4 Ingredient Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chunk Protein Balls - Low in Calories Too!
I am usually not a fan of protein balls - they are typically loaded with sugar and calories and have next to no protein! The other day I had an idea, and I'm not going to lie...I thought it was pretty brilliant! Why not use Trader Joe's Better 'n Peanut Butter instead of the usual high fat peanut butter! It has 85% less fat and 40% less calories than regular peanut butter! These protein balls have only 4 ingredients (5 if you use the cacao powder) and they can all be bought at Trader Joes! The Better 'n Peanut Butter isn't as thick as regular peanut butter, so there is no need to add other ingredients like honey or agave, which pop up the sugar and calories.
I have actually seen "protein balls" that have over 200 calories per ball and less than 2 grams of protein! The nutritional information depends greatly on the protein powder that you use, and how large you make the balls, but mine had about 5 grams of protein per ball.
These protein balls have lower sugar and calories, while having more protein per serving....and best of all, they are simple to make! I think they are so yummy, they could almost be dessert!
Ingredients:
1 Jar of Better ’n Peanut Butter (available at Trader Joe’s)
1 1/2 Cups Whole Grain Rolled Oats
1 1/2 Scoops Vanilla Protein Powder
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips or Chunks
Cacao Powder - optional (available at Trader Joe’s)
Directions:
Empty entire container of Better ’n Peanut Butter into a large bowl. Add protein powder and mix in completely. Stir in 1 cup rolled oats, add the extra 1/2 cup oats depending on consistency of protein powder (I added the full 1 1/2 cups oats). Add chocolate chunks and fold in until well mixed. Roll into desired sized balls. (Optional - lightly roll the balls in cacao powder to keep them from sticking together. Cacao powder is not sweetened, so try to make sure you do not over coat the rolls, just very lightly dust them. Roll in a paper towel too remove excess cacao coating if too much sticks to the balls.) Refrigerate the rolls until needed.