After trying many expensive and decidedly less than delicious store-bought protein bars, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own. I wanted to make ones using only whole ingredients and I didn’t feel like shelling out a whole lot of cash on protein powder when I wasn’t convinced that they wouldn’t be made unpalatable with that addition. All of the ingredients I used were purchased from my local grocery store. Feel free to try different nuts, nut butters, and cereals (just be aware that this may change the nutrient profile).

Each of these bars will give you a serving of protein (7 grams). If you want to increase the protein you might want to try adding protein powder. If you do, I’d love to hear how successful that is (feel free to share samples with me!).

Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Bars

1 cup honey dates

1/4 + 4 Tbsp skim milk powder

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1/4 cup tahini

1/2 cup fat-free plain Greek yoghurt

2 Tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts

1 cup crispy rice cereal (I used whole grain rice cereal, you might want to try puffed quinoa or Kashi puffed whole grain cereal – the intent was to add volume without many calories, additional protein and fibre is an added bonus).

Directions:

Dump the first seven ingredients into a food processor. Process until smooth. Mixture will be quite thick and sticky. Scrape into a medium mixing bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Grease an 8 x 12″ baking pan. Put mixture into pan, spread evenly, and press down firmly. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours. Cut into 16 bars. Wrap individually and store in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for up to a month.

Nutrition Info for One Bar:

167 kcal

8 g fat

1 g saturated fat

7 g protein

17 g carbs

8 g sugar

3 g fibre

7 g iron

37 mg sodium

69 mg potassium