“Healthier” Protein Almond Butter Cups
Hey all! I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite childhood Halloween treats was Reese’s Peanutbutter Cups. I have been known to partake in a DQ Reeses Peanutbutter Cup Blizzard Cake for my birthday, but I avoid processed sugar most days of the year.
When the Halloween commercials hit and I’m craving sweets, I like to make healthier treats so that I get my chocolate fix without all the junk. These are no copy cat. If you want a peanut butter cup you might just want to buy a Reese’s, but these will satisfy a sweets craving without the yucky feeling afterwards that I often get when I indulge in processed foods. Just one of these dark chocolate protein cups is enough to nix my sweet tooth.
I have 2 recipes. One is more intricate and has more ingredients and the other is the “SUPER Easy” recipe which can use any of your favorite healthier and “clean” dark chocolate bar or chips.
Here are my 2 recipes for Healthier Protein Almond Butter Cups:
RECIPE #1: “Super Easy Protein Almond Butter Cups”
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cups homemade almond butter (you could use any natural almond butter with sea salt or other nut butter but homemade is WAY better in my humble opinion 😉 Nuttzo (from Thrive Market) would be yummy!
- 2 TBS protein of choice (whey is our favorite but you can use collagen for a dairy free version)
- Optional: 1 TBS organic maple syrup (you could substitute 1/2 tsp stevia) or 1 TBS of raw honey if you prefer)
- pinch of sea salt We buy our Redmonds Real Sea Salt at Thrive Market.
- 6 ounces of your favorite healthier chocolate bar or chocolate chips (see suggestions below)
I get my favorite chocolate bars and chips from Thrive Market, and Target. Here is a list of my favorites:
–Lindt 90% Dark Chocolate Bar.
–Hu Simple Dark Chocolate This is one of my favorite chocolate bars from Thrive Market and what I used to make the batch in some of my photos.
–Green and Black 85% Dark Chocolate
–Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks: (I usually use much darker chocolate, but for someone with a serious sweet tooth these would be perfection! You can get these at Target or Thrive Market.)
Directions:
- Line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake liners.
- Place a small sauce pan on the stove on low and melt your chocolate bar or chocolate chips/chunks.
- Remove the pan from heat and scoop a small amount of melted chocolate into each muffin liner. You just need enough to cover the bottom of the liner. You will want to leave plenty left for the top and sides.
- Place your chocolate into the freezer while you make the almond butter filling.
- I use my food processor to blend all my almond butter filling. You could mix them in a bowl if you don’t have a food processor. Blend your almond butter, coconut oil, protein powder of choice, sea salt, and sweetener of choice (optional) in a food processor.
- Take the cold chocolate out of the freezer.
- Place small scoops of almond butter into the center of each muffin cup. Spread it out as much as possible while leaving room on the sides for the chocolate.
- Pour your remaining melted chocolate over each of the almond butter cups and place them back into the freezer or into the fridge.
- Once they have hardened you can enjoy your almond butter cups.
And here is the less “simple” version of my Almond Butter Cups.
Recipe #2: “Make Your Own Chocolate Protein Almond Butter Cups”
Ingredients:
Almond butter middle:
- 3/4 cups homemade almond butter (you could use any natural almond butter with sea salt or other nut butter but homemade is WAY better in my humble opinion 😉 Nuttzo (from Thrive Market) would be yummy!
- 2 TBS protein of choice (whey is our favorite but you can use collagen for a dairy free version)
- Optional: 1 TBS organic maple syrup (you could substitute 1/2 tsp stevia) or 1 TBS of raw honey if you prefer)
- pinch of salt
Melted Chocolate:
- 2 ounces bakers unsweetened chocolate bar
- 4 TBS coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (without high fructose corn syrup- read the labels)
- pinch of sea salt
- 4 TBS organic maple syrup (you could also substitute stevia to taste but this will make a very dark/bitter chocolate, or you could use raw honey)
Directions:
- Line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake liners.
- Place a small sauce pan on the stove on low and melt your unsweetened chocolate bar with your coconut oil.
- Remove the pan from heat and add vanilla extract, pinch of salt and sweetener of choice.
- Scoop a small amount of melted chocolate into each muffin liner. You just need enough to cover the bottom of the liner. You will want to leave plenty left for the top and sides.
- Place your chocolate into the freezer while you make the almond butter filling.
- I use my food processor to blend all my almond butter filling. You could mix them in a bowl if you don’t have a food processor. Blend your almond butter, coconut oil, protein powder of choice, sea salt, and sweetener of choice (optional) in a food processor.
- Take the cold chocolate out of the freezer.
- Place small scoops of almond butter into the center of each muffin cup. Spread it out as much as possible while leaving room on the sides for the chocolate.
- Pour your remaining chocolate over each of the almond butter cups and place them back into the freezer or into the fridge.
- Once they have hardened you can enjoy your almond butter cups.
These can be stored in an air tight container in the fridge or in the freezer if you would like them to last longer. Just take them out of the freezer and let them defrost a bit in the fridge if you would like the creamy almond butter inside rather than frozen.
These yummy treats are fantastic as is. I also like to add one to my Greek Yogurt for a treat. The kids love these with their banana ice cream as well!
*Some of the above links are affiliate links. Click here to learn more about affiliate links.
**My 2 favorite whey proteins are:
- Raw Whey Protein: 100% quality grass fed whey protein
- TerasWhey Vanilla: has minimal extra ingredients
***I am now a paid affiliate for Target. Some of the links above are Target affiliated links.
