Keto Almond Butter Protein Balls
Creamy Almond Butter Balls sit atop a Toasty Bed of Crunchy Almonds, Drizzled with Sugar Free White Chocolate and topped with a Light Dusting of Cinnamon
These balls are gluten-free, low-carb, Keto-friendly, and with the addition of sugar-free protein powder, they're also high in protein! These little guys have an almond crust that's toasted with cinnamon that gives them a warm, Fall flavor. If you're looking for an energy lifting snack that falls in line with your Keto or low-carb diet, look no further! They're a fantastic solution for satisfying a sweet tooth!
First thing you'll want to do is cream together the almond butter, butter, and sugar on high with a mixer or in a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 2 minutes. Then, add in the vanilla extract, almond extract, sugar alternative and salt. Mix. Lastly, add in the protein powder and almond flour and blend until it's just incorporated. Batter should resemble the above photo; it's stiff and can retain its shape. Then, refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes.
After you pull out the dough out of the fridge, form the dough into balls and place onto wax paper. I like to use a small cookie scooper to ensure they're all the same size. Using your hands will work perfectly fine too! I made these balls to be a little over a tablespoon each in size each. You can make them whatever size you prefer:) Next, stick them into the freezer! You'll wan them extra firm and COLD for the next step.
While the dough balls are cooling in the freezer, it's time to make the white chocolate ganache for the drizzle! There are a few different ways to make a ganache. You can use the double-broiler method OR what I like to do, is heat up the milk scalding HOT and pour it over the chocolate chips. This is a bit easier and requires less clean-up!!
The key to this Ganache method is 2 things:
1. The milk must be HOT!! Like scalding hot! I microwaved mine for about a minute, stirring often so the milk didn't bubble over.
2. When you pour the milk over the chocolate, DO NOT STIR! The milk needs to cover the chocolate chips completely for 2-3 minutes to soften the chips. If you stir too soon, the chips won't be heated through yet and it will be lumpy. After 2-3 minutes, whisk it vigorously to incorporate the chocolate completely.
**If your ganache is still lumpy and will not smooth out, it can be microwaved at this point for just a few seconds (10 seconds or so) then whisked again until a smooth consistency is achieved. Transfer the ganache to a bottle or a plastic baggie.
Time to toast the shaved, blanched almonds. All this requires is an un-greased skilled and a stovetop! Heat your pan to medium-high, and add in the almonds, just plain, by themselves. Toasting them will only take 2-3 minutes, so don't walk away from the stove! Stir them constantly until the desired color is achieved. Turn off the heat. While the almonds are still hot and in the pan, add 1 tsp of cinnamon, a generous dash of salt, and a pinch of your granulated sugar alternative. Taste test the almonds and adjust seasoning accordingly. I like mine to be a bit salty to offset the sweetness of the white chocolate drizzle. Break up your almonds into little bits if need be at this time as well.
Transfer 1/2 of the ganache into a small bowl and keep the other half for the drizzle. Then transfer the almond mixture into an additional small bowl. Pull the almond dough balls out of the freezer.
Start by dipping the bottom of each almond ball into the melted chocolate. ***If your ganache is too cold, you can stick it into the microwave for a few seconds to heat it back up again. Then roll it into the almond mixture ensuring that the entire bottom is coated along with a little on the sides.
Place the dipped and coated balls back onto your wax paper and put back into the freezer for a few (5mins or so) to get them back firm again. After about 5 minutes or so in the freezer, pull them out, and get your baggie or bottle of ganache and start drizzling on the white chocolate. If you're using a baggie, cut a super tiny hole into the corner of the bag for the chocolate to come out.
The white chocolate ganache is totally optional. I like to use Lily's white chocolate chips or Choc Zero because the sugar content is 1 gram of sugar per serving. Adding white chocolate to these with the addition of almonds brought the total carbs to 4.7 grams. Without the white chocolate and almonds, total carbs for the protein balls alone is 2.9 grams. They're both low.. and certainly fall within the carb allowance on a Keto diet. But all good things in moderation, right?:) I've had these almond balls plenty of times without chocolate or additional nuts and they're still SO yummy!
