Homemade Protein Bars (Low Calorie, Vegan, No Bake)
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Protein bars are a great, delicious, high-protein snack.
However, the store-bought ones are often full of sugar, processed ingredients, artificial flavorings, and in general, aren’t the healthiest.
Fortunately, when you make your homemade version, you can make healthy, nutritious & low-calorie protein bars!
The Homemade Protein Bars recipe I will share with you is peanut butter-free, low-sugar, and easy to make. (no blender & no-bake!)
Let’s take a quick look at the ingredients you’ll need.
Ingredients for the Healthy Homemade Protein Bars:
- Oat flour – It helps you feel full for longer, and it is rich in fiber. Plus, you can make it yourself (just grind oats!), and it is easy to find plastic-free.
- Peanut flour – You can find plastic-free peanut flour from Bulk.com, in bulk from Nuts.com, or look locally in bulk stores.
- Protein powder – I used Vitally Vegan Protein Powder, the Chocolate Salted Caramel flavor.
- Tahini – The tahini I used was very runny, so don’t use anything too thick.
- Date syrup – A fantastic natural sweetener. You can find date syrup in glass jars on Amazon.
- Plant milk – For this recipe, I used plain soy milk.
- Cocoa butter – Solid at room temperature, and it will keep the protein bars firm. Buy plastic-free from Zerowastebulk.com (US) or Realplasticfree.com (UK).
Reasons to make these vegan Homemade Protein Bars:
- High protein – 10 grams per serving from the protein powder and peanut flour!
- Low calorie – Each protein bar has only 120 calories. Nutrient balance is essential as unbalanced protein, fat, and carbs can drive hunger and cravings.
- Gluten-free – All the ingredients in this recipe are gluten-free (to be 100% sure, get certified gluten-free oat flour).
- Healthy fats – Healthy fats are always essential to keep you satisfied & full for longer.
- Two-layered – The protein bars are covered with a peanut caramel top layer, which is super delicious!
- Plastic-free & sustainable– By making homemade protein bars, you will save a LOT of plastic packaging from store-bought protein bars. Plus, the vegan protein powder we’ll use is also plastic-free!
Storing tips for the Homemade Protein Bars
You can keep them in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
You shouldn’t keep them at room temperature for more than a day. Then, you can eat them right out of the refrigerator.
If you store them in the freezer, you will need 20 or so minutes to unfreeze them.
Substitutions for the Homemade Protein Bars:
Switching any ingredient or adding extras will change both the nutritional value of the bars and the final result.
I can’t promise that it will be as good as the original recipe, but in case you are missing some of the ingredients, you can use those substitutions:
- Tahini – Instead of tahini, you can use peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, or almond butter.
- Plant milk – Soy, almond, oat, or hazelnut plant milk should work well, too.
- Date syrup – If you can’t find it, you can use agave. The consistency of both is quite different, so it might change the final result.
- Other protein powder flavor – I used Chocolate Salted caramel for this recipe, but you can try different flavors. I’ve tried the same recipe with Vitally Vegan Forest Fruits flavor, and the protein bars were great, too.
Homemade Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 95g Vitally Vegan Protein Powder (Chocolate Salted Caramel)
- 45g oat flour
- 25g peanut flour
- 25g date syrup
- 25g tahini
- 150ml soy milk
- 10ml melted cacao butter
- For the peanut caramel:
- 80ml soy milk
- 60g peanut flour
- 50ml date syrup
- 10ml melted cacao butter
Instructions
- Combine 95g of Vitally Vegan protein powder, 25g peanut flour, and 25g oat flour in a bowl.
- Then, add 25ml of date syrup, 25g tahini, and 150ml of plant-based milk.
- Add 12 ml of melted cocoa butter and 20 more grams of oat flour. Mix until everything is well combined. The mixture shouldn’t be too sticky, and it shouldn’t get all over your fingers.
- Once everything is combined, transfer to a small container.
- For the Peanut Caramel, add 80ml of plant milk to a glass, and then add 60g of peanut flour, 10 ml of melted cocoa butter, and 50ml of date syrup. Mix everything until you have a thick caramel-like sauce.
- Add it on top of the protein bars and put it in the freezer for 3-4 hours.
- After that, cut in 12 bars. Each of them will have about 10 grams of protein and 120 calories.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 barAmount Per Serving: Calories: 120Total Fat: 4,2gSaturated Fat: 1,4gCarbohydrates: 9,7gSugar: 4,9gProtein: 10,4g
FAQ:
Which protein powder is the best?
There are many protein powder options on the market, and a lot of them are filled with chemicals and unnecessary additives.
I recommend Vitally Vegan protein powder. It is super delicious, naturally sweetened with stevia, and it doesn’t have any artificial flavorings.
Vitally Vegan is packed superfoods & amino acids and it provides 20g of protein per serving, from pea protein isolate and white hemp protein.
You can get the Vitally Vegan protein powder here (£10 discount with the code ZEROWASTE).
Is the protein powder necessary?
For this recipe, protein powder is a crucial ingredient, so you can’t skip it.
I’m planning to create a recipe for protein bars, that require no protein powder soon, so stay tuned.
Sum up
I hope you love these Homemade Protein Bars as much as I do!
Let me know if you have any questions or comments about the recipe.
