Protein-Butter Cup recipe

Ah, chocolate and peanut butter, humanity's greatest creation! Let's make some at home, shall we?

This is not an exact science, nor does it need to be. I'm really only writing this recipe out because so many people saw me enjoying some and asked for it, but I empower you to play around with it a bit and make it your own. These are pretty hard to screw up! 

They're also not low-calorie or particularly high in protein, compared to, say, a plate of eggs; but they are lower in sugar, higher in protein, and have better ingredients than the (admittedly delicious) peanut butter cups you can buy at a gas station. So, a decent dessert option if I say so myself.

Want more healthy-ish dessert recipes? There are SO many here.

You need:

• Ideally some silicone muffin liners, small or large, and a muffin tin
• Coconut oil
• Chocolate hunks or chips (I like the baking hunks from Hu Kitchen, but use whatever - dark, milk, lower sugar, whatever feels good)
• Unflavored collagen powder (BUBS is my go-to, use the code MM20 to save if you buy some!)
• Vanilla or chocolate protein powder (Active Stacks is my go-to; use code MSW10 to save if you buy some!) You can also use any protein powder in any flavor
• Nut butter of choice (I use natural almond butter but use whatever you want -  see where this is going? There are no rules!)

General Instructions:

• Combine about a half cup of chocolate chips and two tablespoons of coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl; heat in 30 second increments until mostly melted, then stir together until combined. You can also do this on a stove with a double boiler if you prefer.
• In another bowl, mix about 1/3 cup of nut butter with a scoop or two of collagen and a scoop or two of protein powder; it will make the "filling" a little thicker and grittier, which I kinda like - more like a peanut butter cup in my opinion. If you're wary of the texture or "protein powder" taste, you can use less.
• Poor a relatively thin layer of melted chocolate into the bottom of your muffin liners, then put the tray into the freezer for about 10 minutes. If you don't do this, the thicker nut butter will mess with the layering.
• Once that layer is hardened, add a dollop of the nut butter and flatten, then pour the remaining chocolate over the top until covered, and put back into the freezer for about a half hour - if you can wait that long.

A few other notes:

• Because of the coconut oil, these are a little melty and messy. Best eaten right out of the freezer, and keep them there for storage. They'll stay good in an air-tight container for a while, but they won't last that long.
• You an use a thinner layer of chocolate than you think; if it's too thick, the chocolate:butter ratio will be off
• Coffee-flavored protein powder would also be amazing in this recipe.

Hope you enjoy!