Healthy No-Bake Protein Bars (Low-Carb, Vegan, Gluten-free)
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These Homemade Protein Bars are no-bake, easy to make, and so good! Skip the overpriced store-bought bars, and make these instead for a healthy breakfast, snack, or treat on the go or anytime!
I’m always on the lookout for healthy snacks for my family, especially easy recipes since I am pretty busy. We love my recipes for healthy chocolate truffles, no-bake cookies, and kale chips, but this recipe for homemade protein bars is one of our all-time favorites.
It’s a great grab-and-go snack and is full of yumminess that you and your family will love.
If you’ve been buying protein bars in the store, here is your chance to make them at home for much less money and likely with much healthier ingredients.
You’ll save a ton of money, have total control over the ingredients, and well, they taste great too.
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How are These Homemade Protein Bars Healthier?
- Seeds and nuts give a great dose of healthy fats that are good for you and great for leveling out your blood sugar levels.
- The optional organic protein powder provides a nice dose of protein. (Yes, I know this is not necessarily considered a “real food”, but for those of us dealing with food allergies, sometimes this is the best we can do)
- Coconut oil is a great healthy fat as well
- No preservatives
- No questionable “natural flavors”
- No highly processed protein powders (depending on what you choose if adding a protein powder.)
- No extruder-processed puffed grains and such that have been cited for questionable effects on health
- Low carb – there’s a low-carb option for those who need it
- Allergy free – make these bars however you need to in order to avoid allergens or sensitivities
These originated as a recipe for Almond Power Bars on Elana’s Pantry. I tweaked the recipe a bit, made it more suited to variation, and gave nutrient-boosting and sugar-free alternatives.
Warm Weather Tips
The only problem with these homemade protein bars is that they don’t travel well in warm weather. So take a cooler bag along with you if you plan to eat them on the road when it’s not cool.
Making these homemade vegan protein bars with cocoa butter instead of coconut oil will make them a lot more stable.
Storage
You can keep these bars at room temperature for about 4-5 days, or store in the fridge for up to two weeks.
I like to make these Homemade Protein Bars in bulk and then place them in the fridge or freezer for a fast healthy snack for the family. They’ll keep well in freezer for up to 6 months at least when packed in a freezer-safe container.
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
- Sweeteners: Use vegetable glycerine, xylitol, or erythritol (add in about 1/3 more) as the sweetener for a low-carb version. If you don’t need low-carb, use Sucanat or honey or even maple syrup for more natural options. 1/32 teaspoon stevia extract is also a good choice.
- More Protein: Substitute up to the total amount of the flax meal with the same amount of rice protein for an extra punch of protein. Nutribiotic makes a great brand from non-GMO brown rice. You could also use some of this great grass-fed gelatin to firm up the bars and give more protein.
- Be Careful Processing! Please note the recipe says to process the nuts to a coarse meal. If you over-process, you’ll end up with nut butter. That will still taste great but will make the bars more dense and not solid unless you freeze them. Still yummy, though!
- Nut Options: For nuts, almonds, and organic macadamias are good options. Mixing several kinds works well too. You can also substitute 1 1/3 cups of coconut butter or seeds for nut-free. If using seeds, organic sunflower and organic pumpkin seeds work well.
- Flax Meal: Here is a good brand of organic flax seeds for making flax meal. You can also use rice bran or organic protein powder instead of flax meal.
- Coconut Butter: You can also substitute coconut butter for the nut or seed butter.
- Coconut Oil: You can substitute an alternative solid fat for the coconut oil. Use organic cocoa butter or butter for a more warm weather-stable bar.
- Stevia: You can use 1/32 teaspoon (1 scoop) of stevia extract (see How to Use Stevia) instead of xylitol.
- Chocolate Chips: If you would prefer to make your own chocolate chips, here are my Homemade Chocolate / Carob Chips. My Homemade Chocolate / Carob Bar (1 cup of chips per bar recipe) is another option.
- THM: This recipe qualifies as an “S” for those on the Trim Healthy Mama plan.\
More Processed Food Replacements
Here are some of our favorite recipes to take the place of store-bought products.
- Powdered Sugar Substitute
- Homemade Chocolate Chips
- DIY Liquid Stevia Drops
- Homemade Marshmallows (SF option)
Hope you enjoy the taste and the healthy boost that these Homemade Vegan Protein Bars bring to your wallet!
