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This past week, my precious sister was in town to visit for the Thanksgiving holiday, and boy, do I miss her sweet presence, as well as that of her family, now that she has traveled back home to her place. Amongst the many things that we enjoy doing together, one of them is eating chocolate, and we definitely made sure that we tried a few good treats from the kitchen while she was here. One favorite that came as a result of her stay here was these beautiful protein packed peanut butter cups! They are tasty, yet filled with an extra dose of healthy fats and protein. You can feel good about placing these on your holiday tray this Christmas. 🙂
Protein Packed Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons organic crunchy peanut butter
*2-3 tablespoons high quality protein powder ( I would suggest this protein powder)
1/2 teaspoon maple syrup (Grade B preferred)
2 ounces dark chocolate + 1 tablespoon coconut oil for melting
Directions:
Melt the the coconut oil, peanut butter, and maple syrup in a sauce pan on low. Stir frequently. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the protein powder. Fill approximately 10 mini muffin liners with the peanut butter mixture. Each liner should be half full. Place in the freezer to set for 10 minutes while you melt the chocolate topping. In a small sauce pan, melt together the chocolate and the coconut oil on low, stirring constantly, making sure not to burn. Remove the peanut butter cups from the freezer and pour chocolate on top of each cup. Place back in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove and enjoy! 🙂 Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 🙂
*Thank you to my lovely sister for this great recipe. 🙂 It will be consumed often. 🙂
*Note about whey protein: Above all, I still recommend getting the majority of your protein from high quality grass-fed meat. This is still the most natural way to consume protein and the most easy for one’s body to recognize. If you are still wanting to supplement with a whey protein, then there is some information worth noting.
I do not recommend using several whey proteins on the market as many of them have been denatured, filled with artificial sweeteners, and are very hard on one’s gut. Dr. Axe gives a well written response to what to look for in whey proteins as well as the risks of using one that is not in its natural form:
“Unfortunately, not all whey protein is created equal. Most of the protein powders on the market today have undergone acid treatments, been injected with steroids and hormones like rBGH, contain artificial sweeteners and are denatured.
Consuming denatured protein powder is hard on your digestive tract and can lead to a condition called leaky gut, which can then cause inflammation and autoimmune issues. So, I urge you to stay away from all processed non-organic protein powders because they will likely do you more harm than good. Instead look for organic and Grassfed whey proteins.
When buying whey protein, make sure you’re getting both “organic” and “grass-fed”. Along with these, here are 7 others important things you’ll want to consider:
Cold Processed, NOT heat processed
Only ORGANIC so it’s free of pesticides, hormones and heavy metals
Grass-fed, NOT grain-fed, which is important for healthy fat ratios of CLA
High Bio-Availability, so better option than rice or vegan protein powders
Sweetened naturally, No artificial sweeteners
Easy to Digest, No protein isolates which harm the digestive tract, concentrates are less processed.
Low Carb, No fructose or other processed sugars…”
*To read more about Dr. Axe, you can find his website here.
*This page contains affiliate links.
