Peanut Butter Protein Balls

I've been looking for delicious, clean dessert recipes and hit on these protein balls. The recipe comes from Tiffani Bachus of Oxygen magazine, but I found it on Fitsugar on this page.

They're described as a pre-workout snack, but I think they're suitable for any time of day. I've been increasing my protein intake as I'm trying to build muscle, so these are handy hits of protein that also happen to taste delicious.

My ingredients, and yes I lick the spoon. Don't act like you don't.

They take around 10 minutes to make, and you need:

1/3 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder (I use GNC's soya protein)
3 tablespoons ground flaxseed (good for omega 3)
3 tablespoons dark chocolate chips (I think if you use milk chocolate they will be too sweet)

The advice is to put everything in a bowl, mix together, roll into little balls and refrigerate. I found that roughly mixing the dry ingredients together first, then adding the (microwaved) honey, made them mix together really easily. They do taste better refrigerated.

Three stages to yumminess.

Depending on the size of the ball, they contain around 105 calories and 4.5g of protein - not the highest amount, but higher than your average go-to snack. I found the sweetness was perfect for a dessert as I didn't want another one after - a miracle for me! The sugar content is a little high, but I suppose to lower it you could substitute the honey for water. I think these would be great for long-distance runs and I've noticed that just one ball does fend off hunger until I'm able to have a proper meal.

xxx