Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Balls

I've got another gym snack for you today! Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Balls! Two of my favourite things, in one neat little ball. These are super easy to make and so addictive. I've made these twice in two weeks, and am really enjoying having them in the fridge as a pre-gym snack, but also as a "I'm hungry but can't ruin my appetite" snack, like when I'm cooking dinner or we're going out for dinner in an hour and I'm so damn hungry but must wait. Patience is not a virtue of mine, but at least now I'm less likely to smash a vast quantity of nutritionally deficient snack food while waiting for dinner. Victory!

While we're here, I thought I'd show you my current nut butter collection - I wrote at length about this in my Salted Peanut Rice Krispie Treats post, so why not show you this time? (N.B. I bought these all myself, nothing gifted or sponsored here).

My nut butter collection

So, these peanut butter cookie dough protein balls. I found the recipe on Dinners, Dishes & Desserts via Pinterest, and it's ridiculously easy. Just stir together peanut butter, vanilla protein powder, maple syrup, vanilla extract, oat flour and choc chips, then form into balls. Done!

Ingredients

I don't always love protein powder - protein shakes are certainly not my thing because I'm not a fan of the taste, particularly the strongly flavoured ones (anything beyond a vanilla or chocolate flavour is too much for me). I've tried a few different commercially-made protein snacks out of curiosity - I can handle a cookies & cream Quest Bar but I don't love them, and most of the protein snacks I've tried have an unpleasant grainy and chewy texture and slightly chalky taste. As someone who doesn't have specific gym goals, or a desire for #gains, I see no point for me to eat food that is designed with function over taste. (Perhaps one day I will be a hardcore body builder, smashing BCAAs and protein shakes, and counting my macros, but today is not that day).

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Balls

However, the protein powder works really well in these balls! I used Prana On Power Point Protein in Vanilla Crème, a vegan protein powder with a mild vanilla flavour, sweetened with Stevia. (Not sponsored, we just bought it at a health food store). The slight graininess from the protein powder gives these balls an appealing cookie-dough vibe, and it definitely makes them more filling. Left alone with a spoon and a jar of peanut butter I could easily eat a good four or five big spoonfuls at once - but with these balls, I find I'm good after just one. (Or sometimes two when I'm really hungry).

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Balls

These protein balls certainly don't taste like a "healthy" snack, they just taste delicious! They really taste like peanut butter cookie dough, with the emphasis firmly on the peanut butter. Sandra tried one and thought they were almost too peanut buttery, I... am not familiar with that concept. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Balls

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Balls
Adapted from Dinners, Dishes and Desserts

Ingredients
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used a mixture of Kraft, Reese's and Darryl's)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I used Prana On Power Point Protein in Vanilla Crème)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips
1.5 tablespoons oat flour (whizz up some rolled oats in a blender if you don't have oat flour)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt (if your peanut butter is unsalted)

Method
Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl, and mix everything together with a wooden spoon until blended. You may need to add a dash of milk (dairy, soy, almond, whatever) if your mixture is too dry to form into balls.
Roll heaped teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls - you should get approx. 12-14 out of the mixture, depending on how big you like your balls! (Heh).
Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

Salted peanut rice Krispie treats

I've told you before that I like to keep some wholesome sweet treats on hand for pre-gym snacking. This is mainly to prevent fainting at the gym (it's happened, and it's embarrassing) and help me to work out harder, but also to break up that long long stretch between afternoon tea and dinner. Since last year's peanut butter granola bars I've slacked off a bit on making them myself, usually having some fruit or whatever random sweet snack I've got lying around at home.

In fact, a couple of weeks ago I was Googling "healthy pre-workout snacks" on the way home from work, and was totally going to make a banana smoothie, until I got home and saw... OOH PIZZA SHAPES! You can guess what happened next. Hah! (No regrets).

However, Sandra recently joined a gym and has been getting super into health and fitness. In addition to working out heaps, she's made a few batches of different wholesome snacks, and has also been testing out different protein powders, commercially made protein snacks and so on. She's inspiring me to lift my game, both at the gym, and in the all-important Gym Snack department.

