While I’ve always been a snacker (when Zack used to go out of town for business, I’d rarely make meals, and instead curl up on the couch with the BBQ Chip Chickpeas from my book), but I have to say—this self-quarantine has really made me extra snacky.
I never leave the house, so I’m always very close to my kitchen (and I live in a teeny tiny NYC apartment, so by very close I mean verrrrrry close). And there’s just something so lovely about the tiny comfort that a delicious snack provides. When, however, I got a belly ache from overdosing on Goldish (I love the fishes; they are indeed so delicious), I knew I needed to create a healthy snack-ternative.
While I LOVE my Twix Protein Bites, I was craving Peanut Butter, and woke up one day with a vision of an energy ball with two distinct layers, a chocolatey outside and a peanut butter-y center. A Reese’s cup, if you will, but made healthy enough to be a breakfast or snack. I played around with a few ingredients until I found this recipe, and friends, it’s one of my all time favorites.
The key to the protein in these bites is my beloved Garden of Life collagen powder. One serving of collagen has 18 grams of protein, which helps make these little bites super filling. The thing with collagen is that you really want to buy it from brands that you trust to ensure you’re getting high quality product that comes from fully grass-fed cows and doesn’t have any heavy metals, and far and away my favorite brand is Garden of Life. In general, I love Garden of Life because they’re fanatic about quality—for instance, they source their collagen in Europe because GMOs are not allowed and the cattle herds are much smaller and more traceable. While you can’t really buy organic collagen, Garden of Life is the closest I’ve found. The cows are raised to strict organic standards, and aren’t fed grass that contains any form of herbicides, pesticides, or glyphosate.
Beyond all that, it’s one of the most affordable collagens on the market, with a much more reasonable price point than other leading brands—which is important to me, since I use it in my smoothies and various recipes a number of times a week. Both Garden of Life’s unflavored and vanilla collagen powder work beautifully in this recipe.
Beyond that, there are just super simple ingredients. It’s sweetened with honey, which has a specific mix of minerals and carbohydrates that makes it extra energizing (athletes have long used honey for power). The raw cacao powder adds magnesium and theobromine, while the oat flour ensures plenty of fiber to keep you regular and full (PS: if you don’t have oat flour, just make your own by blending or food processing rolled oats on high until they’re a fine powder!).
If you make this recipe, definitely come tell me on Instagram—it’s such a fun one to take photos of because of the gorgeous layers, and I can’t wait to see your versions! Xo Liz
This post is sponsored by Garden of Life, a brand I was obsessed with for more than three years before we began our longterm partnership. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that allow me to keep making all of these recipes for you!
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Peanut Butter Cup Protein Bites (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup smooth, unsalted peanut butter (you can sub a nut or seed butter of your choice!)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons Garden of Life unflavored or vanilla collagen peptides
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon honey
- Pinch of fine grain sea salt
- 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the oat flour, peanut butter, vanilla extract, collagen, 1/4 cup of the honey and the pinch of fine grain sea salt. Use your hands and kind of knead it—it’ll be a thick mixture! Divide the mixture into two equal sized portions.
- Grab one of the portions and use your hands to press and roll one marble sized balls with it. Set those balls aside. To the leftover mixture, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of honey, cacao powder, and avocado oil. Use your hands to knead and mix until smooth, then divide THAT mixture into the same amount of pieces as you made PB balls (so if you rolled 15 balls from the straight PB mixture, make 15 pieces from the chocolate mixture).
- Press each chocolate piece into a disc shape, then fold it around a PB ball, using your fingers to press and squeeze so the entire PB ball is covered. Roll it gently in your palms so it’s smooth again; repeat with all remaining balls.
- Store in the fridge for up to a week or for 6 months in the freezer. Enjoy! Makes 15-20 balls.
