Step By Step: Double Chocolate Protein Nut Butter Cups & An AWESOME Treadmill Workout!

I have a double whammy for you today!

Since last Wednesday’s ‘What I Ate’ post I have had tons of comments and questions about the protein nut butter cups I have as my last snack of the day! They seemed to have peaked quite a bit of interest… and as they should, they are DELICIOUS!

So, I thought it was a great idea to put together a post that shows step-by-step how these delectable (and healthy) little treats are made!

Also, I’ve been wanting to add some more fitness related posts to the blog, and I have been experimenting with different cardio routines lately to avoid monotomy and keep my body guessing! One day, a couple weeks ago, while doing my usual run on the treadmill I started playing around with speeds and intensity and I came up with this fantastic 35-minute routine. It left me feeling so energized after, I tried it the next day, and again a couple days later, and again, and I realized “I’ve got something great here!!” … this little routine is just too good to not share!

So, first, let’s get into those nut butter cups!

(just a side note – I use a silicone muffin mold.. I have not tried these with a regular muffin tin so I can’t say how they might turn out if at all different from this method. The silicone molds work perfectly to pop the little cups out when they are set, and there is no mess or need for knives or even greasing the pan. So, that being said, I suggest you try it with a silicone mold – they aren’t expensive and mine is just a run-of -the-mill $3 Superstore one!)

Step-By-Step: Double Chocolate Protein Nut Butter Cups — Step 1: Assemble all ingredients (1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 1/2 tablespoon raw cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon nut butter, 2 1/2 tablespoons water)

Yummmmmm…. and there you have it, protein-packed-double-chocolate-nut-butter-cups-of-delicious-rich-fudgey-love!

Just a warning, these cups are delicate and at room temperature they melt quite quickly, so I suggest popping them in a bowl or putting them on a plate and enjoying with a fork or spoon!

….Or you can eat them with your hands and lick all the gooey chocolate goodness off your fingers after!

… I may or may not have done that… a few times.

So…nutritional stats on these little cups of love…?

220 calories (per 2 cups), only 6g of carbs, 9g of healthy fats, and 30g of protein!! Yup…30g!!

(compared to the 210 calories (per 2 cups), 24g of carbs ( 21g being refined sugar), 12g of fats (including hydrogenated), and only 5g of protein..not to mention the list of laboratory ingredients… in those other guys peanut butter cups, I’d say mine do quite well ;))

4.0 from 1 reviews

Double Chocolate Protein Nut Butter Cups

Prep time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour

Serves: 1

Ingredients

1 scoop chocolate protein powder
½ tablespoon raw cocoa powder
1 tablespoon nut butter
2½ tablespoons water

Instructions

Combine the protein powder and cocoa powder in a bowl.
Slowly add in the water, stirring in between little amounts, until you get a smooth pudding-like consistency.
Once a pudding consistency is reached, divide ½ of the mixture between two muffin cups (I use a silpat muffin mold as it is easy to pop the cups out when they are solid)
Then you can freeze for 10 minutes to set.
Next, add ½ tablespoon of nut butter to each cup, then pour the remaining protein pudding to cover the nut butter.
Freeze again for 30 minutes to an hour to set.
Pop the cups out of the muffin mold and enjoy!

Nutritional Information

Serving size: 2 cups Calories: 220 calories Fat: 9g Carbohydrates: 6g Protein: 30g

Alrightly, now – let’s move onto the wicked awesome treadmill routine!!

This is kind of like a high intensity interval routine… but kind of not. Maybe more like a pyramid? I’m not really sure how to term it…

I love it because the build up is a little slow (the first 12 minutes is pretty much a warm up), but then before you know it your running at full speed and totally in-the-mode, endorphins-flowing, sweat-streaming, heart-pumping goodness, and then you get a nice finish at the end where a what-might-seem-like-normal-paced jog feels like a slow, steady, cool-down.

I kept my incline on 0.5 the last time I did this.. I know it’s not much of an incline , but it still adds just that little extra intensity that can work my body a little harder without me really even noticing!

With my personal stats I burn a good 340 calories during the workout!

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Do you have any awesome treadmill workouts that are your go-to? I’d love to hear about them! I’m always up for something new!

This is the song that I always listen to when I do this workout… I seriously have it on repeat for 35-minutes straight… is that weird…that I can easily listen to one song for an entire workout if it gets me all riled up and excited?!