Enter these salted peanut rice krispie treats! These are basically a riff on a Donna Hay recipe - bars made of puffed rice, nuts and chia seeds, held together with a delicious combo of peanut butter and honey. I replaced her suggested almonds and pistachios with pepitas and salted peanuts. Pepitas because I had them in the cupboard, and salted peanuts because they are my new favourite thing. After the runaway success of my peanut butter granola, I now want salted peanuts on EVERYTHING, all the time. (Have you made the granola? You must!)

Ingredients

In my view, salted peanuts are the perfect choice for these bars because the peanuts echo the peanut flavour in the peanut butter. (Say "PEANUT" again, Sarah!) I do suppose you could try this with another nut butter of your choosing, but for me peanut butter is the ultimate of all the nut butters. I have a habit of buying fancy nut butters at farmers markets, but take forever to finish them. My true love is clearly peanut butter! I go through peanut butter like nobody's business, and usually have about four jars on the go at once. (In case anyone cares, I think Darryl's Fresh Roasted Peanut Butter is the best of all the peanut butters, but no snobbery intended here - I'm also partial to Kraft crunchy and Kraft smooth, and also Reese's peanut butter, with its disconcertingly smooth and airy texture and its strange ingredients list which include monoglycerides, molasses and cornstarch).

Anyway, here's the mixture!

Mixture

And pressed into the tin. (The baking paper overhang makes it easier to remove later). I do love how the green pepitas punctuate the otherwise plain-looking mixture.

Mixture in tin

And now drizzled with chocolate! Milk chocolate is my favourite so I went with that, dark chocolate would work well too. (And incidentally, if you replaced the honey with maple syrup and used a vegan dark chocolate, you could easily make these vegan!)

Chocolate drizzles

I found that these were slightly crumbly, so some parts were a bit difficult to slice. In the recipe below I've suggested refrigerating them for at least two hours (I only did one hour, impatient!), and also weighting them down with a plate and some heavy cans or jars, to really compress them. Another option would be to add an extra few tablespoons of extra peanut butter and honey, so there's more sweet sticky cement to hold everything together. (I'd go with the longer refrigeration-weighting-down option though, because I thought the flavours were just perfect the way they were, and I wouldn't want to make it sweeter!)

Salted peanut rice krispie treats!

These are excellent pre-gym snacks, and from experience, I can tell you that they make a pretty decent breakfast too. (It's been a hectic week). I believe these could be frozen successfully, but I got through them so quickly that they never made it to the freezer. I shared some with my colleague Jimbo, who pronounced them "freaking delicious". I tend to agree! The salty-sweet-crunchy-chocolatey combo is a total winner! Enjoy!

PS I have lots of different gym snacks up my sleeve now and am super pumped to be making more gym snacks! Watch this space.

Salted Peanut Rice Krispie Treats
Adapted from Donna Hay

Ingredients
3 cups puffed rice
1 cup salted peanuts
1/2 cup pepitas
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
100 grams milk chocolate

Method
Place the puffed rice, salted peanuts, pepitas and chia seeds in a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
Place the honey and peanut butter in a bowl and microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring each time, until warmed through and runny.
Add the peanut butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
Line a 20cm square tin with baking paper. Tip the mixture in and press down firmly. Place another piece of baking paper on top and weight down with a plate and some cans or jars.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until firm.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler.
Remove the slice from the fridge, and drizzle with the melted chocolate. Refrigerate again until firm.
Cut into bars to serve. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Makes one 20cm square

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

I generally like to keep a batch of wholesome sweet treats in the freezer for a pre-gym energy boost - homemade protein bars, peanut butter chocolate protein balls, date balls - that sort of thing. I can get quite light-headed if I work out on an empty stomach, especially if if I go straight to the gym from work, before dinner. (I may have nearly fainted once during a particularly energetic Body Combat class. Whoops). Alternative pre-gym snack: peanut butter on sliced apple. Delicious.

I recently saw these peanut butter granola bars on David Lebovitz' wonderful blog, and thought they'd be just perfect for my pre-gym needs. Or, you know, my general snacking needs. Oats! Peanut butter! Chocolate chips! Yes please!

I mixed the recipe up a little bit, using coconut butter instead of regular butter, and using chopped dates instead of dried cherries. I'd bought the coconut butter for another recipe, which I never got around to making, and I felt guilty every time I saw this expensive ingredient sitting forlornly in the pantry.

