Recipe type: Snack, Pre or Post Exercise Snack, Protein Bar
Serves: 6
*notes: If you’d like a less chewy version, you can decrease the protein powder to ¾ cup protein powder and the water to 4 tablespoons of water. To keep the bars at 150 calories per bar, you could use ½ cup of cherries I also reduced the cherries slightly to ⅓ cup instead of ½ cup, just to keep the calories at 150 per serving with the additional protein powder added but note that the protein will decrease to 8 grams. Chocolate or other flavored protein powders can be used. This recipe was tested with pea protein and whey protein powders, others should work as well. Feel free to substitute other dried fruits for the dried cherries - dried cranberries or chopped dates would also be great! Be sure to use a runny almond butter rather than a stiff almond butter. I find that the almond butter you can buy in jars is runnier than the grind-your-own almond butters in the bulk section of grocery stores. Runny almond butter will melt easier and help hold everything together! If your mixture is too dry (different protein powders may absorb liquid differently), simply add water 1 tbsp at a time until the mixture holds together. It will feel like a stiff cookie dough that can be pressed (not poured) into a pan.
Ingredients
1 ¼ cup vanilla pea protein powder** (ideally organic)
1 cup oats
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
3 tablespoons cacao (or cocoa) powder
⅓ cup dried cherries (can substitute any dried fruit)
½ cup almond butter
¼ cup honey
5-6 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Directions:
Combine protein powder, oats, flax, cacao, and dried cherries in a large bowl.
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the almond butter and honey. Microwave for 45 seconds, until honey is melted and almond butter is loose.
Add the water and vanilla to the hot almond butter/honey mixture and whisk to combine.
Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until a dough-like mixture forms. (We started out with a spatula and ended up kneading the mixture a bit with our hands to get it all incorporated.)
Line a loaf pan or 8x8 pan with parchment paper. Press the mixture evenly into the pan, cover with parchment paper, and refrigerate for at least an hour to set.
Remove the bars from the pan and peel away the parchment paper. Cut into 16 bars.
Store bars wrapped or in an airtight container in the fridge. Bars will last for several weeks in the fridge.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 bar Calories: 150 Fat: 6 g Saturated fat: 1 g Carbohydrates: 18 g Sugar: 8 g Sodium: 20 mg Fiber: 3 g Protein: 10 g
Recipe by Nutrition Twins at https://nutritiontwins.com/no-bake-chocolate-protein-bars/