Peanut Butter Protein Spheres

Peanut butter, one of the few foods I could eat continually and never get sick of it. I grew up with PB&J sandwiches being a lunchtime favorite and by high school had removed the jelly component from the equation entirely, feeling it detracted from the peanut buttery goodness. In actuality, the jelly removal was probably related to my journey of sugar avoidance, which started around the same time. It's no coincidence that I also started getting serious about weight lifting around that time as well. But I digress.

Striking Gold!

My recent decision to give the low-carb diet another whirl found me searching for snack ideas; that's when I found this recipe. I have tried the low-carb thing before and it has worked great for me, but in the past I hadn't bothered to find any low-carb snack options, other than nuts (another food I love dearly, go figure). The lack of tasty snack foods made it hard for me to stick with the diet very long. So, this time I decided to do some research and was pleased to find lots of options I hadn't even thought possible. You will probably see many of these recipes in the future as I attempt, and sometimes fail, to try some new things.

Time to get down to the goodness. This is a pretty simple recipe but it's pretty hands on and can get a little sticky.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Peanut Butter
• 1/4 Cup Flaxseed Meal
• 1 tsp Artificial Sweetener
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

• I used Truvia (stevia herb) as my sweetener but anything can be used, even sugar if you are keen on poisoning yourself! :)
• The first time I made this I made the mistake of adding a whole cup of flaxseed. I do not recommend that anyone consider trying this. They  packed a bitter aftertaste, even after dousing them with some stevia.
• For peanut butter, I love my Adam's Brand stuff! It's as natural as peanut butter gets and I highly recommend it. It takes a little getting used to at first, but now I will never go back to the hydrogenated stuff.

Directions

1. Mix ingredients well in a mixing bowl.
2. Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls.
3. Store the peanut butter balls in a container in the refrigerator. Or the freezer for a firmer, cold treat.

• I used a mixer the first time I tried this recipe and that worked fine. But this time I used a big spoon and it worked just as good without needing to clean the beaters. 
• You could probably use a fancy cookie scooper to form the balls but I hate doing dishes so I just used my hands.

That's it! Remember, it may take a day in the refrigerator before the peanut butter hardens. If they don't harden up and you don't like the stickiness you can also try rolling them in some crushed almonds or other crushed nuts to add a crunchy element to this delicious treat.

So far, this is one of my favorite low-carb snacks and I really suggest you give it a try, even if you aren't on a low-carb diet.