Servings: 8 Prep: 5 mins Cook: 0 mins Total: 5 mins
I’m asked a lot of questions as a result of my website, but also the change its had on my own life. It’s undeniable that there have been positive results from this change to my diet. Amongst those questions, there is one I’m frequently asked that I never had much of a response to. That question was, “Do you have any recipes to help boost my protein in the morning?” I usually respond with something like, “Sure! Try my ‘Poorly Cooked Eggs’ recipe!” This is usually followed up with a headshake and a question about protein powders.
I’ve never really gotten into protein powders. I suspect there’s no lack of protein in my diet. I do eat a lot of meat; very rarely having a meal without some form of animal protein. As a result, I’ve just never gotten into them! I do own some and I have played with it, but not enough to claim any level of proficiency with it. For me, it’s just a tasty powder that makes my shakes taste just a little extra yummy. For me, it’s a shake flavor enhancer. I’ve never been in it for the protein.
However, lately, I’ve just been sort of … meated out … it’s the strangest thing! To remedy this, I’ve been dumping egg protein powder into chia seeds and making a bit of a morning porridge (YUM!). This seems to fit the bill!
Anywhoo … in an attempt to give SOME kind of answer to this question, I’m adding this PB Protein Pucks recipe to my website. The weird part is, I don’t know where I got it from! It’s in my notes. I may have made it up, but … don’t remember creating it. If I stole this from you … I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!
Here’s the inception of this idea:
I LOVE Dixie from LowCarbZen.com and her Low Carb Eating Facebook page. She’s done more for me than another other stranger ever has. She was an early supporter and still is just a rock star in my life. In any event, she had been asked the same question and floated it on her Facebook page. This was responded with a variety of recipes, but it was the Peanut Butter Squares that really seemed to attract the most attention. Dixie then asked if anyone had a photo! That’s when this particular seed was planted in my mind and the idea went into my notes. Roughly a week later, someone else either took a photo, or found one. Here’s that photo, along with corresponding recipe. In my mind, I stole THIS recipe, except … I DIDN’T! My recipe and this recipe are different, by quite a bit!
There does stand a good chance that I just made it up and wrote it down as I threw things into the mixer, but … I have no recollection of that. Maybe it’s some kind of divine intervention? Perhaps!
So … to make a long story short and to answer the age old question about quick protein breakfasts on the run. The answer is: PB PROTEIN PUCKS!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups vanilla zero carb whey protein (about 7 scoops)
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (no sugar added)
- 4 ounces regular cream cheese (not low-fat) softened
- 1/4 cup fresh whole butter softened
- 1/4 cup sugar equivalent
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients in a mixer, until combined. It will look something like a pie dough.
- Form balls, squares or pucks. Eat!
STANDARD FTC DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Please note, I only ever endorse products that are in alignment with my ideals and I believe would be of value to my readers.
* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
These sound yummy and I can’t wait to try them. What about those brownie-looking things in the background? Are those maybe PB Chocolate pucks?
Hi Katrina! You weren’t supposed to see that! Not everything I make makes it to the website as a full fledged recipe. Those were a stab at Fudge, but … a failed one. They were eventually thrown out … BUT! They looked good in the photo of the PB Pucks! If you want to see a fudge recipe that DID work, here ya go! <a href="https://www.djfoodie.com/aspx/m/Fudge">Oh Fudge!</a>
I just became a fan of your site! On the PB protein pucks…how many servings does the recipe make and how do you store them?
Will they last for a while? Thanks a bunch.
Hi Cindi. Thanks! I wish I had a good answer for your question, but … I don’t! I’ve only made them that one time and … they didn’t last very long. Before I knew it, they were gone! However, recently I made something very similar and froze them. I put them into a plastic ZipLoc container. They froze perfectly and were excellent, straight from the freezer! They were very slightly too-hard-to-eat for about 5 minutes, but after about 5 minutes, they softened up into something wonderful. Just a thought … I do know that nut oils can become rancid fairly quickly. That said, I’ve got jars of peanut butter older than I am, that seem fine. My suggestion … make a small batch and test it. My guess is, they won’t last long enough to test. The recipe makes about 8 two-ounce pucks. I hope something in here is helpful to you. Welcome and … thanks again!
