Summary:

This is a low carb recipe for making a cold, smooth, and creamy shake, with a rich dark chocolate taste. It's not too sweet; almost like drinking chocolate milk flavored with peanut butter. Two different preparation methods are provided: either blend or shake.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake

5 from 3 votes

PRINT PIN

Prep: 10

Yield: 2 servings

INGREDIENTS

▢ 1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (Note 1)
▢ 1/2 cup boiling water
▢ 1/2 cup crushed ice
▢ 3 tablespoons cream cheese (Note 2)
▢ 3 tablespoons confectioners swerve sweetener (Note 3)
▢ 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
▢ 1 tablespoon peanut butter (Note 4)
▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
▢ 1/8 teaspoon table salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Recommended Blender Method: Add swerve, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt to blender. Pour boiling water on top, then add cream cheese and peanut butter (Note 5). Blend until cream cheese and peanut butter are fully dissolved. Add crushed ice, and blend until ice is melted. Stir in almond milk. Serve (Note 6).
Alternate Shake Method: Add swerve, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt to 20-ounce bottle. Pour boiling water on top, then add cream cheese and peanut butter (Note 5). Close with lid, and vigorously shake for 1 minute until cream cheese and peanut butter are fully dissolved. Add 1/4 cup crushed ice and 1/4 cup cold water (instead of 1/2 cup crushed ice), and vigorously shake until ice is melted. Stir in almond milk. Serve (Note 6).

NUTRITION

Makes 2 Servings

Amount Per Serving (8-ounce drink):

Calories 160 (77% from fat)
Total Fat 13g	21%
Saturated Fat 5g	27%
Cholesterol 23mg	8%
Sodium 310mg	13%
Net Carb 3g
Total Carb 6.5g (Note 8)	2%
Dietary Fiber 3.5g	13%
Sugars 0.5g
Protein 5g

Vitamin A 10% · Vitamin C 0% · Calcium 8% · Iron 8%

PHOTOS

NOTES & TIPS

(1) Almond Milk. Almond milk is used for its fewer carbs compared to dairy milk. You can substitute with other nut milks, ideally unsweetened and plain. Find them in the refrigerated fresh milk section of a grocery store. To determine if your nut milk is unsweetened, look at the nutrition facts — it should only have 1 gram of total carbs per 1 cup serving. Anything more than that and it’s likely sweetened with a lot of added sugars, and your drink will end up too sweet.

(2) Cream Cheese. I use regular, full-fat cream cheese from the brand Philadelphia, not reduced fat or light versions. The cream cheese imparts a thick and creamy taste to the overall drink (similar to its role in Raspberry Milkshake Smoothie Recipe); without it, this drink falls flat and tastes watery.

(3) Sweetener. Confectioners Swerve is a dry sweetener that measures the same as regular powdered sugar; it’s not the same as pure erythritol, which is about 70% as sweet. Note that by volume, confectioners (powdered) sweeteners measure differently than granulated sweeteners since they pack differently into a measuring cup. You can make powdered sweetener by running granules through a blender like a Nutribullet. Substitute with your preferred dry or liquid sweetener by adding it to taste.

(4) Peanut Butter. Use creamy, not crunchy. I use the “natural” kind that has only peanuts and salt in the ingredients, no added sugar. There is typically some separation, so stir up the jar of peanut butter before measuring out the amount to use. For a rich and creamy pure chocolate shake, omit the peanut butter.

(5) Boiling Water. The boiling water helps the cream cheese and peanut butter seamlessly melt and blend with the other ingredients. Otherwise, you’d be hard pressed to get cold cream cheese and peanut butter to mix well with other ingredients, even with a powerful blender.

(6) Serving. Serve immediately after making the drink, or cover and store in the refrigerator to keep chilled. Enjoy it as a breakfast smoothie or as a post-workout shake.

(7) Coffee Variation. Add instant coffee (such as Starbucks Via) instead of peanut butter, or use espresso shots or strong brewed coffee instead of boiling water (mocha shake!). Let me know in the comments if you come up with any other flavors.

(8) Carbs. The nutrition calculation assumes you are using Swerve or a similar erythritol-based sweetener that uses sugar alcohols, whose carbs are non-impact and therefore not included in the nutrition estimate. Apps that count sugar alcohols will show a higher number of carbs.

More Drinks

Eggnog

Raspberry Milkshake Smoothie

Hot Chocolate

Cinnamon Dolce Latte

newest oldest most voted

Kacey

I just recently started the Keto diet and I needed a good shake for my breakfast. I tried this recipe and its DELICIOUS! I thought it tasted exactly like reese’s puffs cereal (lol). Its the perfect amount of sweetness and still a good amount of peanut butter for taste!

Tina T

Could I use PB2 powder in place of the peanut butter?

Julia

I haven’t tried that substitution before, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. It might even work better, since PB2 powder will dissolve better and won’t stick to the blender surfaces as much as peanut butter. If you give it a try, I’d love to hear how it worked out for you.

Notta

I used an unsweetened coconut milk in a can, Adams natural peanut butter, and followed the recipe from there. It turned out thick and creamy. The flavor was delicious. I opted for canned coconut milk over almond because of all the junk in store bought brands.

Will use this as meal replacement drink. Going to try espresso shots in next batch. Thanks for the great recipe!

Amy

Delicious

Angie

I tried your recipe and it was AMAZING! I did add an extra scoop of peanut butter because I’m a PB freak lol. And it’s my new favorite recipe. Thank you for sharing this with us!

Janice Huffman

Can you use silk unsweetened coconut milk instead of almond milk, and stevia (powdered) instead of swerve?

I haven’t tested this recipe with coconut milk, so I’m not sure if it would adversely affect the taste. Substituting with stevia is fine as long as you add to taste or convert so it’s the same sweetness.

Courtney

Could you use chocolate protein powder instead of plain cocoa?

That might work but I haven’t tried it before. If you give it a shot, let me know how it goes!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake