The only way to guarantee that you are “eating clean”… is to make it yourself! No more feeling guilty about eating packaged, preserved, nasty products- homemade is the way to go! These taste WAY BETTER than store-bought protein bars, can be grabbed on the go, and last in the fridge! AND you know they are healthy since you are making them! I bet these will become a weekly tradition for you (especially if you meal prep) and it definitely satisfied my sweet tooth! I've wanted to experiment making protein bars for the longest time.. Well, this one is checked off the blog-bucket-list and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Really, who doesn't love the combination of banana, peanut butter, and chocolate? I wasn't going to include dark chocolate chips in my first experimental batch but I cannot resist that flavor trio. A little sugar won't kill you (and dark chocolate is the smartest option anyway). Ahhh, I am so satisfied. Here we go:
Banana PB Chocolate Protein Bars
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| Homemade Protein Bars |
Ingredients:
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
3 egg whites
1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk
2 T. Teddie's natural unsalted peanut butter
4 packets stevia
1 t. vanilla
1 c. old fashioned oats
1 c. oat flour
1 1/4 scoops protein powder (I used Gold Standard Whey- Vanilla)
Dashes of cinnamon
3 T. dark chocolate chips
Instructions:
-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Coat a pan with olive oil cooking spray. I used a 9" circular pan, I'm sure an 8x8 or other size would work just fine- you just may need to alter your baking time by a few minutes.
-Mash your bananas in a large bowl. I used a handheld mixer.
-Combine the mashed bananas, egg whites, almond milk, peanut butter, stevia, and vanilla
-Next add in the oatmeal, oat flour, protein powder, cinnamon
-Lastly, stir in the dark chocolate chips!
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| before the oven! |
Pour your batter into the greased pan and pop it into the oven (at 350 degrees) for 20 minutes! The middle should appear solid, almost as if you were baking a cake.
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| after the oven! |
Let it cool for a good 10-15 minutes. Next, I was able to flip my pan over and the bars came out easily and cleanly out of the pan! (Remember to coat the pan with cooking spray before pouring your batter in). I placed it on a cutting board to let it cool more before proceeding to slice it!
I sliced it into 16 bars (which is what the nutrition facts portray below!) This gives you 100-calorie servings (99.75 calories to be exact) and is a good serving to fill you up with 6 grams of protein. Enjoy two bars if you're used to having 200 calories/12g protein snack times :)
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| can you imagine the deliciousness? |
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| melty dark chocolate... mmmm |
Nutrition Facts
100 calories
3g fat
12.5 carbs
3g sugar
6g protein
2g fiber
Enjoy one bar warm out of the oven (it made me feel like I was eating a cookie fresh out of the oven- seriously delicious, people) and store the rest in the fridge! I froze a few of mine as well. Since all of the ingredients are fresh, you want to enjoy them quicker than a store-bought product... those store-bought protein bars are filled with preservatives to allow them to last days, weeks, months, maybe years... EWWWW! Not Morgan's Homemade Protein Bars! And let me tell you- I don't know how these will even stay in your fridge for more than a week. They are THAT good.
Since they only take 20 MINUTES (with a 10 minute prep), you should have NO excuse that you "don't have time"- toss them in the oven when you watch the nightly news, when your dinner is cooking, while you're styling your hair... please, people. You have time! This will also save you money from the store-bought protein bars that can be $1/bar (or more)!
ENJOY BEING HEALTHY!
And never forget: healthy is possible.
Morgan :)
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