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Make Your Own Protein Bars at Home

By USA Hockey, 07/11/18, 6:00AM MDT

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Use this recipe to make bars packed with great ingredients

Because getting adequate protein to support your day-to-day activities can be challenging, whey protein isolate can be a quick and easy solution when time or access to whole foods is limited. While a protein shake is the most common way to consume whey protein, at Thorne we always look for ways to expand customer options for adding variety to their nutrition routines. 

Pre-packaged protein bars often contain heaps of ingredients and preservatives we are probably better off avoiding.

But you can make a homemade protein bar that is chock-full of ingredients you want and none that you don’t. I set off to create a no-bake, gluten-free protein bar that meets our ingredient standards, but also tastes good – and the outcome was incredibly delicious.

This recipe tested well with children and adults, and we are excited to find out what variations you come up with since the flavor combinations of this recipe are endless.

Gluten Free, No-Bake Chocolate Protein Bars

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup of any milk you prefer –  we used unflavored/unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 cup unsalted, raw almond butter
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 and 3/8 cup Thorne Whey Protein Isolate (chocolate flavored)
  • 2 cups uncooked oats
  • ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
  • ½ cup dried chopped cherries

This classic coconut and cherry combo is delicious and adds great texture – but you could use anything you like – and don’t forget to try our Whey Protein Isolate (vanilla flavored) as the base to open up a host of new flavor combinations. We’ve also made these bars with dried hemp seeds, cranberries, and mini dark chocolate chips, which were a hit. Be brave and mix and match your add-ins to create new tasty versions.

Directions:

Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature

  1. Lightly oil a 9 x 11-inch pan or baking sheet.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine almond butter, honey, and milk.
  3. Add protein powder and mix well. It’s going to start to get hard to mix, so be ready to put some muscle into it.
  4. Add the oats. If it's way too thick/dry to mix, then add a little more milk – start with a tablespoon. If you add too much liquid the bars will be very sticky and might not hold up very well. We usually give up on the spoon at this point and knead with our hands like a dough – messy, but fun and honestly more effective. 
  5. Add coconut and cherries and combine well.
  6. Press bars into the pan until they are flat and even and cover the whole bottom of the pan. Use a sharp knife to score them into your preferred size/shape.

Yield: 12-16 bars  

We recommend keeping them in the fridge, or they get pretty soft. Keep the bars in the fridge in an airtight container – they usually last 7-10 days.

To learn more about Thorne Nutritional products and our partnership please click here.

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