As registered dietitians, chocolate and peanut butter are the two foods people tell us they struggle to control their portions of the most, but that’s not an issue with these Chocolate Peanut Butter Dates Rolls that have built-in portion control! You can totally sink your teeth into these and enjoy them without worrying that you’ll overeat them.
But that’s not the only reason that this easy-to-make, delicious 3-ingredient recipe is a weight-loss dessert that just happens to be healthy enough to be a snack. We also use ingredients that help with weight loss, not that get in the way of it, as most desserts do! And as peanut butter and chocolate lovers (we’re not sure which we love more!), we have to say this recipe hits the sweet spot and is a bit reminiscent of a Starburst in texture but also like a tootsie roll combined with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
Can I have dessert and lose weight?
The truth is desserts can be great for weight loss—and many people, they can’t successfully lose weight without them. Yes, even ones with chocolate and peanut butter that are ooey-gooey good can aid in weight loss! We know that sounds ironic, but the truth is that in order to make a weight loss plan sustainable, it must include foods that you truly enjoy.
Otherwise, it becomes a fad diet or a quick fix, not a lifestyle. If you like sweet foods, the way that we do, swearing them off forever, just won’t work. Our clients tell us they love the desserts we share with them (and buy certain ones that we recommend) too because they’re delicious and satisfying AND because they have weight loss benefits and keep them on the healthy track.
That’s why as registered dietitians and certified personal trainers, we’re fans of desserts.
Why are these Chocolate Peanut Butter Date Energy Rolls a great for dessert for weight loss?
1. They’re delicious and satisfying, so they hit the spot.
You won’t need to look for an additional/different sweet to satisfy you.
2. They’ve got built-in portion control.
The secret is to make these and immediately freeze them. This means you can’t eat them out of impulse because you’ll break a tooth 😉 if you grab one out of the freezer and immediately try to bite into it. Believe us, we tried!
This means that when you want to indulge, you can’t impulsively eat them all. Instead, you can choose to take one or two out of the freezer to thaw for 5-10 minutes. But you can’t stand in the freezer, eating one after the next!
Five to ten minutes is just enough time for you to take a few deep breaths. You’ll activate your parasympathetic nervous system (your relaxation system) to take the edge off.1 Then, ideally drink some green, black, or oolong tea, which contains the amino acid, theanine that brings on a mental calmness, yet alertness to help to take the edge off and then to slowly and rationally enjoy this amazing treat. How brilliant!- if we do say so ourselves! 🙂
3. They’re naturally sweet (date-sweetened), so there’s no added sugar.
Desserts with added sugar and that are highly processed (like a Tootsie Roll, Reese’s Peanut butter Cup, cakes and cookies with lots of added sugar, etc.) quickly spike your blood sugar and insulin (promoting fat storage) and then cause you to crash, doing a number on your body’s hormones, including your stress hormones, like cortisol2, which is linked to increases in belly fat (especially in obese people).
Plus, when these sugary desserts cause your energy to crash, they signal your brain that you need another quick boost, so you turn to sugar since it provides a fast energy boost. It creates this vicious cycle in which you crave more sugar, eats it, and then crave more. We’ve been there, eat and crashed that, ah!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Date Rolls… YUMMY!
Lucky for us (and for you), our Chocolate Peanut Butter date rolls, allow the date’s naturally occurring sugars to sweeten the roll rather than adding processed sugar.
In nature, sugar in fruit is surrounded by fiber, and it naturally comes in a “container” that produces a shorter blood sugar response and helps you to feel full, unlike refined sugars that are concentrated.
This means that the date and its’ fiber help to provide you with long-lasting energy that comes packaged with loads of nutrients, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory components to help to keep your body healthy, which are important in the weight loss puzzle.
These naturally occurring benefits in the diet (and in other unprocessed plant foods) help to fight the chronic inflammation that leads to diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity and that also make it more difficult to lose weight.
If your body is healthier, and not needing to focus on putting fires out on the inside, you can preserve your energy to use it as fuel so you feel lively and also to allow your body to focus on losing weight, if that’s your goal!
- NOTE: Like any food that contains sugar (and that’s higher in calories), even natural sugar like the kind found in dates, you don’t want to eat them in unlimited quantities. Portion control is always king. That’s why these have built-in portion control!
4. They contain raw cacao nibs!
Are cacao nibs good for weight loss?
Yes, because they satisfy your need for chocolate without the added sugar! And since we use raw ones, they have additional health benefits!
As chocolate lovers, we have to say these are the best! If you haven’t tried them, raw cacao nibs are intensely chocolaty and haven’t been dolled up with sugar, fat, or other ingredients that also add a lot of calories, and that typically are the reason that many (chocolate) desserts cause weight gain and increase inflammation.
