Peanut Butter Flax Protein Balls

I find myself often running into a “problem” in the kitchen… I really want to bake something (I love to bake!), but it’s dangerous to have sweet treats sitting around our house with Cody and me living here.  We both have the biggest sweet tooths around, and we can easily demolish a dozen chocolate chip cookies in no time.  That being said, I honestly don’t bake a ton.  I’ll bake for special occasions such as birthdays, holidays, guests coming over, gifts for friends and family, etc., but I rarely bake on a regular basis.  Cody and I know ourselves and that we lose a lot of our self control when homemade baked goods are around, so we choose not to have them lying around too often.

Today I was really craving some baking, so I came up with a solution to my problem: to bake some healthy baked goods!  Baking craving satisfied + healthy snacks = PERFECT!  I randomly threw together some of my healthy baking ingredients and created this little gem…

I decided to call them Peanut Butter Flax Protein Balls.  I wanted a snack packed with protein and healthy fats that would be an easy grab-n-go option.  These met all those standards!

Peanut Butter Flax Protein Balls

Servings: 6 balls

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes

Cook Time: 7-8 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 3 tablespoons natural crunchy peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon flax seeds
• 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350* F and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Put all ingredients into mixing bowl.
3. Stir until ingredients are thoroughly mixed together.
4. Roll batter into six equally sized balls and place on baking sheet.  (You may need to use some flour while rolling the dough so it won’t stick to your hands.)
5. Bake balls in oven for 7-8 minutes.
6. Let cool and eat up!

Nutritional Stats: (per ball): Calories – 97; Carbs – 3 grams; Fat – 6 grams; Protein – 8 grams; Fiber – 1 gram

These are no chocolate chip cookie, but they are a nice little peanut butter-y ball of protein and healthy fats to give you some extra energy throughout the day.  Go bake some!