Yesterday we talked who, what, where, and why for protein powder. Today I’m talking the how! How-to enjoy protein powder in tasty, no-bake chocolate protein bars.
When it comes to getting enough protein throughout the day, I usually have no problem. Milk with meals? Check. Yogurt and hard-boiled eggs for snacks? Check. Chicken OR beef for dinner? Check. Eating regular meals and snacks daily? NOPE! Not with my erratic schedule of feeding a toddler and a newborn— and chasing, entertaining, bathing, etc. them when I’m not feeding them. I’m not one for supplementing nutrients unless it’s medically necessary. And missing meals because of limited time and energy counts as a reason for these no-bake chocolate protein bars in my book!
What’s with my affinity to no-bake chocolate protein bars? I can answer that:
- Convenience [which I need as evidenced by my story about no time to eat]
- My pantry is overflowing with peanut butter…
- Buying protein bars in the store can make your grocery bill add up!
- It’s easier than you think to make a homemade version— I was inspired by this recipe.
- I can pronounce every ingredient in these protein bars- a healthier version? Maybe so!
Hey Joey, get your hands outta my photo shoot! 
The bar batter will have the texture of oatmeal cookie batter! But the finished product tastes sort of like a chewy brownie… the best of both worlds?! 
Portioned out in individual servings!
- 1 cup of old-fashioned oats
- 2 scoops of chocolate protein powder
- 2 tablespoons of chia seeds
- ½ cup of milk
- 1 cup of peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons of honey
- Combine the milk, peanut butter, and honey in a large bowl. Microwave for 15 seconds. Stir and microwave for an additional 15 seconds.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl.
- Line a 8x8 pan with parchment paper and press the mixture evenly in the pan.
- Freeze for at least 15 minutes. Cut into bars [I made 8].
- Store in an air-tight container in your freezer or fridge for up to one week.
If you’re not into making your own protein bar, do you have a favorite store-bought brand?
I just made my own protein bars for the first time last week and I can’t believe how incredibly easy they were! These look scrumptious, you can never go wrong with chocolate anything!
Thanks Rachel!
Can I leave out the peanut butter? How can i supplement it? Thank you
What are the nutrition facts
I haven’t calculated those out just yet! Please send me an email and I can get that over to you this week.
I’ve been looking for a grab and go protein-packed snack recipe for my guy who spends long hours at the hospital (and they don’t give them breaks to eat… :O) Pinning to make!
Yes!! I made these with a lot of my health prof friends in mind who work 16 hour shifts with minimal time to eat 🙂
These protein bars are so awesome to have around when life gets crazy. Haha looks like we share the same problem – we shall never run out of pb 😉 Love seeing the lil’ hand so precious!!
I might run out of milk and bread, but NEVER PB!! Thanks Min xo.
These look and sound awesome! Being about to pronounce every ingredient in your food is always a plus 🙂 And I loved the photo bomb- so cute!!
He’s always sneaking into my shoots lol!
Yum!! I can make this with my chocolate hemp protein powder (from Trader Joes… a great product!) I can’t wait to try these, thanks for sharing 🙂
I need to get that next time at TJ’s… Now that you’ve educated me on all the types of protein powder I can buy 🙂
OH this is so easy and sounds SOOOO good!! I’ve got to try this!
I’d recommend it Sam!
These look amazing! I am going to pin to my clean eating board! 🙂 I have a bunch of chocolate protein powder and Im too lazy to make shakes, so this is perfect.
So much easier to clean up from a bowl vs. blender!! Hope you like 🙂
Was the protein powder you used sweetened? I have some (mildly) chocolate flavored brown rice protein. I’m wondering if I would need to add a little more honey or some coconut sugar if I use that?
Mine wasn’t. But it still tastes fairly sweet to me!
Can’t wait to make these with my daughter – do you think I could swap in regular whey powder and cocoa powder for the chocolate protein powder (which I don’t have)?
Yes!!! I think that’s a great substitution Deanna! Let me know how they turn out 🙂
Could you let me know how much cocoa powder to substitute? I have vanilla protein powder I’m trying to use up before buying more.
I’d add 2 teaspoons and try it to make sure it’s chocolatey enough for you!
Love these! So easy and healthy!
Thanks Rebecca!
These look great! The one thing I can’t stand about store-bought protein bars are their tough texture, I think I’ll need to give these a try!
These have a semi-silky smooth texture. My favorite!
You had me at chewy brownie. Definitely making these this weekend!
Get it girl!!
This would be such a great on the go breakfast or snack! I’m down for anything with chocolate in it 😉
Me too!! Any time of the day 🙂
These look so yummy and I have all the ingredients!!
Hope you like them!!
you had me an no bake… but then you went and added CHOCOLATE! yes, sign me up!
Thanks girl!! Hope you enjoy 🙂
As a fellow mom, RD, recipe reduxer and protein bar maker/lover, these definitely caught my attention. They look delicious and I love the simple, healthy ingredients used. Also love your leftover recipe redux post too!
Thank you Marie!!! I appreciate you stopping by so much! Let me know if you make them…
Do you know what the actual nutritional info is on them? They sound great!
Do have any general nutrition information on these bars? Would love to add these to my fitness app. I understand different protein powders and peanut butter could vary the information.
HI, I tried these last night and they turned out so slimey and gooey. The taste is great but the texture is so bad. Any ideas what I did wrong or how to prevent that?
Hi Rachel! Next time I might decrease the amount of milk you use. It might be dependent on the type of protein powder I used vs. what you used. I would also try freezing them for longer than 15 minutes if you had that problem! Let me know if you make them again and we can trouble sheet another suggestion 🙂
What kind of protein powder did you use? I have brown rice protein powder which can be chocolate flavoured too and was thinking of using with this recipe!
Thanks
Oh yum! A healthier replacement for my no bake cookies that I love! Don’t know about texture yet because I just placed them in the freezer but oh, they taste divine!
Thank you!
Great recipe!
My husband has a nut allergy, so we used sunflower butter instead of peanut butter. (It has a similar texture & taste; makes a good substitute!) They taste delicious, and are super easy to make! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Just curious, when you two scoops of protein powder, how much is that exactly? Thanks.
*say* When you say 2 scoops lol
It’s likely about a cup! I hope that helps!
Do you have the nutrition analysis for this? I’m curious how many grams of carbs, proteins and how many calories each serving has.
I’d love the nutritional analysis too! Tia:)
I’ll see if I can get that for you!
Could I use steeled oats with this recipe? I have the exact problem of eating properly and thought I’d give home made protein bars a try!!
Hi! I tried these last night and they taste great but even after putting them in the freezer overnight, an hour after taking them out they are mush… has anyone had a similar problem? If so recommendations to making them hard would be great. thx!
Hi Tamara! Thanks for your comment and for trying my recipe! I’ve made them multiple times this way and they’ve turned out for me. Are you using a natural peanut butter? Perhaps it’s a difference in protein powder too. I’d suggest adding more oats! I use Jiffy PB so not sure if that makes a difference too.
I have been playing with this recipe because I love it so much. I have been adding ground raw pumpkin seeds, chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, ground flax seed, whole grain rice crisp cereal and in addition I replace the milk with extra virgin coconut oil. I have also made a few batches with ground coffee!!! I also use local honey instead of store bought as it is just another healthy / allergy benefit!! Next I’m wanting to try some fresh vanilla!!!
Whoop whoop!! Sounds awesome! Love that you are being so creative. I love the coffee version. I’ll need to give that a try next!
I need some macro info so they can fit into my stats
I just happen upon your website thru Pinterest, I’m trying to get myself back to a healthy state by redoing my eating habits. I was on a low card regimen for a year and found that fixing my own food was so much better than buying, I agree when you purchase items with ingredients you can’t pronounce you need to stay away from it, all the preservatives that are added into todays’ food is ridiculous!!
I was reading some of the reviews and they all seem to enjoy but for the ones that said it came out mushy do you think instead of changing the protein powder they could as you stated not add as much milk, maybe do 1/4 cup milk and then add a couple or 3 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil, that would for one help to solidify the recipe.
This was just a suggestion to see how this would turn out and so I guess the only way to find out would be to try it
I think that’s an awesome idea!!! I don’t have any coconut oil on hand… but if you make the change please let me know how it turns out! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I just made these and can’t wait ti try them! I substitued sunflower seed butter for the peanutbutter and used coconut milk. I also added pumpkin seeds!!
These are such a yummy alternative to desserts!!
Hello! I just made these, but need to know a nutritional breakdown if possible. Do you have a one with the ingredients you used?
Thanks!
These bars came out great. I didn’t have chocolate protein powder so I used vanilla and added cocoa powder.
Hey there! 🙂 I have done the nutritional break down on these! Mine and chilling in the fridge. I will cut into 10 (slightlly smaller). I used form super protein chocolate and salted caramel, following the qdvice that 2 scoops is about 1 cup, and added 2 tsp of cocoa. I used almond milk instead of normal milk, and I also weighed everything for those in the uk etc. Here it is:
12 bars. Calories per bar 280 kcal.
108g rolled oats
115g protein powder
23g chia seeds
243g whole earth smooth peanut butter
146ml unsweetened almond milk
74g runny honey
Macros per bar:
13.5g protein
17g carbs (of which 7.7g sugar and 6.01g fibre)
16.6g fat (of which 2.3g saturated and 1.79 unsaturated)
143mg sodium
4mg potassium
Oops some typos!!!
August 22, 2018 at 3:49 pm
Hey there! 🙂 I have done the nutritional break down on these! Mine are chilling in the fridge. I will cut into 10 (slightlly smaller). I used form super protein chocolate and salted caramel, following the qdvice that 2 scoops is about 1 cup, and added 2 tsp of cocoa. I used almond milk instead of normal milk, and I also weighed everything for those in the uk etc. Here it is:
10 bars. Calories per bar 280 kcal.
108g rolled oats
115g protein powder
23g chia seeds
243g whole earth smooth peanut butter
146ml unsweetened almond milk
74g runny honey
Macros per bar:
13.5g protein
17g carbs (of which 7.7g sugar and 6.01g fibre)
16.6g fat (of which 2.3g saturated and 1.79 unsaturated)
143mg sodium
4mg potassium
In future I might try toasting the oats and adding some toasted almond slices!
Hey how could i do these without a microwave? I dont have one 🙁