All the flavors of your childhood favorite sandwich without any of the bread!

Who doesn’t love a PB and J sandwich? There’s something so comforting about the combination of creamy, savory peanut butter and sweet, gooey jelly. Plop it on sandwich bread and you have a protein-packed, delicious lunch! What if I told you that you can skip the carbs, amp up the protein, and enjoy peanut butter and jelly on-the-go for breakfast? This PB and J Protein Shake is how!

The reason that peanut butter and jelly works is because it combines something fatty (the peanut butter) with something sweet and fruity (the jelly). This shake works exactly the same way, except we made a few ingredient swaps to increase the nutrition in a few unique ways. Want to learn how? Read on to ditch the bread and turn your childhood favorite sandwich into a low-carb, high-protein shake.

Skip The Jelly

There are plenty of great jelly and jam recipes, and many of them are even sugar-free. You could totally use one of those to create a delicious breakfast shake, but we had a better idea. What if we increased the nutritional content of this breakfast shake by using fresh fruit instead? Wouldn’t it taste better, anyway?

So we loaded up frozen strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries into our blender and gave it a try. It was good–don’t get me wrong–but it was still missing something. Then we threw half an apple into the mix and it was just what the doctor ordered. It created a perfect blend of robustly sweet flavors for our PB and J Protein Shake!

If it’s berry season, feel free to use fresh fruit. You might need to increase the ice from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup (or more) to get the same frozen smoothie effect, but it will taste just as good. For the rest of the year, don’t hesitate to reach into the freezer for your fresh fruit needs.

Get Choosy with Your Peanut Butter

There are a lot of brands out there, and many of them are good. Grab your favorite brand for this smoothie, just be sure to check the ingredients label before you check-out at the grocery store. Some brands are more natural than others, and ideally you want one that just has peanuts listed in the ingredients list.

When in doubt, you could always make your own! It’s really the best way to ensure that you’re only putting the best, most high-quality ingredients into your body. And that means you’ll end up with a healthier, more nutritious breakfast shake. So check out this recipe (and use peanuts instead of almonds), or swap in almond butter if you prefer.

And, to make sure you’re getting enough protein in your diet, peanut butter isn’t enough. We added a few scoops of protein powder to the mix to make sure you have enough to fuel your body. There are many protein powders out there, but we definitely recommend Terra Origin. It’s full of clean-eating ingredients and creates the creamiest shake around.

We hope you enjoy this healthy twist on your childhood classic: no bread needed! It’ll start your morning out right with balanced nutrition and enough protein to keep you going all day long. This shake also makes an excellent post-workout recovery drink!

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