White Chocolate & Cashew Protein Balls made with Collagen Peptides Powder

These scrumptious white chocolate & cashew protein balls made with collagen protein powder are easy to make and healthy, too. The buttery cashew nuts and chunks of melt-in-your mouth white chocolate are perfect with the chewy sweet cookie-like dough.

Ingredients used to make these White Chocolate & Cashew Protein Balls

_{**I've linked some of these ingredients to amazon.com to give you an idea of what they are, but you should also be able to find them in your local grocery store (usually, the natural & organic food section). They are also affiliate links, which means that I earn a commission as an Amazon Associate if you decide to purchase the items. The price will be the same for you, link or no link 🙂}

• Collagen Peptides - I used Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Powder for this recipe. You can use other brands of collagen peptides and get the same result.
  • Note on using other Protein Powders in this recipe: I have not tried using other types of protein powders (i.e. whey, casein, pea, hemp, brown rice, egg protein, etc) in this recipe! If you decide to substitute, just keep in mind that you'll need to add additional liquid (almond milk or water) to this recipe to get the protein dough to hold together. You also won't get the sugar cookie-like texture you see in the photos since collagen is what creates that chewy cookie-like consistency.
  • Instead of substituting, check out these protein ball recipes that DON'T require any collagen powder!

• Coconut Flour - Coconut flour is a great low carb flour that is gluten-free, wheat free, and grain-free. Coconut flour is also nut-free (even though it's called coco-nut) because it's made from coconut flesh (which is a fruit, not a nut) that’s been dried and then grind into small flour particles. Here is a brand of coconut flour I like to use.
  • Collagen is a fussy ingredient, so I highly recommend that you DON'T SUBSTITUTE coconut flour in this particular recipe (including almond flour and oat flour). It's not that these flours don't work, but you'll have to be okay with playing around with the entire recipe, like adding more flour, more nut butter, and omitting the liquid which may or may not give you the same results.

• Cashew Butter - like this one. You can also use other creamy nut butters like peanut butter.

• Sugar of Choice – I used monk fruit sweetener in this recipe to keep this recipe low-sugar and low carb, but raw cane sugar, coconut, date, and maple sugars are perfectly acceptable substitutes. 

• Almond Milk - I used unsweetened almond milk, but any milk (dairy or dairy free) works in this recipe. You can even use water.

• White Chocolate Bar - roughly chopped. White chocolate chips also work.

• Cashews - roughly chopped

Step by Step

Recipe Variations and Optional Add Ins:

• Feel free to experiment with natural flavoring / extracts. Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract (I didn't feel like it was essential so I left it out in this recipe), or other flavorings or extracts, such as lemon extract or raspberry extract

Just keep in mind that some extracts contain alcohol, and since this is a no-bake recipe, the alcohol won't have a chance to fully evaporate. If serving this to kids, or if you're sensitive to alcohol, be sure to use non-alcoholic extracts or flavorings. Here are some non-alcoholic brands, here: Non-alcoholic peppermint extract, non-alcoholic vanilla extract

How to Make this Healthier

• Make this even healthier by adding a handful of nuts (other than cashew), seeds and old-fashioned oats to add texture and nutrition. Even better, add a tablespoon of ground flaxseed, hemp seeds, or chia seeds.

Delicious Add-In Ideas for Protein Balls

Adding color, texture and variety to your grab-and-go snacks is one way to keep protein balls fun and interesting. From dried fruits to confetti sprinkles, the options are pretty much endless. For more delicious add ins and flavoring ideas for your protein balls, check out this post for 10+ Amazing Add Ins & Flavor Variations for Protein Balls

How to Store

• You can keep the protein balls out at room temperature for 1-2 days but for maximum freshness and best texture, it's best to store these protein balls covered in the fridge. They'll be fresh for up to 5-7 days.
• These protein balls also freeze very well! Seal them inside an airtight container or Ziploc bag and freeze them in a single layer so that they don't stick together. I recommend double-bagging if you want to keep out the fridge smell. They can be frozen for up to 4 months.

Final Tips

• Collagen peptides protein powder is the key ingredient that gives these protein snacks their characteristic cookie-like consistency, and other protein powders won't give you the same chewy texture. Collagen also dissolves very easily compared to other protein powders (i.e. whey, casein, pea, hemp, brown rice, egg protein, etc), so you'll have to add more liquid like almond milk or water to hold the protein dough together if using a replacement.
  • Instead of substituting, check out these protein ball recipes that DON'T require any collagen powder!
• Collagen is a fussy ingredient, so I highly recommend that you DON'T SUBSTITUTE coconut flour in this particular recipe (including almond flour and oat flour). It's not that these flours don't work, but you'll have to be okay with playing around with the entire recipe, like adding more flour, more nut butter, and omitting the liquid which may or may not give you the same results.

More Protein Ball Recipes HERE