off I stop working for them I gained 50 pounds. I am now down 30 pounds and I have 20 more to go you could do it !

  4. They look awesome. If only there was a vegan way to make them. D:

  5. I just made these using crunchy peanut butter, I melted it in a pan with about a half tsp of coconut oil, which helped it mix with the protein powder. Then, I added the chocolate chips while it was still warm and stirred, so I got a nice chocolate swirl effect. Just cooled them in the fridge- so tasty!5 stars

  6. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’ve been looking for a basic one that is PB-based, that I can add my own ingredients to. Love your pic of the plate with the optional add-ins.
    Can’t wait to try this recipe. I’m bummed that I’m out of protein powder at the moment. 🙁

  7. Oh my! As a hardcore peanut butter (and protein powder) addict can I just say that they are amazing!!

  8. I had gastric bypass last year so I can’t handle the real honey, but I made them with some imitation sugar free honey and they are definitely delicious. I’m going to have to make a double batch next time as my kids wanted to snag them!5 stars

  9. Do you have the nutritional information on these? Particularly, I’d like calories, fat grams, Carbs, & Protein Grams. They sound great. I, too, have had gastric bypass surgery & am always looking for high protein, low carb recipes. Thanks!

  10. Also, is there a particular brand of PB you would recommend? I realize the nutritional values will depend on the brands you use, but if you tell what brands you used, it would help. Thanks!

    • I recommend using natural peanut butter (the only ingredient should be peanuts — no salt, sugar, or oil added). I updated the post showing the nutrition label at the bottom. Hope this helps!

      -Jess

      • What about adding ground up cereal to it? I’m trying to find a recipe where i can use my whey protein powder, and add ground up cereal to it to make a snack ball. These look awesome, by the whey (see what i did there, lol. Jk)
        Thanks

      • That’s a good idea! I haven’t tried that before but it sounds delicious. You might need a tad bit more honey (or less protein powder) to bring everything together, but adding a little bit shouldn’t hurt. I’ve added a tiny bit of ground flaxseed to it before and it worked! 🙂

  11. Hi Jessica, great blog! This recipe is awesome! I’ve been experimenting with other sweet gooey non-honey/agave substances – jelly has also worked pretty well.

  12. Interesting. I have a feeling hemp protein powder may not work, it has quite a strong hemp taste (IMO). Many soy protein powders tend to be “chalky”. Rice protein powder would likely be the best, but I don’t have it. Perhaps a combination of hemp and soy?

    I might have a go with soy protein powder, agave and some other nut butter (I don’t really like PB outside of satay sauce and some other savory dishes), but I have a feeling the flavour of the soy protein may come through too much. We’ll see.

    • I think the flavor of soy protein powder can be masked by the peanut butter, but if you don’t like PB than I’m not sure how these will taste with other nut butters. I would recommend using a strong flavored nut butter (like raw hazelnut butter. Even raw, this has a very strong flavor) and maybe even chocolate soy protein powder! “Nutella” protein balls sound darn good right now….

      Anyways, good luck!

      -Jess

    • I recently acquired some unflavoured pea protein powder and because the flavour is less icky than the crappy soy protein powder I have, I decided to try it with cashew butter, even though it is very mild. I added some lucuma powder, vanilla and maple extract and the result is quite nice. Cardamom and/or lavender might have worked nicely, too. I did find that I couldn’t add as much protein powder as in the recipe and had to add a little more agave.

      Note that I believe the pea protein powder I have has a milder pea taste than most. If you tried this with cashew butter and a more pea-ey protein the taste might be quite bad. Though even a stronger pea protein should still work just fine with the original peanut butter…5 stars

  13. I got linked over to your blog from OSG…I’m the one who makes nut butter with the mini-processor (you’re welcome!). I love your blog! I just made a modified version of these, using the last of my homemade Maple/Vanilla Cashew butter (made with raw soaked cashews and no oil) and plain unsweetened soy protein powder. Because my cashew butter was already a little sweet, I only used a few drops of agave. WONDERFUL stuff. I gobbled them up after my resistance workout. Much more fun than making a protein smoothie 🙂5 stars

    • I know, I recognized your name! 🙂 And thanks so much for the tip, I now think I’m going to buy a little Cuisinart!
      And wow, maple-vanilla-cashew sounds AMAZING, I’ll have to give that to my family to try as I’m allergic to cashews 🙁 but I can just imagine how wonderful that must’ve tasted, yummm!

  14. Do you think I could put them in the freezer to have them as an emergency snack? And how long will they keep safe to eat in the fridge?

    • I’m sure these can be kept in the freezer as long as they are kept covered in a sealed container. Same goes with the fridge, but I wouldn’t keep it in the fridge for longer than five days. You must have great self control to have this lying around 😉 Good luck!

  15. I just made these and they are soo good! I will definitely be making these all the time!5 stars

  16. Just made these and they filled me right up. Thanks!5 stars

  17. Hi Jessica, Love your recipes, personality and dedication!! When making this recipe as well as the chocolate version and the peanut butter protein bars, would hemp protein powder work? Also looking forward to your next post : )

    • Thanks! I’ve never tried using hemp protein powder, but feel free to give it a shot. Since hemp protein seems to absorb a lot of liquid, I would suggest mixing the PB and sweetener together first, then add the protein powder 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach a cookie dough consistency 🙂

  18. How much is a “scoop” of protein powder? A teaspoon? A tablespoon? A 1/4 cup? Thanks for making a healthier version of a holiday treat (buckeye balls).

    • I think it’s around 3 tbs… the protein powder you have should say how many grams there are per serving. In the protein powder I used in this recipe, one scoop = 32g.
      But really, all you need to do is add more honey/PB if the mixture is too dry, and more protein powder if it’s too wet. Hope you like the recipe!

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  20. Jessica love your blog! Just found it! I have a question. I am making the peanut butter protein balls and having problems getting them rolled into balls. They are so sticky they won’t come off my fingers! Any suggestions

    • Jessica | Desserts With Benefits

      Hmm, not sure what happened, especially if you used whey protein. I have never encountered that, maybe just add more protein powder? Hope that works!

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  29. About how many balls does this recipe make?

  30. Interesting! I’m really surprised they stay together so well. May have to try this in a bit!

  31. i made this but changed it a little to make it sugar free by using peanut butter, whey protein powder,truvia, milk and peanut flour and it was so good!! it tasted like peanut butter cookie dough! i absolutely loved it and i know i will be making this a lot in the future! thanks Jessica!!!5 stars

  32. Nancy Sabina

    Just made these as an after-school snack for my kids. I included oats and choc chips and they loved them! Thanks!5 stars

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  34. I just made these and they are AMAZZING!!!! and so easy! thanks!5 stars

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  45. I just made these! YUMMY and so EASY!!!!!5 stars

  46. I just made these! YUMMY.Thanks For Sharing It.5 stars

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  49. That’s the perfect recipe for my party there.5 stars

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