Protein bars can be a great source of energy. They can also be very expensive and taste like crap. I must have looked through 50 recipes online over the weekend looking for a good one. Most of this recipe is from one I found at Stella’s Kitchen.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups quick oats
- 1 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk
- 4 scoops protein powder (I used chocolate)
- 1/4 cup flax seeds
- 1 cup sugar free maple syrup
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup natural applesauce (unsweetened)
Directions
- Beat the egg whites in a bowl
- Mix the egg whites with the orange juice, applesause, syrup, and vanilla
- In another bowl mix the oats, dry milk, protein powder, and flax seeds
- Add the liquid mix to the dry mix and stir until everything is completely worked together. It will turn out similar to cookie dough.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
- Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray
- Spread batter into the dish
- Bake for 25-30 minutes
- Allow to completely cool and then cut into bars
- Store some of the bars in an airtight container and some in the freezer
Nutrition
I did some quick calculations for the ingredients I used and came up with a total of:
- 2240 calories
- 326g of carbohydrates
- 176g of protein
- 39g of fat
- 45g of fiber
I cut my pan into 12 bars which gives the following per bar:
- 187 calories
- 27g of carbohydrates
- 15g of protein
- 3g of fat
- 4g of fiber
Notes
You can easily leave out the flax seeds or add other ingredients to the mix. I plan to add nuts and maybe some raisins or dried fruit with my next batch.
You can cut back on the amount of applesauce if you want bars that aren’t as moist. With 1/3 cup of applesauce, the consistency comes out somewhere between cake and a granola bar. The baking time also probably has something to do with this. I had my first batch in the oven for about 27 minutes and the edges were just starting to become crusty.
If you try alternatives or have suggestions for improvements, leave a comment.
Looks tasty.
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Great recipe. Would try this out soon… definitely with nuts 🙂
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I haven’t eaten chocolate for a long time because I am a diet conscious. I gotta try this one and I’ll used chocolate also.
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Very interesting recips. Thanks
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Wow, this recipe looks great. I am not a big fan of flaxseed but I’ll probably try it with some sunflower seeds and dried cranberries.
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Made my 2nd batch yesterday. Added some dates and dried blueberries. Also went with the 1/2 cup of apple sauce. I don’t like this batch as much as I liked the first one. I think I actually like the bars better a little drier by using 1/3 cup of applesauce. I wish I would have had some nuts around the house to throw in. Next time…
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Would you say that your bars are cheaper per unit volume than a commercial bar? I find everything in the store to be really expensive.
Regardless, this is probably healthier than all those processed chemicals…
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This looks so delicious yet so healthy. Will definitely try your recipe soon. Thanks a lot.
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This is the 3rd time I’ve made this batch and its amazing. i don’t add as much syrup because its to “maple-ey” for me, but I did try it with vanilla protein powder and bananas instead of applesauce and it tastes a little like banana bread! Thanks for a great recipe!!
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hmmm, i wonder how you could boost up the fat a little to make the ratio a little more even. what would happen if you used honey rather than the sugar free syrup, and replaced the applesauce with olive, or flaxseed oil? the sugarfree syrup probably has aspartame, right? that’s not good for you at all.
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Thanks a zillion! I’ve been looking for something like this, I’ve been trying to find something that has enough protein and delicious at the same time. I’m a newbie body-builder(!) if you wanted to know…lol
Regards~
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Love the recipe. My husband has them regularly for a healthy low GI high protein snack. I add sunflower and pepita seeds. I have also made it with a sachet Uncle tobys oat tempations added to it. I have added dry mango and other dried fruit as well. Thanks yummy!!!
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This is such a good recipe. I was on diet but have stopped most recently…
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This looks pretty good. I am going to make this for my hiking and biking expeditions. It sounds like there is enough energy in them to take place of my protein bars.
thanks
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Looks delicious but still healthy. Hmmmm … yummy.
I will try the recipe. Thanks for the sharing.
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Instead of maple syrup, brown rice syrup is better for you because it doesn’t spike your blood sugar (low GI) and it sticks together better than agave nectar which is still better for you than the maple syrup. I use these 2 alternatives in my protein and my granola bars.
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Recipe looks great, but my problem with protein bars they can be binding after two or more during a day. Without getting crude here, will this move naturally through my system. Or will have to resort to the smooth move tea with this also?
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thank you for all comments- I have just been restricted from most sugar and yeast products. Of course the craving never goes away, but am always looking for protein bar recipes that will fit within my new culinary life style! The brown rice syrup sounds like a perfect fit since I can’t seem to locate how to make a syrup with xylitol.
Thanks again for sharing~
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wow! that’s a wonderful idea!! i never thought of making my own bars, but this is a great recipe! and i would not have to taste again the supermarket bars….iaaaajjjj thank you!! i really appreciate this!!!
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Nice recipe – I tried it yesterday and it tasted very good !
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