A delicious recipe to make this festive season which can be shared with your friends and is guilt free!
We all have that one treat...that one item that we associate with Christmas. For my husband, that item is buckeye balls. I remember him telling me how much he loved the chocolate dipped treats the first Christmas we celebrated when we started dating.
These Paleo and Keto buckeye balls are Highstreet approved by my husband! We were able to keep these treats a little lighter and not too dense by adding protein powder to the recipe. Also, by my husband’s request, I added a crunch with chopped almonds mixed in.
Rebecca’s Kitchen notes:
About the Almond Butter: Let me first say, if you are going sugar free and low carb, but are still okayf with eating peanut butter, you could absolutely use peanut butter in this recipe. Using Peanut butter will definitely make it taste more like the original.
Also, If your almond butter is already sweetened or salted, you can skip those ingredients all together an still have a tasty buckeye ball.
Regarding the Sweetener: I used monk fruit sugar in my recipe to keep these buckeye balls low carb. However, if your goal is a plaleo buckeye ball, I encourage you to use maple syrup.The maple syrup will add a delicious extra flavor to the buckeyes.
On the protein powder: First, I used whey protein powder, mostly because I prefer it. I don’t like how vegan protein powder has what I like to call “grit”. The protein powder in this recipe acts both to add protein to these sweets AND to lighten the texture, making sure they are not too dense.
Ingredients:
Almond Butter
Almond Flour
Protein Powder
Vanilla Extract
Monk Fruit
Sugar Free Dark Chocolate
Coconut Oil.
Making the Buckeye Balls
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix together the Almond Butter, sweetener, and salt. Add the almond flour and protein powder and mix until well combined. I like to beat the almond butter mixture for at least 3 minutes to make sure that there is air in the mixture, creating a less dense finished product.
Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, roll the Almond Butter mixture into balls and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes to set. I like to roll them a second time when they are removed from the freezer. Since these are not packed with powdered sugar, they will tend to spread out at room temperature.
Before taking the balls out of the freezer, melt together the chocolate and the coconut oil over a double boiler.
For a chocolate shell that "snaps" when you bite into it, make sure the chocolate is tempered. you can do this by melting all but a tablespoon of the chocolate over the double boiler. Once the chocolate is melted, remove from the heat and add the last tablespoon of chocolate and stir. Remove any unmelted bits of chocolate. This process is called "seeding"
Dip the balls into the melted chocolate and set them on a plate or cookie sheet lined with parchment.
Freeze the Buckeye balls for about an hour or until set. remove from the freezer about 5 minutes before eating and enjoy!
Buckeye Balls:
makes 12 buckeyes.
1 cup of Almond Butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup roughly chopped almonds.
1/2 Cup of Almond Flour (Start at ¼ cup intervals)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
¼ cup of Sweetener
10 oz sugar-free Dark Chocolate
1 tsp coconut oil.
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix together the Almond Butter, sweetener, and salt. Add the almond flour and protein powder and mix until well combined.
Roll the Almond Butter mixture into balls and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes to set.
Before taking the balls out of the freezer, melt together the chocolate and the coconut oil over a double boiler.
Dip the balls into the melted chocolate and set them on a plate or cookie sheet lined with parchment.
freeze the Buckeye balls for about an hour or until set. Store in the freezer. Let set at room temperature for about 5 minutes before enjoying!
Please share this recipe with those you care about! See you soon!
~Rebecca
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