Grain-Free No-Bake Homemade Protein Bars
Ingredients
Base:
- 2 cups nuts (preferably soaked and dried)
- 1/2 cup flax meal (flax seeds ground in a blender or spice grinder)
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened and organic if possible)
- 1/2 cup seed or nut butter (made from soaked and dried nuts or seeds is preferable)
- 3/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons low carb sweetener (or other granulated or liquid sweetener–see Recipe Notes)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 or more tablespoons protein powder, collagen, or colostrum (optional for more protein)
Topping:
- 1 cup sugar-free chocolate chips (melted; or try these Homemade Chocolate Chips or this Homemade Chocolate Bar for a DIY option)
Instructions
- Place nuts or seeds, flax meal, coconut, seed or nut butter and salt in the bowl of a food processor.
- Process until the nuts or seeds are ground into a coarse meal.
- Melt coconut oil over low heat. If the temperature of your home is around 76 degrees, you can skip this step and add the oil directly to the food processor as it will be soft enough to process easily.
- Add coconut oil, sweeteners and vanilla to processor bowl and process until well combined to form a thick, yet crunchy paste.
- Press the mixture into an 8×8 square pan (you can be quite flexible here. A 9×9 will work just fine. A larger pan will produce thin bars, while a smaller pan will yield thicker ones)
- Place in refrigerator to chill.
- If you are making your own chocolate/carob chips or chocolate/carob bar, prepare while the protein bars are chilling, but do not harden the chocolate chips or bar.
- Top bars with the chocolate chips or bar. Top either before the bars chill, or melt the chocolate topping and top with it.
- Press the topping onto the chilled bottom layer.
- Place back in refrigerator to chill (if you can wait that long :-)!)
- Cut into squares and serve.
- Store in refrigerator.
Notes
- Sweeteners: Use vegetable glycerine, xylitol, or erythritol (add in about 1/3 more) as the sweetener for a low-carb version. If you don’t need low-carb, use Sucanat or honey or even maple syrup for more natural options. 1/32 teaspoon stevia extract is also a good choice.
- More Protein: Substitute up to the total amount of the flax meal with the same amount of rice protein for an extra punch of protein. Nutribiotic makes a great brand from non-GMO brown rice. You could also use some of this great grass-fed gelatin to firm up the bars and give more protein.
- Be Careful Processing! Please note – the recipe says to process the nuts to a coarse meal. If you over-process, you will have a nut butter, which will still taste great, but will make the bars more dense and not solid unless you freeze them. Still yummy, though!
- Nut Options: For nuts, almonds and organic macadamias are good options. Mixing several kinds works well too. You can also sub 1 1/3 cups coconut butter or seeds for nut free. If using seeds, organic sunflower and organic pumpkin seeds work well.
- Flax Meal: Here is a good brand of organic flax seeds to purchase to make flax meal. You can also use rice bran or organic protein powder instead of flax meal.
- Coconut Butter: You can also substitute coconut butter for the nut or seed butter.
- Coconut Oil: You can substitute an alternative solid fat for the coconut oil. Use organic cocoa butter or butter for a more warm weather-stable bar.
- Stevia: You can use 1/32 teaspoon (1 scoop) of stevia extract (see How to Use Stevia) instead of xylitol.
- Chocolate Chips: If you would prefer to make your own chocolate chips, here are my Homemade Chocolate / Carob Chips. My Homemade Chocolate / Carob Bar (1 cup of chips per bar recipe) is another option.
- THM: This recipe qualifies as an “S” for those on the Trim Healthy Mama plan.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Would you eat these Homemade Vegan Protein Bars for breakfast, snacks, or on the go?
Photo Credits: Naomi Huzovicova
Can the topping be left off without throwing the taste off too much?? I’m allergic to chocolate…
I think it tastes good w/o the topping but you could use carob and it will taste great! Would that work?
Hi!
Love this recipe and cannot wait to make it. Since I have erythritol, I plan on using that in this recipe. How much would you suggest I use? I still can’t seem to pinpoint how much it takes to give recipes that sweet taste.
Thanks for this!
Hi there! Typically you would want 30% more erythritol in a recipe b/c it’s less sweet. Enjoy!
These look wonderful and looks like a great recipe! But, I have looked and can not find how many Carbs they Have?
Hi there. We are working on getting that functionality on the blog soon – we just put in a new recipe plug in and it took a ton of time. Stay tuned! I will be working on this recipe as one of the first.
Hey, What do you mean soak and dry the nuts if possible? Like measure out the nuts and soak them in water for how long? would it be okay if you just used the nuts dry?
This post has more info: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/soaking-nuts-seeds/
This is the weirdest thing…I want to make these bars right away, but can’t locate the recipe. I can’t see it, and there’s no live link for me to click on. I tried on both my phone and my computer. I’m hoping maybe it could get emailed to me? They look so great!
