Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Balls

So whoever said that you eventually quit craving junk food after changing your eating habits was out of their mind. Complete whack-a-doodle. I've been at this healthy lifestyle since mid April and there is not a day that goes by that I am not tempted by junk food. I know how it makes me feel after eating it, so I can easily (sometimes) choose a better option. But man. Sometimes I just want a huge piece of chocolate something with a peanut butter something. I'm hopeful that maybe I just haven't been at this long enough. I'm hopeful that one day I won't be tempted by such things. (Though I highly doubt it will ever happen.)

We have had some success with lower calorie sweets. I have several recipes up my sleeve that I plan to share with you all soon. This sweet treat tastes great, and it's really good for you! It's become our go to pre-workout snack. Actually, it's our go to anytime snack. They just taste good. It's sweet, a little bit salty, and comes in at only 121 calories and 5.5 grams of protein per ball. Plus it really does taste like peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough. So wonderfully good!

Here's the run down:

1 cup creamy peanut butter, or other nut butter (i think cashew would be fantastic!)
1/4 cup honey
4 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional...kinda)
1/4 cup dry roasted sunflower seeds
2 scoops vanilla flavored whey protein powder

throw everything in a bowl and mix it up. Portion out into 20 balls. I use a cookie scoop to portion everything out so they are all pretty much even. Refrigerate for about 45-50 minutes to firm them up. Store in an air tight container in the fridge. They will last up to 2 weeks (yeah right...they totally don't make it that long). 

As always, your calories and such will change depending on your ingredients. Enjoy!