For those of us on the go: DIY Protein Bars
Another great idea from Kristen Kemp
Here is a well tried and true recipe that you can have fun playing with and make your own! My sister introduced me to these years ago when she wasn't able to find commercially made nut free protein bars for my nephew. They are Mollie Katzen's Protein Bars. A link to the original recipe is included and most of my modifications are included in the Variations section at the end but I'll list mine for you anyway! The only time mine haven't turned out well is the time I forgot to add any kind of sweetener. That batch was tipped into the bin after one taste!
So, when I make these I use whole wheat flour, usually stone ground, no salt, a quarter cup of maple syrup instead of sugar, a quarter to half a cup of my homemade unsweetened applesauce instead of oil (I haven't tried with coconut oil yet, which I recently discovered, but imagine it would be delicious in this recipe), I add two bananas, and I use 1 cup of Whole Foods 365 brand dark chocolate chunks and half to one cup of raisins. I've also been known to add some roasted pumpkin seeds into the mix! When I use yogurt it's a good, plain Greek, whatever brand you like. When I use tofu I get whatever brand of Lite Silken is least expensive on the day I'm shopping. As in Mollie's Variations, I have tried adding canned pumpkin (plain pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling) instead of the bananas but did not adjust anything else. The batch was good but I would recommend a bit more sweetener and cinnamon if you give that a try. Also, I have not tried making these gluten free (and really need to so I can have them again!) but, with all of the GF baking products available imagine it wouldn't be difficult at all to make the switch. If you do happen to give them a try that way please let me know how they turn out!
My final piece of advice, if you have a good sized stand mixer, use it! I used to mix them by hand, now I use my mixer, so much easier! However, if you do have to do the "by hand" method, I highly recommend actually getting your hands into the mix to get things well blended!
Have fun, play with these, make them your own...enjoy!!
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