These would be good dipped in low carb chocolate!
Hi Lisa. I agree! In fact, I’ve even beat you to the punch! I just did something similar, but different. It’s basically a ball of peanut butter on a stick, which is rolled in toasted peanuts, and then white and dark sugar-free chocolates. THOSE only lasted minutes. Just long enough to get a picture!
Oh what could possibly have done wrong DJ? I used chocolate whey protein powder coz I didn’t have vanilla, but that was the only difference. I weighed out all my ingredients and blended them in a food processor. Surely that wouldn’t have made a difference, but the texture was beautiful fine chocolate crumbs. I added half again peanut butter, cream cheese and butter but it was still too dry. Ended up adding about a tablespoon of water which brought it together a bit better so that I could mold it into little chocolate logs. Now if you use your imagination, chocolate logs was probably not the best choice of shapes but it was the only shape that I could get to stay together. They are very chewy and yummy, just not sure what went wrong. Thinking maybe my peanut butter wasn’t oily enough and should have added a bit of oil instead of water. I’ve made 19 baby logs so even with the extra ingredients each log wont go over the carb per serving.
Hi Glenys, I’m very close to leaving all protein powder recipes off of my website. It’s starting to look like different products behave differently. What I used may behave differently from what you used. I’ve had similar comments with other recipes. Without trying them all … or simply saying "These ones WON’T work" … I’m not sure how to handle it. I WILL say that even when I made it, it wasn’t like a wet lump of clay. It was somewhat brittle, but I just compressed the little pucks and they held together quite nicely! In any event, it sounds like your little chocolate logs worked out. So … not a total waste! If you ever get around to making little white logs, let me know if the recipe behaves more favorably. Thank you!
I just made these and I think they are wonderful. the only change I did was chocolate protein.
I use About Time 0 carb protein and it worked great
Excellent, Martha! Thank you for sharing! I’ve been somewhat doubting this recipe, as it seems hit or miss for some. I’ll wait a bit long and see if I need to rewrite it. Thank you! 🙂
Great recipe! I use whey Protein powder produced by a local cheese factory that is 100% pure without any flavors or sweeteners. I add a bit of organic cocoa.
My sweetner is raw honey.
Thanks for sharing, George! 🙂
How big is a serving? The nutritional values state that it makes 8 servings but does not state how big or little a serving. According to your calculations what is your serving size? How many balls/pucks per serving? Thanks in advance.
Hi Angel, it’s always difficult to quantify this kind of thing for people. If you total the number of grams in the recipe and divide by 8, you’re given 68 grams, or about 2 1/2 ounces. If you were to smoosh that into a measuring cup, it would be just over 1/8th of a cup. From there, you could form one big disc, or 3 small balls or 10 tiny pellets. It’s really up to you. I had one guy comment that he likes to make his into the shape of footballs. Does this make sense? I hope it helps! 🙂
The best protein powder to use is UMP Ultimate Muscle Protein by Beverly International. It’s very low in carbs and sugar and you can bake with it as well.Their MP, Muscle Provider whey protein is excellent! You can purchase directly from the company or from other sites like Bodybuilding.com.I also store my jars of natural peanut butter and almond butter upside down so all the oil is at the top so it doesn’t dry out and easier to stir.
Hi Sheila, thanks for the input! I’ve never tried that particular brand. We all have our favorites and we can go round and round about which are the "best". In this particular case, the 3rd ingredient in the ingredient list is maltodextrin, which is essentially sugar (glucose). It’s also got artificial flavors, various soy products and two synthetic sweeteners, to help boost sweetness and to drop carbs. I’m sure it’s quite tasty, but I know MANY people would balk at these ingredients. All this said … if you’re happy and it’s working … keep it up! 🙂
Not my fav but better than no treats. Thank you.
