You know what else is a great idea. Cayenne in chocolate. I remember the first time I tried it: I was in Switzerland in a chocolate shop. I was feeling adventurous, being in Europe and all so I bought the most bizarre flavor I could find, which was Cayenne & Chili Dark Chocolate.
In 2008, I don’t think the chili/chocolate combo was quite as common as it is now, but I still feel like a bit of a fancy-schmancy pants whenever I have dark chocolate with a kick to it.

You could say these snack bites are fancy-schmancy…but they’re really not. They’re just easy and good.

- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I used Plant Fusion)
- 2 T peanut butter
- dash of cinnamon
- teeny dash of cayenne (unless you’re brave, then you can do a whole dash…that’s precise isn’t it?)
- dash of sea salt
- 2 T milk + water as needed (I used So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk)
Combine all ingredients except the milk and water. Using a spoon, mash the peanut butter into the protein powder to get them to blend into a crumbly mixture. Add the milk and blend some more. Gradually add water, mixing thoroughly after each addition, until you get a cookie dough-like texture. Form into balls and refrigerate whichever ones you don’t eat right away.
This yielded seven 1″ snack balls for me. If you do the same, the approximate nutritional stats per ball are:
- 50 calories
- 3 g fat
- 4.3 g protein
22 Comments
Meghan
atMust make.
Except I don’t have any protein powder . Can you come over and bring me some? And while you’re here, can you make these for me? Pretty please?
No really, they look delish – is it hard to stop yourself from eating all 7 at once?
Teri
atanything for you!
and YES, it’s very hard not to eat all 7. So i ate 4 at breakfast and 3 at lunch today. because of course i made a 2nd batch this morning at 6:30 AM.
Liz @ iheartvegetables
atthere is a little ice cream place in Columbus that has a Chocolate Cayenne Pepper Ice Cream and it’s SOO good! I haven’t found that sort of flavor anywhere else! I’m so trying this!
Teri
atmmmm I’d love to try that ice cream!!
Katie
atOh my gosh. Love, love, love. I’m making them tomorrow. That cayenne is going to kick me in the behind, and I’m going to enjoy it.
Heather (Heather's Dish)
atum, LOVE this – totally making it tomorrow!
Teri
atlet me know what you think!
Heather (Heather's Dish)
atOK so i made them with vanilla powder since that’s all i had and they were great – just like little peanut butter cookie dough balls!
Teri
atgood to know!!!
STUFT Mama
atOh my… these look delicious and the cayenne? I’m all about spice! Yay!
Teri
atdouble up on the spice then! 😉
B @ crags and veggies
atI love chocolate and spicy together! Thanks for the post girl!
Teri
atyou betcha! 🙂 thanks for reading!
Gracie
atSo I just saw these in Pinterest after posting a similar recipe…looks like we’re on the same fudgy ball wavelength 😉 YUM!
Wait…that came out wrong…
Teri
athehehehehehe. I <3 you
KaraHadley
atOoooh, these look so good. I love ballsy snacks like this. And the first time I ever had cayenne in chocolate was when I made a bunch of truffles for my friends. I guess the dairy really mellowed the heat when the truffles were still warm, because I accidentally ended up using more than half a jar and they were nearly deadly once they were cool.
I’m sure yours won’t be as traumatizing.
Linda
attry flax seed ground if out of protein powder, I would use 1/2 cup
RLR
atI really think protein powder is a must-try for this family – though I’m not sure what I’d do with it aside from make these….
The first time I had chili and chocolate was from Haute Chocolate – and it was SO good! – so I really want to try these.
Anja
atTried them and love them! Thanks for this wonderful snack idea.
LizAshlee
atLuv this recipe!! I would never think to put cayenne pepper in them! 🙂
Nina
atThis is similar to Rosemary Gladstar’s zoom balls which I LOVE! She uses peanut butter, tahini, honey and tons of adaptogen herbs or whatever you want! I use cayenne, cinnamon, astragalus, bee pollen and whatever else strikes my fancy 🙂 protein powder would be an excellent addition, I’m going to try that next!