Few experiences can compare to biting into these cashew butter cups. Your teeth break through the glossy chocolate coating, effortlessly sink into the soft, creamy nut butter, then finish by breaking through the rich chocolate shell at the base.

It’s a contrast of flavors and textures, with the flaky salt perfectly offsetting the sweetness of the chocolate. The perfect dessert you can keep on hand in your freezer for whenever you fancy something sweet. They are super easy and fun to make, too! Enjoy them as a snack after a workout, an afternoon pick-me-up, as a treat or dessert, or just because!

If you think a peanut butter cup is good, just wait until you try these cashew butter cups!  Creamy, chewy and delicious. With just a handful of ingredients and minimal prep time, you can whip up a batch of these in no time.

If you haven’t tried cashew butter; now is the time to start! I’ve used it in a few recipes lately, and I am really loving the taste and the texture. It is a super creamy addition to sweet treats. It is creamier, and has more iron and magnesium than peanut butter.  You can make cashew butter yourself by blending cashews. Alternatively, buy ready-made, which is what I have done for this recipe.

Also my preferred sweetener for sweet treats is always dates. They are naturally sweet and packed with fibre. They are also a good source of potassium, magnesium and manganese which adds to their nutritional profile.

Dates are a super fruit! They are a great source of nutrients, provide a natural energy boost and are low on the glycemic index so your blood sugar won’t spike when eating them. I love to use dates as a base in most of my snack balls, no-bake bars, or if I need a natural sweetener in a cookie or frosting. They are little morsels of natural sugar and a great alternative to refined sugars. You don’t need many dates to make something sweet!

Dates are a great snack on their own and they are high in fiber, rich in antioxidants, great for heart health and they provide a little energy boost thanks to the natural sugars. They are little morsels of natural sugar and a great alternative to refined sugars.

If you are like me and love nuts and chocolate together you will love these cashew butter cups. Something about nuts combined with the dates and dark chocolate makes a dessert more savoury, and the chocolate less sweet. Because of this, I find chocolate nut butter cups addictive. They are salty, sweet, and nutty, and is there anything better than salty and sweet together?

Now a lot of the recipes on social media sites are mostly simple carbs and fats and very low in protein, so I set out to write my own recipe that made sure there was actually a significant amount of protein in it!

Luckily the important of protein and its popularity is currently surging, driven by increased awareness of its health benefits and fueled by social media trends. Consumers are actively seeking out higher-protein and more balanced foods and beverages for various reasons, including weight management, increased energy, and satiety. This trend is evident in both supermarket sales and restaurant menus, with protein-rich options becoming increasingly mainstream.

As well as being really easy to make, these cashew butter protein cups are healthier than your average treat as they are made with wholesome REAL food ingredients. With the added protein powder it makes them more balanced than a traditional high carb recipe. Old fashioned baked recipes always had tons of sugar, carbs and fats. The new modern way it to add protein making the recipe more balanced and healthy.

Eating protein-rich foods has many health and fitness benefits, including:
Speeding recovery after exercise and/or injury
Reducing muscle loss
Building lean muscle
Helping maintain a healthy weight
Curbing hunger

A well-balanced diet with proper ratios of macro nutrients (protein, healthy carbs and fats) provides all of the: energy you need to keep active throughout the day. nutrients you need for growth and repair, helping you to stay strong and healthy and help to prevent diet-related illness. When you find your optimal balance and amounts of macro nutrients, you take a major step toward reaching your health goals and this balance has been improved in this recipe by the addition of healthy protein.

Your body can only absorb around 25-30 grams of protein at one time and you  likely need 80-100 plus grams a day so its important to spread it over all meals and snacks throughout the day so you can meet your required amount.

I promise these Cashew Butter Cups are so good you will have trouble not eating them all in one sitting! They fall into that category of “bet you can’t eat just one”! So if you are a chocolate and peanut butter lover or any kinda nut butter lover like me….then you are really going love these Chocolate Cashew Protein Butter Cups.

Chocolate Cashew Butter Protein Cups

These delightful cashew butter cups are a spin-off of peanut butter cups! They are just as decadent as the original but made from only good-for-you ingredients. Creamy cashew butter is mixed with ground almonds, sweetened with dates, enveloped in rich dark chocolate and finished with a hint of salt. It's a little cup of heaven!

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Healthy Clean Eating

Keyword cashew butter protein cups, chocolate cashew butter protein cups, chocolate protein cups no bake, clean eating dessert or snack, no bake protein cups

Servings 12

Ingredients

Cashew Butter Center

• 1 1/2 cups dates, soaked 30 minutes and drained
• 1 cup cashews, soaked 3+ hours and drained
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup cashew butter
• 1/4 cup protein or collagen peptides powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Coating

• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil

Cashew Butter Swirl

• 1/2 cup cashew butter
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• Flaky salt

Instructions

• Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners. Or use a silicon muffin pan.

  Add the almonds to a food processor and process until finely ground into a flour. Add cashews, dates, cashew butter and protein powder and pulse a few times until well combined into a sticky dough.

  Be careful not to over process as its nice to have texture variance and different sized “bits” in your nut butter filling. Set aside mixture while you melt the chocolate.

Chocolate Coating

• Melt the chocolate and coconut oil by placing in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. Alternatively place the heatproof bowl in the microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring between each one, until melted.

  Once melted, add a spoonful onto each muffin cavity base. Using the back of a small spoon or spatula, carefully spread the chocolate up the sides of the liner, about ½ inch or so. Place the muffin tray in the freezer for a few minutes to allow the chocolate to set.

  Divide the cashew butter filling into 12 balls (about 2 teaspoons each) and then flatten into patties just slightly smaller than the base of your muffin liners.

  Remove the muffin tin from the freezer and place the cashew butter patties into the center each of the muffin liners. Leave some room around the edges of the patty for the melted chocolate to drip down around each one.

  Spoon the remaining chocolate on top of each one,starting with another 2 teaspoons and adding more if you have leftovers. The chocolate should still be melted by this point but if it's set a little, just set it back over the pan of simmering water for a couple of minutes.

Cashew Butter Swirl

• Place the cashew butter into a small bowl. Add the coconut oil and stir with a spoon until mixed together.

  You should be able to drizzle it now but if not, add a touch more oil. Dot the tops of the cups with the runny cashew butter and gently swirl using a toothpick or cocktail stick. Sprinkle with flaky salt and return to the freezer to set completely.

  When set, remove the cashew butter cups from their paper liners and store in an airtight container or freezer bag in the fridge for up to 1 week or freezer for up to 3 months.

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If you are looking for more delicious, healthy, protein-rich, no bake desserts and treats to help you reach your health, wellness and fitness goals, you will love my collection here: Blended Bites