Healthy Peanut Butter Coconut Protein Balls

Packed with healthy proteins and fats, these peanut butter coconut protein balls are the perfect quick snack. They’re also easy to make and delicious.

I am a busy person. Not only do I create content for this blog, but I’m also a single, full-time working mom who is always doing something to care for my home or family. That being said, I’m always looking for foods that are quick to whip up, without compromising quality and healthy ingredients. From breakfasts to snacks, I’m always trying to sneak in those extra micronutrients.

So when thinking up some lunch ideas, I thought about how convenient and tasty it would be to make a peanut butter recipe with only good ingredients. Something that could also double as a semi-sweet treat as well and keep me satisfied between meals.

I got in the kitchen, sifted through some ingredients I had on hand, and tested this recipe out about three times to create a wonderful, delicious peanut butter ball packed with ingredients offering healthy fats and proteins. Naturally sweated, I only use maple syrup or honey to ensure there are no unnecessary processed sugars present. I recently ordered a quality bulk maple syrup from Choice Maple and have been adding maple syrup into everything including my coffee.

These peanut butter coconut balls are truly so simple to make and so delicious. Even your kids will love them!

Key Beneficial Ingredients – The Healthy Fats

Peanut Butter – The most notable ingredient as far as taste goes here is the peanut butter. And while I have created this recipe using peanut butter, you can easily substitute with an almond butter instead.

Toasted Coconut – Coconut is also a superb choice when trying to incorporate more healthy fats. Of course this is a personal opinion, but it’s tasty and loaded with other micronutrients. To be specific, coconut contains minerals and even vitamins, like vitamin D.

Chia Seeds – You either love them or hate them. I personally love them because they can be snuck into an array of foods and you wouldn’t even notice. They are a quality protein, being a good balance of amino acids. These chia seeds can totally be omitted if you don’t like them. They don’t affect the taste at all. Added for nutritional purposes only.

Dark Chocolate Chunks – Dark chocolate adds that little surprise in every bit while also sneaking in the healthy benefits. Just like chia seeds, dark chocolate (and I emphasize dark) offers a good bit of antioxidants. It is also, like all of these ingredients, and excellent choice for healthy fats. Although not super high in it, dark chocolate does offer a little protein as well.

Coconut Oil – I added the coconut oil in to help bind the ingredients together with the peanut butter and also because I love the taste and benefits. If you wanted, you could omit the coconut oil and just add extra peanut butter instead.

Tips for Making Peanut Butter Balls

• Heat the peanut butter and oil in a saucepan over low heat to create a honey-like consistency. This helps ease the mixing process.
• Add the vanilla in with the heated peanut butter and oil for even distribution
• Substitute honey with a quality maple syrup and vise versa depending on ingredients you have on hand and preference.
• Use raw local honey for added health benefits
• Switch chia seeds out with flax seeds or any seed you want.
• If dough is too sticky, add more oats.
• Refrigerate for a few minutes after making to set.

How to Make Peanut Butter Protein Balls

In a medium bowl, mix together oats, chia seeds, and salt.

To toast the coconut shreds, add the coconut to a heated cast iron skillet on the stove top. You want to do this at a low temp. They burn very easily. Stir frequently to prevent burning. This takes about 5 minutes roughly.

Once coconut is done toasting, add it to the oat mixture in the bowl.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the peanut butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and honey to create a runny mixture. Only use low heat, as this can burn easily as well.

Once the peanut butter mixture is just heated throughout, give it a good stir to make sure there are no chunks of coconut oil and add into the oat mixture.

Last, you’re going to add the chocolate, but before you do that, you want to make sure the peanut butter mixture is cooled or else it will melt the chocolate.

After adding in the chocolate, form medium sized balls with your hands, prissily firmly and rolling.

Set on plate and stick in the fridge to harden. These will keep for roughly a week when kept in the fridge.