Nik’s Protein Power Balls

(Insert snicker…go ahead…your inner 12 year-old is DYING to do it!) Yes, yes, on with it then…


The name is good for SEO the best name I could come up with to describe these things. As always, there’s a story behind them.
So…I wanted to make peanut butter balls. Because I’ve seen them a few times. Paula Deen and whatnot. But I know that they are not particularly healthy in their original form. So one day I’m in the kitchen…tinkering…and I came up with what became this recipe.

Funny thing about these little suckers. They are deceptively FILLING. They are about the size of a jack ball (did you used to play jacks as a kid?). I ate two at about 7 p.m. that night and did not eat again until 2 the next afternoon. I kid you not. I documented it. 
So…wondering if this was unique to me, I asked a few other Foodies to try out the recipe. One of them being my friend Leslie (who inspired “Kitten’s Love Potion #9 Protein Frosting“). She is a runner. And she, too, has a fairly…hearty pouch. She tried them. While she didn’t wait quite so long to eat as I did, she reported just one was DEEPLY satisfying.
And now I am passing this recipe onto you, dear Foodies. And because I am feeling decidedly less bitchy more informational than usual I will even give you MY stats for this, although I encourage you, as always, to run your own stats using the ingredients YOU use. You’d be surprised at the variance.

Good balls are usually full of good stuff. This is what’s in my balls!

Nik’s Protein Power Balls


1 c. Fiber One Original cereal, crushed into crumbs
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp peanut butter (more about this in a moment)
3-4 tbsp milk

Optional: Splenda or other no-calorie sweetener, to taste

Directions:

Combine Fiber One crumbs, protein powder, sweetener (if you’re using it – in my first few batches I did. In this one I did not) and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix well. Then add your peanut butter. 
Now about the peanut butter. I use Naturally More peanut butter. It’s sold at Wal-Mart (right there alongside the other peanut butter options). Here are the stats on it. As you can see it has a few less calories than regular peanut butter BUT it also has: a better source of fat (they took out the peanut oil and replaced with flax seed oil), more fiber (from the whole flax seeds included) and more protein (they add egg whites in there some kinda way…I don’t ask questions). 
SO…this is a prime example of why I don’t usually give stats for my recipes. Say you use a different high fiber cereal OR a different kind of peanut butter (or even PB2)…your stats WILL be different. Do yourself a favor and read this over so you know how to run stats on the variation YOU make!
Back to business…
Next you want to add your milk, one tablespoon at a time until your mixture looks something like this:
So let’s talk about what your mixture should NOT be: soggy. You want it to be moistened but not wet. It should sorta resemble sand and have large clumps. K? Because when you get it right, this is what you should be able to do with it:
I did this by taking a heaping tablespoon of the mixture into my hand and rolling it around until I achieved a round shape. If you cannot do this with your mixture, even after four tablespoons of milk, add water by the teaspoon full. It will happen eventually!
And that’s it! I store mine in an airtight container in the fridge and have learned, with practice, to only eat one at a time! Like I said, these suckers will fill you UP! For those of us a few years out, this is a good thing. Newbies: take heed.
This is a recipe you can play around with, of course. You can try it with PB2. You can try it with chocolate protein. You can try it using sugar-free syrups instead of milk to moisten it. The possibilities are endless!
My batch USUALLY makes 8-10 balls (if you want to get 10, use a heaping half tablespoon). This time I got a little generous with my heaps so I only got 7.  For fellow “Live Strong” members: Here are MY stats for these. For those who aren’t members of Live Strong here are my basic stats:

Each ball (assumes 10):

Calories: 65
Carbs: 7.5g
Fiber: 3.6g
Protein: 4.9g

Again, your stats may vary so be sure to run your own!

Nik's Protein Power Balls
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Nik's Protein Power Balls
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14 comments

  1. I AM SO EXCITED!!!
    Hope to try these by Wednesday at the latest….

  2. I made these tonight but I made some changes due to the fact that I dont like peanut butter. They are filling and absolutely delicious!! I made mine using fiber one cereal, cinnamon, natural flavor protein powder, no stir all natural maple almond butter, davinci sugar free french vanilla syrup and unsweetened almond milk. I got 16 balls using tablespoon measuring spoon. My stats were very different. They are 2.2 g fat, 4.4 g carbs, 2.2 g fiber, 0.4 g sugar and 2.1 g protein. Thanks so much for the great recipes, I will definately be trying many, many more.

  3. Oooo…jewels. Way to play with your food! I love that you made it work using what YOU like!

  4. I made these and dipped them in chocolate and omg are they amazing! I took them to a potluck at work and they were devoured! Everyone loved them. I'm addicted to them.

  5. I just made these and am so happy I found this recipe!! Love love love!

  6. got "the balls" chillin in the fridge now 🙂 i used chocolate protein powder and they sure do smell yummy!!!! can't wait to try them. i'm thinking some salted caramel davinci syrup as flavoring next time!!

  7. I'm going to try chocolate protein powder, chocolate Fiber One cereal and SF Butter Rum syrup to make them "rum balls". We shall see. Love the salted caramel idea too

  8. So, my first attempt at "Protein Power Balls"… Hope they come out good!
    Ingredients: 1 cup Special K Protein Cereal – 1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder Isolate (30g protein) – 1/4 tsp cinnamon – 4 tbsp PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter – 4 tbsp milk – 1 capful of vanilla extract … mix it all together and makes 14 gooey balls, refridgerate for 2 hours. Nutritional Value per ball = 31 calories, 1/2g fat, 3.5g carbs, 1/2g fiber, 1g sugar, 4g protein and 35g sodium … Not bad!! I will tell you how they turn out!!

  9. Thank you so much for this recipe. I have been eating a protein bar at night because I am craving chocolate peanut butter. I switched this recipe up a bit and it will hit the spot without all the calories.

  10. I made it with Cracklin Oat Bran and PB2. It tastes like an oatmeal cookie!
    I did find I had to use a bit more cereal than your recipe called for, just to make sure it wasn't too gooey. I think it was because I added water to the PB2 first. Next time I'll just use the powder and let it get moist from the milk.

  11. A tried and true favorite! I've made this recipe several times. Yum!

  12. I just made this and I loved them!

  13. I have a similar recipe using Special K Protein cereal. Since I like peanut butter and banana I have used banana’s and cream protein powder in them. I have also rolled them in unsweetened dark cocoa powder.

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