Renee, I’m sorry this isn’t your cup of tea. Try the peanut butter balls, instead THOSE are AWESOME! 🙂
This may well not be the place to ask this, but I’m very new to low carb eating. I’m struggling. However, I’ve been following your recipes on Facebook for a couple of weeks and can’t help noticing how high in calories each serving of most of your recipes are. So I’m wondering how to watch my calories (in an attempt to lose weight) while trying to try some of your yummy-looking recipes? thanks
A few things missing from your instructions. I am one person and not just going to sit and eat all of these. How big to make the balls? How do we store them? I love many of your recipes but this one is incomplete unless it’s just because I am viewing it on a phone and can’t see everything.
Hi Becky, I?m sorry about the delay in my response. I try and get to the comments as they come in, but some of the time they slip by me. In any event, yes, many of my recipes are higher calorie. This is because I don?t fear fat and fat has more than double the calorie density of both protein or carbs. I?m not afraid to use butter or bacon fat, for example. The core idea is that ? without the carbs, there?s significantly less of the ?fat storing hormone? called insulin. So, the fat is stored for later, rather it?s just used for energy. This suggests that you can eat more calories than you can when carbs and insulin are in abundance. Additionally, my recipes are also geared towards me ? a large grown adult male. As a result, my recipes have a tendency to be larger in portion sizes than most recipes. My suggestion would be to cut the carbs and worry less about calories. If you do cut the carbs and weight just isn?t coming off, then look at hidden carbs and processed foods. If you?re eating clean and low-carb and it?s STILL not coming off, then ? that?s when to count calories. They do still count, but they?re just less of an issue for low-carbers, unless you have a super stubborn body, or are close to goal. At that point, really it just comes down to portion sizes, or using less of whichever the highest calorie culprit might be. I break out each ingredient to illustrate where the nutrients are coming from. Pick the worst offender and consider cutting back on it a bit. A 10% reduction of a high calorie ingredient isn?t likely to impact the recipe that much, but it may be enough for you to get the scale moving, again. In any event ? I hope this helps! 😀
Hi Michelle, I?m sorry you feel this recipe is incomplete. I can?t really tailor-make each recipe to suit every situation. It would make for an endless series of obstacles. In essence, this one is calculated for 8 servings. So, the suggestion, really, is ? make it, split it into 8 portions and then have fun making the shapes, or just make 8 big balls, pucks, squares, etc. The information is 100% available to determine how to slice this into different sizes. So, let?s say you want to just make 2 portions, then you could just divide all the ingredient amounts by 4. You could even use the gram weights to very specifically weigh everything to the gram and then measure the big ball and cut off half and then split each half into 3 smaller balls and shape them into footballs (I know one mother who does this for her son). Regarding storage, it?s made largely from perishable ingredients that would likely be found in a fridge. I?d suggest storing it in a container in the fridge. There may be better ways to go about this, but ? I?m honestly not sure what they are. I?m also unclear what the shelf-life would be on something like this. I am sorry I?m not able to give very specific information like this, but these aren?t areas in which I feel I have an aptitude above and beyond anyone else. I?d literally just ?throw it in the fridge?, without any deeper thought than that. I hope this answers your questions! I am sorry if I?m coming across as a bit smarmy. That?s not my intention. It?s just very difficult to create, write and breakdown the recipes as much as I do. Breaking them down any further would almost create a space where I couldn?t continue. It?s my feeling that the information is largely there and can be used to calculate a variety of options. In any event ? I hope this helps and that I didn?t just horribly offend you!