Since they’re raw, this means that they also have retained all of the health benefits you hear about when you hear that chocolate is good for you! Sadly, not all chocolate has the health benefits you’ve heard about, but these do.
Just remember, these don’t have added sugar, so that’s why sweetening them naturally in this recipe with the dates is killer (in a good way!)! They add amazingly crunchy and chocolatey goodness to the chewy date and creamy peanut butter. *
What do cacao nibs do for you?
Fun facts…
- Squash a chocolate craving with no added sugar!
- 1/4 cup provides 8 grams of dietary fiber, 4 grams of protein, and 0 sugar.
- Excellent source of fiber, antioxidants, iron, and magnesium.
- Easy way to add chocolate without sugar in smoothies, nut mixes, yogurt, baked goods, and many other recipes.
Which kind of chocolate is the healthiest?
There’s a reason we use unprocessed cacao powder and nibs, raw chocolates, and dark chocolates without added preservatives, colorings, and dairy.
We choose the unprocessed/raw chocolates because as chocolate goes through more processing the high heat destroys many of the health-promoting antioxidants and often that’s when sugar, oil, milk fat, and other additives are added—so you lose the health and anti-inflammatory goodness and gain other things that cause you to gain weight and that aren’t necessarily good for you.
The active compound, in cacao (aka our lover, chocolate, of course!), theobromine, is a naturally bitter flavor that contributes to heart health and lowers blood pressure and cholesterol while helping with PMS and possibly even improving mental clarity and focus.
Bloated? High blood pressure? If you tend to hold water, you’ll appreciate that theobromine is also a diuretic, so it helps to rid the body of excess fluid by causing you to urinate more.
Belly fat bonus!
Research shows the unique antioxidants found in chocolate may help with lowering cortisol and other “stress hormones.”3, 4 Cortisol is a stress hormone that can lead to belly fat.
You can read more about how cortisol puts the brakes on fat burning and increases cravings, particularly in overweight people, and what you can do about it here. Remember, we’re talking about the cacao/cocoa with very little if any, processing.
When you choose unprocessed chocolate, you’re fighting inflammation and you’re also creating less stress in the body, lowering cortisol in that way too.
Tip: When it comes to chocolate bars, try to choose the highest cocoa/cacao and low- to no-sugar options.)
If you have a friend who would appreciate this information and an easy-to-make, portion-controlled peanut buttery chocolate weight loss dessert share this link https://wp.me/paJXZw-6Y6 with them so they can enjoy these Chocolate Peanut Butter Date Energy Rolls. LINK
5. They contain just enough creamy peanut butter.
They have just enough creamy peanut butter to provide satisfaction from this healthy fat while hitting the spot but keeping the portion in check.
Ready in minutes, you don’t even have to clean a blender!
Chocolate Peanut butter Date Energy Rolls
Are you ready to dive into this weight loss dessert recipe (that’s healthy enough to be a snack) and that also has built-in portion control to help make it easier to eat dessert while losing weight? This 3-ingredient recipe takes only minutes to make!
Serves 12
Ingredients:
- 12 Medjool dates*
- 3 tablespoon peanut butter
- 3 tablespoon cacao nibs
Instructions:
- Slice dates lengthways down the center, taking out the pit if dates aren’t pitted.
- Add 3/4 teaspoon of peanut butter.
- Sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon cacao nibs.
- Place them flat in a single layer in a plastic bag or on parchment paper in Tupperware and freeze.
- When frozen, take one out to thaw, and wait 5-10 minutes while drinking green, black or oolong tea (hot or cold). Then, enjoy!
*Medjool dates are large! Each one is much heavier and more satisfying in size than Delget dates. You can substitute with Delget but may want to increase the quantity to 16 or decrease the amount of peanut butter and cacao nibs.
Nutrition facts per serving (1 date): 92 calories, 2 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 18 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 2 g protein, 0 g added sugar
- • 12 medjool dates*
- • 3 tablespoon peanut butter
- • 3 tablespoon cacao nibs
- Directions:
- Slice dates lengthways down the center, taking out pit, if dates aren’t pitted. Add ¾ teaspoon peanut butter. Sprinkle with ¾ teaspoon cacao nibs. Place them flat in single layer in plastic bag or on parchment paper in Tupperware and freeze. When frozen, take one out to thaw, wait 5-10 minutes while drinking green, black or oolong tea (hot or cold). Then, enjoy!
- *Medjool dates are large! Each one is much heavier and more satisfying in size than Delget dates. You can substitute with Delget but may want to increase quantity to 16 or decrease amount of peanut butter and cacao nibs.
- Nutrition facts per serving (1 date): 92 calories, 18 grams carb, 3 grams fiber, 2 gram protein, 0 grams added sugar
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6137615/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21752898/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109714015836
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19810704/
