Reese’s cups anyone??? Hellooooo, yes please, this girl right here! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: peanut butter and chocolate make the best flavor combination in the world. Period. And a nice bonus to the amazing-ness that is peanut butter and chocolate? These little guys have half the sugar and twice the protein of regular Reese’s cups. They taste incredible and the peanut butter mixture in the middle melts in your mouth 🙂
Believe it or not, this recipe only has 5 ingredients! For the chocolate, I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips which helps cut some of the fat and sugar. I imagine you could go up to about 70% and have it still be sweet enough to be delicious. You could also use regular dark chocolate chips or a bar; most of those are around 50% cacao (Nestle Dark Chocolate Morsels are 53% and Hershey’s Special Dark chips are 45%) which means more fat and sugar and less chocolate.
I used silicone baking cups (got mine at Crate and Barrel, but you can find them on Amazon too) to give the peanut butter cups that distinctive edging. I don’t think that this recipe would really work with any other type of baking cup – the silicone is pretty essential to be able to peel these guys out after you take them out of the freezer. No need for non-stick spray with these either! The base layer of chocolate is only about 1/8″ thick, if that.
The peanut butter mixture gets sticky! I recently switched up the vanilla protein that I use in recipes and I’m loving this new kind. It’s called Jay Robb’s Whey Protein / The Best-Tasting Protein on the Planet. Seriously. That’s the name. I have to admit, it is really delicious, plus it has a high protein content and low calories/no fat/no sugar (they use Stevia to sweeten it). I recommend using a lower sugar/lower sodium peanut butter in this too. Once you have it spooned on top of the first chocolate layer, just flatten it out a little and leave some room on the sides for the chocolate to fill in with the top layer.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cups
Servings: peanut butter cups
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Ghiradelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp Jay Robb’s vanilla whey protein
- 3 tbsp peanut butter, (I used Simply Jif)
- 1/4 cup PB2 powdered peanut butter
- 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine vanilla protein and PBAdd unsweetened vanilla almond milk and mix until smooth. Then add peanut butter and mix until smooth.
- In a small pan, melt chocolate chips over low heat.
- Add a small layer of melted chocolate to each of 8 silicone baking cups. Place on a tray and into the freezer until hardened, about 15 minutes.
- To each baking cup, add a spoonful of peanut butter mixture and press lightly into the cup, leaving some space on the sides for the chocolate to fill in.
- Top the peanut butter mixture with melted chocolate.
- Return cups to the freezer until hardened, about 30 minutes. Remove from silicone cup and wrap in foil. Store in the freezer until serving.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 118kcal (6%), Carbohydrates: 9g (3%), Protein: 6g (12%), Fat: 8g (12%), Sodium: 63mg (3%), Fiber: 2g (8%), Sugar: 5g (6%)
Enjoy!
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