Healthy chocolate covered peanut butter balls.

No-Bake Protein Buckeyes

adminsr December 6, 2023

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Protein Buckeyes are an OG Fit Foodie holiday dessert recipe. Made with protein powder, honey, and dark chocolate chips, these are such a fun and festive dessert recipe!

Healthy peanut butter balls in a bowl with sprinkles.

If you’re looking for a protein-packed sweet treat for the holidays, you’ve come to the right recipe. We’ve been making these protein buckeyes since the mid 2010’s and they get better and better every year.

They’re essentially a version of our protein balls turned into a buckeye ball! You’re welcome.

What do you need for protein buckeyes?

Peanut butter
Vanilla
Protein powder
Honey
Chocolate Chips
Coconut oil

We tested this recipe with our favorite protein powder, Garden of Life Whey along with our favorite collagen, Vital Proteins Collagen, and they both came out fabulous.

A measuring cup filled with rich, indulgent chocolate.

Topping Ideas for Protein Buckeyes

While you can keep these buckeyes looking like normal buckeye balls, we loved topping these with something special. Here are some ideas:

Sprinkles
Shredded coconut
Crushed peanuts
Crushed chocolate
Mini chocolate chips

A bowl of healthy chocolate peanut butter truffles on a baking sheet.

Storage Recommendations

We recommend keeping these in the freezer, for best results. And, bonus! they’ll last up to 3 months.

A stack of healthy chocolate covered peanuts with sprinkles on top.

Ingredients

Toppings

Shredded unsweetened coconut
Sprinkles

Instructions

Combine peanut butter, vanilla, protein powder, honey, and 1.5 tablespoons water in a medium-sized bowl. Mix until the texture is like cookie dough. You may need to add more water in order to get it to a cookie dough-like texture.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a 1 tablespoon cookie dough scoop, scoop dough into your hands and roll it into a ball. Place them on the parchment paper and repeat.
Freeze the balls for around 30 minutes.
While your balls are chilling, melt the chocolate. Place the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a small bowl. You want it to be big enough to fit the chocolate chips, but small enough so that you can dip the balls. Microwave in 20-second increments, stirring between each increment until glossy and melted.
If you want to add toppings to your protein buckeyes, prep small bowls of them for dipping.
Place a ball on the end of a fork. Dip the ball into the chocolate, leaving a ring at the tip. Hold your fork with your left and and use your right hand to tap your wrist, so that any extra chocolate drips off. Finally, use a toothpick to slide the ball off the fork into your toppings.
Once coated, transfer the balls back onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze to speed up the drying process.

Tips & Notes

How dense and chalky the peanut butter portion of the buckeye varies by what protein powder is used, how drippy your peanut butter is, and how much water was used. If the dough tastes chalky, add 1 teaspoon of water to the mixture at a time until it is no longer chalky.