Ingredients

In addition the the ingredients I mentioned above, there's also rich brown sugar (I used a mix of dark and light muscovado), caster sugar, leavenings, a little salt, desiccated coconut, vanilla, and some fragrant spices. So much comforting deliciousness.

I'd never used coconut butter before (and it is different from coconut oil), so I wasn't sure if it would work - but it creamed together beautifully with the sugars.

Coconut butter and sugars

Here's the peanut butter being added!

Adding the peanut butter and vanilla

FYI - my favourite peanut butter is Darryl's Peanut Butter, which is made of just roasted peanuts and salt, and is addictively crunchy and flavourful. It's not available everywhere, and I buy it every time I see it at a market or independent supermarket. However, for a recipe like this I think you need a peanut butter that has a more uniform texture - definitely a smooth one, or a standard supermarket brand (e.g. Kraft, Skippy etc.) If you're going for a "natural" brand, I'd try to make sure it's creamy, not one where the oil has separated out and the peanut butter is all dense.

Ok! Here's the mixture with all the add-ins mixed through and pressed into tins.

Ready to bake

And all done!

Yum!

I knew these would be good, but I was surprised by just how awesome they were! The peanut butter flavour is prominent - woohoo. They're a bit chewy from the coconut and oats, not overly sweet, with the warmth of cinnamon and ginger, and of course the deliciousness of chopped dates and chocolate! It was very hard to stop eating them straight out of the oven, when the chocolate was all melty and gooey! I shared half the remaining batch with my coworkers (the sustaining snack was greatly appreciated by the busy team), and kept the rest in small squares in the freezer. I've been taking them out a square at a time and giving them a quick blast in the microwave to soften them before eating them.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Adapted from David Lebovitz

Ingredients
115 grams coconut butter, at room temperature
235 grams brown sugar
50 grams caster sugar
3 large eggs
375 grams smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups rolled oats
1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup finely chopped medjool dates
Flaky sea salt, for finishing

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 22 x 33 cm baking pan with greaseproof paper. (I don't have a tin in that size, and used a 20cm square tin and a 20 x 30cm foil BBQ tray, which worked fine).
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the coconut butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the peanut butter and vanilla and mix.
Add the oats, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt. Mix on a slow speed until combined.
Finally, add the chocolate chips, desiccated coconut and chopped dates, and mix to combine. (You may need to switch to a wooden spoon if the mix is very thick).
Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and smooth it out. Sprinkle with some extra flaky salt, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and just set.
Allow to cool completely in the tin before slicing.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Balls

Hello hello! I thought we'd take a little break from all these epic restaurant posts with a super-quick recipe post! I first saw these peanut butter chocolate protein balls on the lovely Daisy's Instagram, and just had to have them! The recipe couldn't be easier - you simply stir together some peanut butter, protein powder, rolled oats and sweetener (maple, agave whatever), roll it into little balls and roll them in coconut. Bang.

I made some slight changes to Daisy's recipe - using Sunwarrior chocolate protein powder instead of chocolate whey protein because I already had it, and adding a little soy milk to the mixture to help it come together. I also halved her recipe because I know it would be dangerous for me to be left alone in the house with a big plate of peanut butter balls! They are so, so delicious! I've been enjoying them as a pre-gym snack, eating one before a workout to keep my energy levels up without getting too full. (Doing burpees on a full stomach is a bad idea).

In terms of dietary requirements, these are vegan (make sure you don't use dairy milk if this is a concern for you), and I think they could be made gluten free if you could track down some gluten free certified oats. (Full disclosure: I have no idea how "gluten free" oats work - but I trust the coeliacs among you will know what works best for your body!)

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Balls
Recipe adapted from Daisy @ Never Too Sweet For Me's Instagram

Ingredients
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sweetened chocolate protein powder (I used Sunwarrior chocolate protein powder)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2-3 tablespoons milk of your choice
Unsweetened dessicated coconut, for rolling

Method
Mix the peanut butter, protein powder, oats and maple syrup together in a bowl. Add enough milk to bring the mixture together and stir until combined. (It needs to be wet enough to hold its shape and allow the coconut to stick to the balls). Roll the mixture into small balls, then roll in coconut. Done.
Makes 16, depending on the size of your balls (heh)