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no bake homemade protein bars in stack on gray and white plate

Whole New Mom - https://wholenewmom.com

Grain-Free No-Bake Homemade Protein Bars

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Keto, Low-Carb, Paleo, THM:S, Vegan
Keyword: Homemade Protein Bars
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Chilling Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 16
Calories: 290.3kcal
This Vegan Homemade Protein Bar Recipe is one of our favorites - Grain-free, soy-free, dairy-free, egg-free and vegan homemade protein bars--great for special diets.
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Ingredients

Base:

Topping:

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 8x8 square pan (you can be quite flexible here. A 9x9 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

Serving: 1bar | Calories: 290.3kcal | Carbohydrates: 15.4g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 26.2g | Saturated Fat: 10.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.83g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8.29g | Sodium: 58.2mg | Potassium: 191.93mg | Fiber: 8.3g | Sugar: 1.3g | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 1.1mg | Net Carbs: 7g