Keep the almond balls refrigerated so that they retain their shape better. These can be safely eaten for up to a month in the fridge and they also freeze really well for a few months! I end up making a batch and freezing half of it right away so that I can enjoy them for months at a time!
Keto Almond Butter Protein Balls
Prep Time: 15 minutes Assembly Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: About 20 Serving Size: 1 Ball
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cup almond flour, super fine, blanched OR all natural (I used all natural)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup creamy almond butter, unsalted and unsweetened
- 3 Tbsp vanilla protein powder, sugar free (I used plant-based protein powder, whey is fine too)
- 2 tsp sugar alternative, granulated (I used monk-fruit sugar substitute)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup sugar-free white chocolate chips (Lily's is a favorite of mine and Choc Zero)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup shaved, blanched almonds
Directions:
- Cream together the almond butter, butter, and sugar on high with a mixer or in a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 2 minutes. Then, add in the vanilla extract, almond extract, sugar alternative and salt. Mix. Lastly, add in the protein powder and almond flour and blend until it's just incorporated. Batter is stiff and can retain its shape. See photo for reference. Then, refrigerate the dough for 15-20 minutes.
- While the dough is in the fridge, chop up your white chocolate chips as small as you can. This will really help them melt into the heavy cream. Add them to a small bowl.
- Heat up your heavy cream in a small bowl to scalding HOT, boiling. Pour the hot milk over your chips and DO NOT STIR. This is super important to let the milk just sit and cover the chips for 2-3 minutes.
- After 2-3 minutes, whisk the mixture together until it's smooth and there are no lumps. If there are lumps, you can microwave the mixture at this point BUT only for a few seconds at a time until everything is smooth and incorporated. Should be somewhat 'runny'..see above photos for reference. ***Using the double-broiler method for making ganache is also ok to use
- Transfer 1/2 of your mixture into a bottle of plastic baggie to use for drizzling on the ganache. The other half, add to a small bowl. This will be use for dipping the bottoms of the balls into the ganache.
- Next, pull your chilled almond dough out of the fridge and scoop little portions of dough onto wax paper. I like to use a cookie scooper so that they are all the same size. You can use your hands as well to form little balls. The scooper I use makes a little over a tablespoon each per ball. Up to you what size you want to make:)
- After the balls are formed, transfer to the freezer.
- Add your shaved almonds to a small skillet over medium-high heat. No oil required. Stir them constantly as they start to turn brown. Continue to stir for about 2-3 minutes until you can start to smell the toastiness and see some nice color. Turn off the heat. While they're still hot and in the pan, add the tsp of cinnamon, a generous few dashes of salt, and a pinch of your granulated sugar alternative.
- Taste test the almonds and adjust seasoning accordingly. I like mine to be a bit salty to offset the sweetness of the white chocolate drizzle. Break up your almonds into little bits if need be at this time as well. Transfer to a small bowl for dipping.
- Pull your almond balls out of the freezer. Start by dipping the bottom 1/8 of the ball into the white chocolate, then dipping it into the almond mixture immediately afterwards so that the almonds will stick to the white chocolate and cover a small portion of the bottom of each ball. Place back onto wax paper. Repeat with remaining balls. ***If your chocolate ganache is too thick for dipping, microwave it for a few seconds and this will smooth and thin it back out.
- Cut a super tiny hole into the corner of your ganache baggie to squirt the chocolate out of. If you're using a bottle, this step obviously isn't necessary. Just make sure the opening on your bottle isn't too big. Drizzle the ganache in a zigzag pattern across each ball until they're all covered. Sprinkle the tops of the ganache covered balls with cinnamon and any remaining almond crumbs. Refrigerate immediately afterwards.
Almond Protein Balls can be stored in the fridge for up to a month in an air-tight container or Tupperware. They also freeze really well and can be eaten 2-3 months out!
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