This smoothie creates the same harmony of sweet and salty flavours that makes Reese’s peanut butter cups insanely addictive, but unlike those innocent little diet-destroyers, this shake packs a protein punch perfect for building muscle.

This is intended as a low-carb meal replacement shake as it is reasonably calorific. Don’t be put off though, the calories in this smoothie are from nutritious sources (unlike those in the real peanut butter cups). You get a load of healthy fats from the avocado and dark chocolate powder, and enough high-quality protein from the whey to switch on the muscle-building processes in the body.

You may already know that peanut butter isn’t the healthiest nut butter out there, but eating a good quality peanut butter is fine in moderation. Alternatively, you can replace it with a healthier nut butter such as macadamia butter or cashew butter, although that kind of defeats the point of a peanut butter cup smoothie doesn’t it?

As always, share your pictures of your version of this peanut butter cup smoothie via Twitter or Facebook.

Ingredients

Servings: 1 large smoothie

Macros: Calories 518 kcal, Protein 34g, Carbs 18g, Fat 36g

300ml Milk*

40g Peanut Butter

25g Chocolate Whey Protein

10g Cocoa Powder

½(60g) Medium Avocado (Ripe)**

Pinch of Sea Salt

* The macros for this recipe are based on whole milk, although you can use whichever type of milk suits your diet best (cows, almond, coconut, soy).

** If you don’t like avocado (it doesn’t taste of anything), you can replace with a frozen banana and some greek yogurt to add thickness to the shake (pictured below).

Method