If you’re a gym lover looking for perfect protein bars to enjoy after your workout, you know how difficult it can be to find the ones that are actually healthy and free of artificial sweeteners. Making your own is sometimes the best possible option, and we’ve got a recipe just for you.
Brita, who runs the blog Food with Feeling, shared a recipe for homemade protein bars she enjoys after her yoga and pilates classes. All of the ingredients are plant-based, and adding chocolate is optional, so you can easily adapt the recipe to your own post-workout habits.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup of dates, pitted and lightly packed
- 1 cup of natural nut butter (a drippy kind is best)
- 1/2 cup of flaxseed meal
- 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup of coconut oil, melted
- 2 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey
- 1/2 cup of plant-based protein powder
- 3–6 oz of dark chocolate (optional), some for top and some for bottom of bars
Instructions
- Put all of your ingredients (minus the chocolate) into a food processor and process until fully combined. You’ll know it’s ready once you can roll the mixture into a ball and it stays together easily.
- Once the mixture is ready, dump it all in a square dish. Press it ALL in there really good, until it’s nice and tight and compact.
- Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- Melt dark chocolate and pour over top.
- Refrigerate for an additional 30 minutes or until the chocolate has fully dried.
- Once the chocolate is fully hardened, cut out your bars in whatever size you so desire.
- If desired, drizzle chocolate over top of the other side of the bars, let chocolate harden.
