Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bark
⏱ 10 min💪 5g protein per piece🔥 ~140 cal🍽 16 pieces
Bark is the fastest way to turn protein powder into something that feels like candy. A peanut butter and whey base goes down first, sugar-free chocolate goes over the top, and the freezer does the rest. A little cocoa butter thins the chocolate so it spreads without seizing. Each piece lands around 2g net carbs and 5g protein.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter (128g), unsweetened
- 1/3 cup vanilla or chocolate whey isolate (40g)
- 6 oz sugar-free dark chocolate (170g), chopped
- 2 tablespoons cocoa butter wafers
- 2 tablespoons powdered allulose
- 1/4 cup roasted salted peanuts (30g), roughly chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Flaky sea salt, for finishing
Instructions
- Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment, letting it come up the sides.
- Stir the peanut butter, whey isolate, allulose, and fine salt together into a thick paste, then spread it across the parchment into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick and freeze for 10 minutes.
- Melt the chopped chocolate and cocoa butter together in 20 second microwave bursts, stirring between each, until just melted and smooth. Do not let it get hot.
- Pour the chocolate over the chilled peanut butter layer, spread it to the edges with an offset spatula, then scatter the chopped peanuts and flaky salt over the top while it is still wet.
- Freeze for 20 minutes, until the chocolate snaps cleanly when you flex the sheet, then break it into roughly 16 irregular pieces by hand.
- Store in a sealed container in the freezer for up to 3 months, or the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Tips
- Cocoa butter is what keeps sugar-free chocolate from seizing into a grainy paste. Erythritol-sweetened bars are lower in cocoa butter than real chocolate and need the help to spread thin.
- Freeze the peanut butter layer before pouring. Warm chocolate on a soft base swirls the two together and you lose the clean two-layer break.
- Some sugar-free chocolates are sweetened with maltitol, which is not keto friendly and raises blood sugar. Check the label for erythritol, allulose, or stevia instead.
FAQ
- How many net carbs are in a piece?
- About 2g net carbs. The erythritol-sweetened chocolate contributes roughly 12g net across the whole batch and the peanut butter about 16g, which divides down to around 2g per piece.
- Can I use almond butter instead of peanut butter?
- Yes, and net carbs come out about the same. Almond butter is a little looser, so freeze the base layer for 15 minutes rather than 10 before the chocolate goes on.
- Why did my chocolate turn out chalky and gray?
- That is fat bloom from overheating or from big temperature swings in storage. Melt in short bursts, stop while a few pieces are still solid, and keep the finished bark at a steady fridge or freezer temperature.
- Can I leave this out at room temperature?
- For an hour or so, yes. Beyond that the peanut butter layer softens and the bark bends instead of snapping, so it is better kept cold.
