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Homemade Protein Bars

March 20th, 2008 Posted in Recipes

Looking for something to take with you on the road, or a snack to munch at your desk? Forget about those awful Powerbars and other various soy bars. Granola bars are OK, but they don’t have much protein. High quality protein bars are available at the store, but for $5 a pop! We are looking for something cheap and easy, and here it is. Do-it-yourself, homemade protein bars.

Homemade Protein Bars

The Recipe

3 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups dried milk
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup lite syrup
2 scoops protein powder
2 large egg whites or 1 egg
1 1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup raisins or dried fruit

Start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper, or spray on some non-stick butter flavored Pam spray. In a large metal bowl, mix all the ingredients until the oats are well coated. Spread the mix onto the cookie sheet and press down to make 10 cutting lines so you can separate them into 10 protein bars later. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. While still warm, cut them apart and allow to cool before wrapping. The bars can be stored airtight at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Optional Upgrades

Nutty Bars – use 1 cup chopped nuts instead of dried fruit or raisins.

Fruity Bars – experiment with various extracts other than vanilla to change up the flavor.

The Protein Bar Diet – make a whole bunch of these bars with various fruits and nuts, and various flavors of protein powder. Eat the bars for 3 out of 5 meals each day and make the other two meals small. Do this for a month and see if you don’t drop a couple pounds.

Written by Steve
Steve is a formerly ISSA certified personal trainer and sport nutritionist, who has been studying, practicing, and experimenting since 1994. Please use the content at Project Swole to supplement the advice of your doctor or physician. All medical questions should be directed towards a qualified medical professional, and the advice provided at Project Swole should be used at your own discretion.

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Tags: food, protein, Recipes

14 Responses to “Homemade Protein Bars”
By Homemade Protein bars on May 1, 2008

I might have to try this recipe; if I get chunky, I’ll try the protein bar diet, that’s a good idea.

You can also make protein bars without using an oven:
http://www.ecojoes.com/how-to-make-cheap-homemade-protein-bars/
By jeremy on May 8, 2008

What kind of syrup should be added? Chocolate syrup? What flavor protein is recommended?
By Steve on May 9, 2008

Maple syrup actually. You can choose a lite syrup to cut the sugar in half. As far as protein flavors, I prefer chocolate and vanilla. Never tried strawberry or banana.
By Pamela Maunsell on May 20, 2008

I assume the egg is there as a binder – is there a substitute you can recommend for people who don’t eat eggs?
By Steve on May 20, 2008

Instead of the egg you could use Eggbeaters I suppose. I have never tried it.
By Kelsey on Sep 7, 2008

How many calories is each bar?
By Steve on Sep 8, 2008

Kelsey:
I don’t mean to be a jerk, but I don’t have time to figure that out right now. I’m struggling to find time just to post. You can visit a nutrition website, possibly try fitday.com and you should be able to plug in all those ingredients and get a total nutritional breakdown for the bars. If you do this, please post your results back here, otherwise I’ll try to get to it eventually.
By Darrin-lean-muscle on Mar 1, 2009

I think you have to be careful about baking protein power – I think it degrades the protein. I have a faster/healthier version of a homemade protein bar that doesn’t require any baking at http://worldfitnessnetwork.com/2009/02/worlds-best-tasting-fastest-healthiest-homemade-protein-bars/
By Philip on May 12, 2009

Steve:

I think these are a definite winner! I used lite corn syrup (the clear stuff), and regular slow-cook oats (since I had lots on hand). The result is something like the taste and texture of a Quaker Oatmeal Square, minus the frosting. I will add these to my assortment of good eats. Thanks for posting this recipe.
By val on Jun 17, 2009

I think it would be great if instead baking the protein powder we could just come up with some sort of yogurt frosting with it incorporated into it…and as soon as i figure out how and what i’m gonna do it with i’ll get back to you’s lol.

o by the way, not all protein bars on the shelf are bad..for instance those snickers marathon protein bars are really good actually and they taste BETTER than most too.
By Steve on Jun 18, 2009

val:
That is a great idea. Yogurt + protein powder could be used as a frosting or to make cookie sandwiches or something. The question is, how much protein can you squeeze into a tablespoon of yogurt frosting? Sounds like high-time to conduct some food experiments.
By Ranita on Aug 1, 2009

I ran the numbers on this recipe and the calories will be around 275 but that is completely dependant and what type of protein powder, if you use eggs or just eggwhites and what type of lite syrup, fruit and nuts you use. Also it is about 17g of protein but once again with different protein powder that can differ greatly.
Note: I ran the numbers using eggwhites, protein powder with 30g a serving and raisins. No nuts.
By Ranita on Aug 1, 2009

I forgot to mention if you are looking for an egg substitute for those who don’t eat eggs you can use 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed to 3 tablespoons water to replace 1 egg. It works perfect in this recipe!
By Steve on Aug 3, 2009

Hey great. Thanks for the feedback Ranita.