This Homemade Protein Bars recipe was given to me more than 10 years ago by one of the personal trainers at the gym. These come in very handy as a healthy snack and/or dessert alternative. And they are also useful as a quick “grab and go” breakfast. So…..fast forward to 2023, and I am once again working with a personal trainer to improve my fitness level. And just like so many of us, I am trying to get rid of some extra weight. So, I pulled out once this recipe again.
I have always like these because they are so easy to make, no baking is required! Just measure. Mix. Then freeze. And you can easily switch a few things up to add some variety! As I am writing this, I think I miss having these!!!
Ingredients for Homemade Protein Bars
Just a few ingredients…..
- 2 cups Quick Oats – without quick oats, they take longer to make!
- 3 Tablespoons milled flax seed
- 116 g Protein Powder – whatever supplement you use.
- 1/2 cup Peanut Butter
- 1/2 cup water – add a little more if it is too dry
- 1/2 cup Cocoa – because I use vanilla protein powder. I recently discovered that the Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa makes them extra chocolatey! Yum!
For the protein powder, I use whey protein, and the vanilla flavor. You also need to read the label for the number of grams per scoop. Mine comes out to about 3 scoops. I have also found that sometimes that same brand of protein powder changes their scoop size. So it helps to recheck periodically.
Directions
First, I mix up the dry ingredients, and then I add the peanut butter and water. I find this much easier to get everything mixed. Also, you may need to experiment a little with the amount of water. If you use too much, they stay pretty sticky. Too little, and they are a little dry. The consistency is about right if you can push them into the pan with a wooden spoon, and it doesn’t stick to the spoon. As you can see in the picture to the right, this batch was just a bit too sticky.
Mix everything together, and then press into an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 square pan. I also line the pan with waxed paper, and this makes it easy to get them out of the pan! Next, just freeze them for 30 minutes. They can be frozen up to an hour. But if it is any longer than that, you will not be able to cut them without a saw!
Once you get them out of the freezer, cut them into squares. I usually get about 20 squares from the square pan, but you can cut them any size you want. I also keep them refrigerated.
After a while you will discover 1. that you like these, and 2. that they are really easy to make. At that point, I double the recipe and use a rectangular 13 x 9 pan.
Some Variations
Here are some possible variations on this recipe:
- One variation is to use chocolate protein powder instead of the vanilla plus the cocoa. I believe I tried that once, and to me it just didn’t taste chocolatey enough.
- Chocolate chips can also be added to make these a little sweeter, or you could sweeten with some Splenda or something like that. When I added chocolate chips, I then found myself eating the rest of the bag. Then I had to get more for the next batch. So…..
- I now add 3/8 cup of chopped nuts. I usually start with the slivered almonds and run them through the chopper. You could also use chopped walnuts.
- You can also add sprinkles etc. to the top and make them more festive!!!
There are many possibilities! Another one I have considered is to add some banana. However, I am not sure what that does to the consistency.
Homemade Protein Bars and Fine Wine?
Absolutely! And why not? But especially if there is chocolate in them. And because these are chocolate flavored, our community “go to” choice is usually the Ricord Merlot to pair with these homemade protein bars. However, if these are served as a dessert, a dessert wine such as the Discoveries Moscato would also pair well.
Did you know that you can have Fine Wines from the Napa Valley shipped directly to your door? Really!?! Then you may need to look into this!
P.S. We also have some cool Bio-Hacking products to assist with weight loss.
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