Hi! I’m just finding you and am really loving your recipes and awesome info! I’m a follow the recipe kinda gal… meaning, if I wing it, it usually doesn’t work out. Which brings me to what is probably a very basic cooking question but here goes anyway. In your recipe for PB Protein Pucks, you call for 1/4 cup (50g) sugar equivalent (linked to Swerve). I’ve NEVER found a sugar substitute that I like (yep, never). Since we don’t use a lot of sugar, it’s not a huge issue, but when we can, we use honey. OK, back to my embarrassing question: Can I use honey in this recipe? If yes, how much? Thank you again for your awesomeness 🙂
Hi AnnettaJayne! In terms of sugar substitutes, there’s never going to be a straight replacement for sugar, in terms of taste and behavior. So, if you’re going to forgo those tastes and behaviors, you’re going to accept some level of loss. Thankfully, tastes adjust and you can learn to love a new sweetener, in time, but … it will feel like a sacrifice. All this said, I’ll save my sales pitch and answer the question … I don’t believe this will work with honey. It WOULD work with straight up sugar, but not with honey. Honey has too high a water content, which would result in sticky peanut and protein mud puddles, rather than something more like a clay that you can form. In this instance, you do need a sweetener that is powdered and has some bulk to it. Sorry!
Have you tried making this recipe with the new powdered peanut butter that has the fat removed and how you would adjust the recipe or if this is something that perhaps I get to fiddle with. *smiles* Obviously, some sort of moisture or fat needs to be in the recipe to hold it together, but I was curious none the less.
Nom nom nom! I just saw Martha’s comment on chocolate protein – the only thing I can think of that sounds better than peanut butter pucks is CHOCOLATE peanut butter pucks!
Make smaller puck use mini muffin pan. Makes bite size serving. That way you eat less, have a 1/2 milk with it. Makes a great power snack.
I use my mini pan a lot for portion control.
Heather, I haven?t! I the past, I used something called PB2, which was ok. I never purchased it again, but ? it wasn?t bad. Typically, I?m actually a fan of fat, so ? my inclination is simply to suggest you stick with it, as is. However, if you want to play with it ? let us know what you find out! <br /><br />
Julie, I kind of want to melt some sugar free chocolate bars and dip these into that. YUM! <br /><br />
Belinda F., yep! That?s actually how I formed these in the first place. I pushed them into the bottom of a mini-muffin mold, popped them out and smoothed over the edges. Nice!
I made these using Isopure toasted coconut whey protein and they were heavenly. I freeze them and when I feel the need for a snack … voila!
So you don’t bake, just eat?
Hi, I’ve been following you for a few days and I love your recipes! Question on the pb pucks recipe. I’m diabetic and am always looking for low carb meals, but also low fat meals. I noticed that you say for the cream cheese to use the regular cream cheese. Is the flavor or consistency different with low fat cheese? And can you substitute margarine for the butter? Thanks!
will granular Swerve work in this recipe? thx! they look lovely!
What could you use in place of the peanut butter…I do not care for peanut butter?!
Mary Jo ? wow! Interesting! I didn?t know they made a coconut protein powder. I?ll have to look into that. I?ve had good luck with IsoPure in the past. <br /><br />
Vicki ? yep. Just eat it! 🙂 <br /><br />
Julie, typically, when low-fat products are created, they replace the fat with carbs. So, in order to reduce carbs, the higher fat products are usually suggested. In terms of pure function, the lower fat cream cheese should work. I suspect margarine would work, in place of butter, but I feel margarine is fairly unhealthy. I also haven?t used it in ? well ? maybe ever! I?m not positive it will work the same, but ? I do suspect it will. <br /><br />
Charlotte, yes, probably, but my fear is that it won?t dissolve properly. It?ll sweeten and taste nice, but it may have a gritty texture and that ?cooling? sensation. If possible, try the confectioners, or powder it in your own coffee grinder, or something to that effect. I think this would work better. <br /><br />
Wendy, I suspect any kind of nut butter would work. Macadamia, almond, cashew, coconut, etc. I assume they would all work. Combine interesting nut butters with different protein powders for a variety of different flavors!
Somehow I missed this until now. ?
P.S. That was supposed to be a heart, not a question mark. Har! <3
Awwww … Thanks, Dix! <3 Yeah, this is a popular one. Not sure how you missed it, either. (secretly … and between you and I … I didn’t love it. I don’t really like concentrated protein powder, like this. It tastes great and is super popular, but … for me, it’s got a VERY synthetic texture/mouthfeel that I don’t fully love, but … shhhhh … don’t tell anyone! 😉 )
Thanks for always including gram weights in your recipes. I’m the only one that would eat them so it’s easier to make smaller batches.
My pleasure, Pam! Gram weights are how the USDA handle all their nutritional information … I think it’s important to share, plus … as a bonus … it helps those using metric measurements! I’m glad it works for you!
Hello, there! This diabetic absolutely loves your site! I just had a quick question regarding this recipe. I know it would bump up the carbs, however, we have some bananas that are going bad and I was wondering if there was any way to incorporate bananas into this recipe without ruining its integrity? Please let me know!
From a fan 🙂
Hi, I apologize in advance if this is a silly question. I’m pretty new to the low carb world. I was looking at the swerve sweater at the store the other day and the bag said it has 5 grams of carbs per teaspoon, yet whenever I see it as an ingredient in a recipe it’s listed as having zero carbs? Is there a reason not to count the carbs listed on the bag? I love peanut butter and plan to give this recipe a try either way, I just want to make sure I’m counting my carbs properly 🙂 thanks!
—Reply posted by DJ on 8/3/2017
Hi Gail, I don’t understand the difference between what I said and what you said. You may have clarified my point and filled in some details and nuance, but I don’t believe you’ve discredited what I said. When I share information I try and speak in simple terms and in English, so as not to send people running for the hills. I try and state the 20% that makes 80% of the difference. You described the mechanisms that make my statements true. You went behind the scenes. That’s fine. The end result is the same. I simply omitted the long division.
I am sorry you feel I’m unintelligent and spreading misinformation, but I think it’s important to note a few things … 1. I’m trying to help people in very broad strokes, without getting bogged down in detail. In my experience peoples’ eyes glaze over and they stop listening when you start throwing out long explanations and jargon. I didn’t get the sense this woman was looking for a crystal clear blow-by-blow. She just wanted to know why Swerve is zero net carbs. I explained it has no impact on blood sugar. Now, you and I both know this isn’t precisely true, but it’s more than true enough for me. The part where it does slightly elevate blood sugars in different people in different ways just confuses the issue more than it helps drive home the 80% that matters. If she’s REALLY interested, she’ll learn the rest. People won’t learn what they’re not interested in. 2. This was a casual comment on a recipe, not a researched blog post. Details aren’t really meant for comments. In fact, I don’t really see this as the place for this discussion, but … I’m easy. 😉 3. I’m not a doctor or nutritionist, nor have I ever claimed to be. I’m a guy who lost a lot of weight by eating this way and am simply sharing my experience. All this said … It isn’t clear to me how I’m wrong. I just didn’t show the math. I have no idea if you’ll respond. In all cases … I hope all is well, thank you for clarifying and have a great weekend! 😀
—Reply posted by Gail R on 8/3/2017
I just found this post and had to respond, even though it’s 2 1/2 years later. This is a response to DJ’s answer. Insulin is not a “fat storing hormone…which runs around and stashes that extra energy on our rears for another day.” Insulin is a hormone the pancreas secretes to aid in the regulation of blood sugar. It absorbs sugar from the bloodstream and acts as a sort of key that unlocks cells’ ability to absorb the sugar, which they need for energy. If too much sugar is ingested (in whatever form that may be) and can’t all be used by cells for normal functioning, insulin aids in the storage of extra sugar in the form of fat that can be used later. “Eating things that don’t elevate blood sugar” is an unintelligent thing to say. Eating food of any kind changes the levels of sugar in the bloodstream, which is why the body makes insulin in the first place. It is part of a system designed to maintain homeostasis, or balance, in the body overall. Eating large quantities of protein can also contribute to increased glucose in the blood, requiring insulin to remove it and use or store it. It is irritating to see someone with so many followers misspeaking about something so serious.
