2015-12-05

An easy recipe for protein-packed peanut butter candies dipped in dark chocolate. They’re perfect for the holidays—or any time you get a craving for PB!



One of my grandmothers moved from Ohio to our little California town when I was 8 years old, and for every Christmas after that, she drove over to our house shortly after 6 am (or eventually around 9 am, after my brother and I graduated from college and sleeping in sounded more appealing than ripping off wrapping paper before dawn…) with a grocery bag or two full of presents.

She brought gifts for the four of us, along with my mom’s parents, who had flown in from sunny Arizona to spend the holidays with us as well. She usually passed them out partway through the morning, after we had dug through our stockings and called our aunt in Colorado to thank her for that year’s Legos, dark chocolate, and Denver Broncos t-shirts. (My family is full of sports fans!)

Although what lay underneath her festive wrapping paper generally varied year to year, I always looked forward to the three metal tins decorated with Santas and snowflakes she handed us: a medium one for Dad, a small one for Mom, and a huge one for my brother and me.



During the days leading up to Christmas, she spent lots of time in the kitchen making sweet treats. Dad always received crunchy butterscotch cookies; my brother and I found super soft, almost cake-like sugar cookies decorated with red and green sugar crystals on top in our tin; and Mom opened hers to see a few dozen buckeyes.

That tradition continued for around ten years, until Grandma started to slow down and couldn’t spend as much time on her feet cooking and baking in the kitchen, which also happened to be about the time Mom discovered her peanut allergy. (All of a sudden, I didn’t feel so guilty for sneaking so many of her homemade Christmas candies from Grandma!)



This year, it’s becoming harder and harder for all of my different grandparents to travel, so I thought it’d be nice to carry on the tradition one more time when we’re together during the holidays. But… You know me and that I put a healthy spin on just about everything, including these 4-Ingredient Protein Buckeyes!

Continue reading & see the recipe! ›› 4-Ingredient Protein Buckeyes

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