Almond Butter Dark Chocolate Protein Cups

OKAY! Listen. These are so perfect. I'm really trying to find words to describe how perfect these little protein cups are. In case you're interested, Reese's are my all-time favorite candy. But looking at the stash of leftover Reese's Easter eggs in my pantry made me realize that I must attempt to make a protein version. For many reasons...but mainly for my health. The size of these is similar to a Reese's Easter egg (which has 170 calories, 16g sugar, and only 4g protein). My protein version has only 149 calories, 2.7g sugar, and 5.1g protein! I decided to use raw almonds to make homemade almond butter for the filling and sugar-free dark chocolate for the shell. Absolutely addicting and delicious! Enjoy.

Ingredients

½ cup Vitacost raw almonds

¼ cup Vitacost rolled oats

1 scoop ARO vanilla protein powder

3 tablespoons Vitacost coconut oil, melted (& divided)

2 tablespoon Vitacost maple syrup (or agave nectar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sugar-free dark chocolate chips

Method

1. Place mini muffin liners into a mini muffin tin and set aside.

2. Place almonds and oats into a blender or food processor and pulse until mixture resembles flour. Pour into mixing bowl.

3. Add protein powder to the mixing bowl and stir together.

4. Add 2½ tablespoons of melted coconut oil, maple syrup, and extract into the mixing bowl and stir together.

5. Using your hands, knead this mixture slightly until comes together. Take about 1½ tablespoon of mixture, form into a ball, and flatten with your fingers. Repeat this process until 10 are made.

6. Melt chocolate chips and ½ tablespoon of coconut oil in a mixing bowl and stir until smooth.

7. Spoon a small amount of melted chocolate into each muffin liner and place almond filling into each liner, on top of chocolate. Then spoon enough chocolate to cover each almond filling.

8. Place chocolate cups in the fridge until chocolate hardens, about 1 hour. Remove from fridge and serve immediately.

Makes 10 servings

1 serving is 1 chocolate cup

Macros for 1 serving

149 calories, 5.1g protein, 8.3g carbs, 10.2g fat, 2.7g sugar, 2g fiber