—Reply posted by DJ on 1/8/2015
Hi Jasmine, it’s not a silly question at all. In fact, it’s one of the most important questions to ask. It’s central to the idea of “low-carb”. The whole thing is about controlling blood sugars, by eating things that don’t elevate blood sugars. High blood sugar results in a surge of the fat storing hormone “insulin”, which runs around and stashes that extra energy on our rears for another day. Now, not all carbs elevate blood sugars. Straight sugar and starches do, but something like fiber, which is also a carb, does not. I suggest reading a little bit about a “net carb”. A “net carb” is the number of carbs in a recipe that will impact your blood sugars. Swerve is made with a sugar alcohol called erythritol, which does not impact blood sugars, It tastes sweet, but essentially passes through our urine, before its digested. Swerve also contains a sweet tasting fiber, which also doesn’t impact blood sugars. In the end, it’s a sweetener that doesn’t impact blood sugars, thus … there is no release of insulin (this is a very simplified explanation). It’s tough to get into a lot of detail in a comment, but I urge you to go to the top of my page and click “SEARCH”. In the search box type “Sweet Spot” and you’ll see a 7 part series that really gets into the sweeteners and how they work, taste and impact blood sugars. In any event … excellent question. I hope this helps! 🙂
Hi there, I see you suggest to buy this Whey protein of which has zero carbs a good thing but has Soy in my humble opinion not good I try to avoid it all costs. I do have Thorne Research protein poweder vanilla that has 1 carb per serving. I would like to substitute the Thorne product instead. Would I use the same measurements 7 scoops? Thanks for any insight.
—Reply posted by DJ on 3/24/2015
Hi Sue, I agree with you and am honestly baffled by why I linked to that product. I personally use Jay Robb protein powder. Interesting! In any event, I’m honestly not sure about the amounts. I have had people comment that their pucks didn’t fully hold together. Different products are going to behave differently. My suggestion would be to start with a cup of protein powder, but everything else is the same. Once it’s just come together, feel it. If it feels wet, add some more protein and do a quick mix, again. Keep doing this, until the texture is like clay. It’s dry, but still wet enough to clump and hold, when compressed. Then, portion and make shapes and enjoy. I hope this helps! 🙂
DJ, I have to be in and out of hospitalsfor my dad and just wondering any good ideas what to travel with I will be away from home and hospital food is not healthy! Salads have stuff all over I cannot eat. I am also glutenfree Any ideas much appreciated.! Thanks!
—Reply posted by debkay burke on 4/12/2015
Thanks for your help! Some good ideas!
—Reply posted by DJ on 4/12/2015
Hi Deb, at the top of my website there is a row of menu options. One of them is for “Search”. Click that and then type into the box “Camping”. I wrote a post about a year or two ago, about traveling and camping. While it’s not directly related to your question, it has a lot of information and ideas that will help. It’s pretty thorough, so I believe it’ll help you. I’d give you a link, but for whatever reason, I’m unable to put links in the comments. I hope this helps! 🙂
Did not work fir me. Came out extremely dry and crumbly. Impossible to firm into any shape also had no flavor. 8 halved the recepie. . Amy thoughts —Reply posted by DJ on 6/16/2015Hi Cheryl, this one typically just comes down to the protein powder selected. Each one is different. If it’s too dry and brittle, you could add just a little splash of water until it begins to hold together. In terms of flavor, again .. it’s the protein powder. The answer for fixing flavor issues is usually salt, sweet and/or sour. My suggestion would be to add a little bit of salt, and if it’s truly bland, a bit of sweetener, as well. So … water, sweetener and salt until it comes together and tastes nice, but … all in very small amounts, until it tastes right. This is a particularly fussy recipe because protein powders vary so widely. I’ve debated removing it, in the past, but … it also tends to be quite popular. So … it stays. In any event, I hope this helps! 🙂