Most protein bars suck. Loaded with sugar, low quality junk, while giving the offense of being rubber or chalky. Enter the homemade dark chocolate peanut butter protein bar. These babies are dangerous, whenever I make them it usually ends in the batch being gone by the end of the day. Now personally my love of peanut butter knows no bounds, probably in part since peanut butter was a forbidden food in the Svoboda household due to food allergies. Apologies to my brother Brian on this one, I have something in the pipeline to make it up to you.
Hands On Time : 10-15 Minutes.
Ingredients for the Base :
- 1/2 Cup Roasted, Lightly Salted Peanuts or 1/2 Cup Almond Flour
- 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Peanut Butter.
- 1/2 Cup Almond Milk or Coconut Milk or Low Fat Dairy Milk
- 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1.5 Cups Chocolate Protein Powder
- 1/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Ingredients for Peanut Butter Icing :
- 1/4 Cup Peanut Butter
- 1 and 1/2 tbls Almond Milk or Coconut Milk or Low Fat Dairy Milk
- 1 tbls Coconut Oil
- 1 tbls Raw Honey
- 1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/8 tsp Fine Sea Salt
Equipment : Parchment Paper or Aluminum Foil, 8×8 Pan(Optional), Food Processor(Optional)
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper or foil, and spray with coconut oil or lightly rub down with butter. If you don’t have a pan, you’ll be making peanut butter balls as the end product.
- In a food processor, grind your peanuts into a powder, but not a paste. You can also substitute 1/2 cup almond flour instead of the peanuts for this step if you don’t have a food processor. One finished, add the peanut butter, milk, coconut oil, vanilla, and blend together well either in the mixer or by hand.
- Add your protein powder and cocoa and continue to blend well.
- Take your mix and spread it evenly in your pan, add another piece of parchment/foil to the top to make it easier to get perfectly even. Alternatively, you could skip the pan and turn em into balls.
- To make the icing: combine the peanut butter, milk, and coconut oil and microwave for 1 to 2 minutes or until melted. Once melted and smooth, add the honey, vanilla, and salt. Immediately spread over the bars or balls.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. Or you can eat them immediately if you don’t mind them being soft.
Notes : Protein powder varies in terms of mixability, so if the mixture is way too dry, add more milk. If it’s too wet, add more protein powder. You can also bulk up this recipe by adding flax meal or finely shredded oats to the base.
Recipe from Power Hungry: The Ultimate Energy Bar Book – Amazon