A year and a half ago I posted on how to make homemade protein bars. Here it is, reposted, with a few variations:
You need:
- 1 cup of quick oats oatmeal
- 1 mashed banana
- 1 cup of regular oatmeal, ground up (I used a Magic Bullet and just slightly ground them)
- 2 Tablespoons of ground Flax Seed (I used a Magic Bullet again and ground it until it was powdery)
- 3 Scoops of Whey chocolate flavored protein
- 1/2 cups of crunchy peanut butter
- 1/4 c melted butter
- 1/4 c water
I mixed all of the ingredients using my Kitchen Aid Mixer and spread it in an 8×8 glass pan that I lined with parchment paper. I then melted 1/2 cups of chocolate chips and then spread a thin layer over the top of the bars. I put it in the freezer to harden (at least 2 hours or they will be too gooey) and then cut it into 10 pieces and stuck each piece in a snack sized plastic bag (but you could wrap them plastic wrap or aluminum foil) and put them back in the freezer. When you want to eat one, pull it out of the freezer and let it thaw for about 5 minutes. They taste similar to No Bake Cookies and they only cost about $3 total to make ($.30 each) which is great since store bought protein bars can go for $1-$2.00 a piece!
Here is the nutritional run down using my variations: 1/10th of a recipe has 245 calories, 14.5 grams of protein and 13 grams of fat. A tip to cut these evenly is to cut straight down the middle of the 8×8 pan and then to cut 5 bars out of each side. This gives you 10 long bars, similar to what you would buy.
And here is another recipe that I got from Richelle, owner of Essential Esthetics:
1 cup whey or soy powder
1/2 cup quinoa, millet, spelt or kamut flour
2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 coarsely chopped flax seed
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup sucanant, agave or organic honey
1 cup dark chocolate broken into pieces
1 1/2 to 2 cups of yogurt cheese (recipe to follow)
1/4 cup avocado oil or other healthy oil of your choice
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat over to 350
mix whey down through chocolate together and in another mix yogurt, oils and vanilla. Mix all together well with your hands and press into prepared pan. Bake on middle rack for 15 min, remove from heat and cool. Then cut into bars. Place bars on lined cookie sheet and bake another 15 min. Transfer to cooling rack. Store in airtight container. Makes 24 bars.
These have 290 cals, 15g protein, 40g carbs, 5g fiber, 11g sugar
Yogurt Cheese
Place damp cheesecloth in strainer over bowl. Pour in plain lowfat yogurt. Pace in fridge overnight. What’s left will resemble cream cheese but will be MUCH healthier!!
Thanks Richelle! Do you have any great homemade protein bar recipes you would like to share?