Never mind, you can delete this comment. Once I posted my comment, the recipe popped up! Very strange.
Yes, this was part of the problem. Something to do with caching and the blog posts. Working on making sure it never happens again. Thanks again for taking the time to let me know!
I am so sorry – we had an issue w/ the blog last night and it’s cleared up now. Thanks for letting me know!
Hi! Just made these for the first time-so delicious! Can’t wait to try new spins on your recipe! What is the shelf life of the bars if kept refrigerated?
I’m sorry but I can’t make shelf life claims, but I would keep them in the fridge if you are concerned.
I’m so glad you liked them!
These are absolutely delicious!!! Thank you so much for sharing! My daughters are hypoglycemic, so they need healthy, well-balanced snacks throughout the day that are high in protein and fat, and I have an autoimmune disease- these are the best treat!!
Love the flavour of these bars but I have made them twice and both times they would not bind together… they are always crumbly. Moist, but crumbly. What could I be doing wrong?
I’m so sorry for the delay and sorry for your troubles. I think maybe blend them a bit more? I am going to rework the recipe so I will see…..let me know if it’s gotten any better for you?
I am very excited to try these. I am trying to break down the nutrients on an online calculator as suggested before making them. Can you tell me how much this particular recipe makes? How many bars or how much each serving is? That would be very helpful. Thank you…i know they will be delicious
I think it depends on how big you like your bars. They are quite filling!
Do you have the nutritional values for a typical bar, with and without protein powder? Size of bar for say 150 calories or 3 X 1.5 or 4 X 1? This would be very helpful.
Hi there. I’m looking into putting this capability on my site but it’s complicated. Please for now enter the ingredients into an online calculator. Thanks for reading!
These are the best protein bars I’ve ever made! I absolutely love them! I’ve tried several different recipes but I always keep coming back to them. I’ve also tried a few alternatives my favorite being putting only half the mixture onto the pan and then adding homemade chia jam on top. Then I crumble the other half of the mixture and I bake for a little bit in the oven <3
Thanks – so glad to hear it! So you put 1/2 of the base in and then jam and then the other 1/2? Do you leave the chocolate topping off?
In your notes at the end of the post you said you could add gelatin to the bars. Would I mix it in dry or dissolve it in a little hot water and then add it? Thanks.
I would bloom it in water first.
What would you sub for the dried coconut if you don’t use it?
Hmmm…you could use more nuts, seeds, or flax or chia. If you eat grains some oat flakes would be good, but I would recommend soaking them first.
Do you know what the nutritional breakdown is for this recipe?
We’ve talked about putting something on my site but haven’t done it yet for various reasons. Maybe in the future. Thanks! You would have to use an online calculator to determine this.
Hello i wanted to know if these will store well at room temp.
It depends on how warm the room is and what oil you use. But they are best out of the fridge. Enjoy!
My eight year old son and I just LOVE these!!! So glad we tried this recipe.
So glad – thanks for coming back to tell me!
Have you ever made these with honey? We aren’t Stevia eaters, but I would love to try these with honey. What amount would you recommend?
I haven’t done that but it would work well I think. Enjoy!!
Well, my doctor and dietitian want me to watch my carb intake..my sodium intake..I’m 55 yrs old..there watching me closely..because I am border line diabetes 2……so it’s a bit frustrating, to say the least….
Hi there, love all the recipe’s. My family and I are fed up of bought “healthy” bars.
Just wondering , do both nuts and seeds have to be raw and unpasturised to soak and dry properly? I actually have a dehydrator so
Will ordinary seeds like sunflower and pumpkin work that are bought in the supermarket or local health shop?
Yes, soaking and drying non raw nuts and seeds won’t benefit you. Cashews are never raw, however, so soaking and drying them only results in a texture change. If those seeds are raw they should work :).
Hi! great recipe, do you have the nutritional values for the bars? Mainly need the numbers for carbs, fat and protein x
Hi there. I’m sorry but I don’t provide that. We haven’t found a service that we feel is accurate. Maybe in the future?
Hi,
I saw that you recommend using cocoa butter instead of coconut oil to top the bars for warm weather. Did you mean subbing the coconut oil for cocoa butter in the Homemade Chocolate Bar recipe? If so, do you recommend using cocoa butter powder or actual cocoa butter chips? And how much should you use, depending on which product you use (the powder or the chips)?
Thanks!
Yes cocoa butter will hold up better. I have never used cocoa butter powder so I can’t speak to that. Thanks and hope that helps!