Who doesn’t need more snack ideas, right? – especially low carb ones that are good for blood sugar levels!
These Peanut Butter Protein Balls are a great take-from-home snack – put them in your lunch box or place a couple in a zip lock bag and you’ll know you’re safe when out and about.
They keep stored in the fridge for months – though you’ll definitely be eating them much faster than that. 🙂
And best of all they are low in carbs, blood sugar friendly and incredibly satisfying!
One ball is equal to one serve.
Recipe
Peanut Butter Protein Balls
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together to combine.
- Next get your hands dirty and roll the balls into 1/2″ (1.5 cm bite sized balls) – makes about 15 balls.
- Place them into a container as you go and store them in the fridge. These will keep for months like this – but I hope you’ll eat them before then!
Notes
Ingredients
These protein balls get their sweetness from the protein powder and the vanilla extract.
When purchasing a protein powder, try to choose one that is stevia based. Stevia is one of the best sugar substitutes, whereas some of the others have artificial sweeteners and all kinds of nasty ingredients you don’t want to consume.
Here are a few good options from Amazon.
Natural peanut butter is the kind that has no sugar or preservatives added. Basically it’s just ground peanuts, which is how peanut butter should be.
And also be careful when selecting vanilla extract. Many have fructose or sugar, which is not a great choice for type 2 diabetics or prediabetics. Choose a ‘natural’ or ‘pure’ vanilla extract and always check the labels.
Kitchen Tools
You always need a range of storage containers – even better if they have switchable lids so you’re not doing the frustrating search in the pantry every time you want to set something away!
And, stainless steel mixing bowls are the only way to go – hygienic, versatile and will literally last for years. And measuring cups and spoons are a must.
Please share, pin, or tweet this recipe. 🙂
China
This sounds delicious! Hm! think I will try it❤❤
Eric
Jedha,
Your patience regarding the 1 ball, 1 serving is admirable. 😉
Thanks for a great recipe.
Eric
Lea
I was thinking the same as Tony how do you just eat one? They sound delicious I was wondering if there may be a way to stretch them so that you could have a few at one sitting. One idea I thought of was to just make them smaller more like candy-sized balls? Another I was wondering if there would be anyway to add some sort of liquid and then chia seeds to absorb it thereby acting as a sort of filler? Because chia seeds expand so brilliantly with liquid I was wondering about perhaps adding some almond milk to Make a sort of paste and then add the peanut butt…
Jedha
They are quite large and more satisfying than you’d imagine. And you can go ahead and eat more than one. In terms of carbs they will do very little to impact blood sugar, but the calories will clock up if consuming too many. Your idea certainly may work though and chia provide great health benefits too.
Linda
Nice snack to have on hand and great that it lasts. Delicious and I like you can
make changes to the recipe for variety.
Great website. Thank you.
Tony Tyner
Recipe looks awesome but I’m afraid I’d eat more that 1 serving at a time. 🙂
Jedha
They definitely are very moreish! But, also very satisfying.
Tony Tyner
I will give them a shot. 🙂
Steve
Am I the only one that thinks stevia tastes horribly bitter? I get no sweet taste from it.
Jedha
If you add too much to a recipe it can taste bitter. Still, some people prefer other options – erythritol, xylitol or monk fruit are other good alternatives.
Tim
Can you replace the protein powdered or do you sneed to add it?
Jedha
Being that it’s 1/2 cup, I’d probably replace it with something else – maybe nuts, almond meal and also you’ll need to add sweetener as the sweetness comes from the stevia in the protein powder, along with the vanilla extract.
Pam
I’m not sure you are getting what people are asking — it makes 16 balls – but when it gives the nutrition info it does not say how many = a serving. Or are you actually saying a serving is 16 balls? I don’t think anyone would sit down at one time to eat all 16! I was wondering this and I think that is what other people are also trying to ask. (don’t ask me why this is capitalizing all the words in this message – I can’t get it to stop doing this!)
Jedha
One serve is one ball Pam.
Debbie
I cant eat almonds, what do u suggest to use in pace of them.
Jedha
Any other nuts of your choice Debbie – cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts – they will all work.
Bonnie
I LOOOVVVE peanut butter and I can’t wait to make these. My aunt made something similar when I was growing up and I miss them (only I don’t think they had protein powder back then, I think she used powered milk)
Thanks for this post
Millie
Where could I find or aisle is the vanilla protein powder? I’m not familiar with protein powder.
Thank you
Jedha
You may find some in the supplements section or sometimes you need to buy it from a health food store.
Dunia
Hi Jedda,
I use the Sprouts Plain whey isolate protein powder. Is there a better one that I need to use?
Love your posts btw. I’m learning so much from them regarding type 2 diabetes and how to control by eating and exercise. Keep these great recipes coming. Thank you!
Dunia
Emily - Dietitian (MS, RD)
I wasn’t able to find the nutrition info or ingredient list for the Sprout’s product- make sure it’s low carb, void of any artificial sweetener and has a relatively short ingredient list. Read about some of our favorite protein powders over here.
Kim
Can these be made with a substitute for the coconut (I don’t like it)? What would you recommend?
Jedha
You could try macadamia or Brazil nuts. Substitute equal parts sliced or chopped nuts for shredded coconut. Or almond meal might work okay too.
Alexandra
Hello,
Does ‘per serving’ mean 1 peanut ball in this case?
Also I am getting used to weighing grams for amounts to include in recipes – in general do you use weights in your recipes or just ml (metric please)?
Jedha
Yes Alexandra, as the recipe says on the right – 16 balls. Most of the recipes will use grams or ounces, some like desserts and snacks use cups/tablespoons. Things don’t get measured in mls.
Tamzin
I’m wondering the same thing–there couldnt possibly be only 167 calories in 16 balls. I’m guesing a serving is 2 balls.
Jedha
1 ball is 1 serve.
Joanne chauvin
and each ball is 167 calories, right?
Jedha
Yes, that is correct.
karen macy
what kind of coconut are you using ,organic ,sweetened ,or unsweetened,also it doesn’t say how many balls are a serving.
Jedha
As the recipes says Karen, there are 16 serves/balls and it is shredded coconut (unsweetened). We don’t use sweetened items here.
JoAnn Booth
Hey Jedha,
The peanut butter protein balls sound great. I love peanut butter but it does not like me. So I use almond butter . Do you think these would work with almond butter? I can’t wait to try these. Thanks so much for the recipe.
JoAnn
Jedha
Yep, I think these would work great with any kind of nut butter, almond, cashew, hazelnut 🙂
Joyce
These peanut balls are awesome, and so easy to put together. I’m a chocoholic so I dipped half in melted dark bakers chocolate. Voila, Reese’s peanut butter balls? The next time I used chocolate protein powder dipping it in the melted chocolate. Yummy. Thanks for your site
Jedha
They are great and that’s a great addition there Joyce. You can really do lots with these – add nuts, spices and more 🙂
Nancy
I used choclate whey instead of vanilla – really good! ?
Jedha
Awesome Nancy, these are delicious!