Peanut Butter Cup Amazeballs

They may taste like a treat, but these peanut butter cup protein balls are healthy!  Keep them around in the fridge to have on hand for a boost of healthy fat and protein!

It was only a matter of time, right?

Since amazeballs are a standard snack in our house, I love to come up with new flavor combos. Recently, I’ve been switching up my nut butter rotation. I’ve always loved almond butter, but way back before I knew AB existed (and my wallet was a lot happier), I was a peanut butter girl. Lately, I’ve rekindled my love for peanut butter just to switch things up, and as soon as I put some into the food processor to make amazeballs, I had visions of Reese’s peanut butter cups dancing in my brain.

And then this happened:

So it’s not a real Reese’s -and I may have to track one down after writing this post now- but it’s a great protein-packed snack option and fun flavor alternative to the usual amazeball.

The secret ingredient?

Nutritional yeast.

While it’s optional, it gives the ballz extra protein plus a rich, nutty flavor.

The funny thing is that I was starting to clean up after making these, while holding Liv, and she kept saying, “bite?! bite?”

I always share my food with her -somehow she thinks it tastes better if it came off my plate- and enjoy the obviously off-limit things (like a glass of red) after she’s tucked into bed for the night. But now, here she was wanting a bite of my protein powder-filled ball.

I gave her a bite of the apple I’d chopped for us on the counter, and she shook her head, pointing to the food processor, still saying, “bite?”

The girl can’t be fooled, and I would have felt like a giant jerk trying to ignore her and washing out the container in front of her very eyes. I gave her a little bite. Not what I’d call a toddler-friendly snack -I’d love to make her something like this– but she was pretty happy. Lesson of the day: if she can’t have some, I’ll save it for naptime. ?

Print

Peanut Butter Cup Amazeballs

• Yield: 5 1x

Scale
1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 2 T peanut butter (or any nut butter you love)
• 2 T protein powder of choice (I love my Sun Warrior, but anything will work- chocolate or vanilla flavor)
• 1 t cocoa powder
• 1–2 t nutritional yeast (optional; a little goes a long way, so remember that you can always add a little more)
• 2 T unsweetened coconut flakes or oats
• 1/4 t cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 2 T maple syrup (the pure stuff! Honey works too, but tends to be realllllyyyyy sweet)
• 1/2 pack of Stevia (optional)
• 1 heaping T chocolate chips
• Almond milk, for texture (I used about 1 T)

Instructions

1. Pulse all of the ingredients, expect for the chocolate chips in a small food processor, until the texture is smooth.
2. Add in the chocolate chips (I love mini ones!), almond milk as needed, and pulse to combine.
3. Using a melon ball scooper, or a large spoon, scoop and roll with your hands into spheres. Store covered in the fridge, and enjoy as a portable, protein-packed snack!

Enjoy ?

Winter Shape Up check-in! How are you spending your active recovery? Are you eating like  PRO today? What PROtein and PROduce-filled snacks are you enjoying?

Here are some more amazeballs flavors:

The original

Lemon-berry and cocoa-berry

Cranberry orange and PB&J

Pumpkin

Congratulations to the first giveaway winner:

Rachel C!

She said, “I love this workout! I did the warm-up plus two circuits. It took me about 35 minutes which is my standard workout time. I’ll try to add in a HIIT on Wednesday when I do Workout #1 again. (I’m always slower the first time through since I’m “learning” the workout.) I LOVE the strong Superman move. I felt muscles that I didn’t even know I had! Haha!”

Congratulations! Send me your shipping info (fitnessista at gmail dot com) and we’ll get your shiny new Garmin on the way!

2 more WSU giveaways this week… stay tuned ?