Granola bars have to be one of my favourite things to make. I’ve had a soft spot for them since running the bakery. I look back to those days with (mostly) warm, fuzzy memories. Maybe making + shipping 500 bars a week by hand wasn’t ideal, but it was the experience that I enjoyed the most – the process of growing a business and having others enjoy something I created from scratch. I still look back at the pictures and laugh, seeing a 9-foot table buried in packaged bars while I stuck on the front and back label as fast as possible. My mother-in-law used to help assemble all the boxes for me. Some days I’d walk into the living room to see about 200 boxes of various sizes assembled and stacked in towers with all of the shipping envelopes stuck on the top. And then Eric would often help me at night when he got home from work. It takes a village. We’d create an assembly line packing all the boxes with bars, receipts, labels, hand-written thank-yous, business cards, all before sealing them up and attaching the shipping label. It was organized chaos to say the least. Heavy on the chaos part. Ever since I closed the bakery, I’ve had it in the back of my mind that I’d like to open it again some day, if the stars align. We’ll have to see. For now, I still enjoy making granola bars whenever I can just for the heck of it.
By the way – It’s official – I’m including two of the most popular Glo Bar recipes in my cookbook, so keep your eyes peeled for those!
I’ve made these protein bars a few different ways over the past few weeks – one with peanut butter, one with almond butter, and the last with sunflower seed butter. All worked out lovely, although the roasted peanut butter was probably my favourite, flavour wise (no surprise here). Rest assured you can make these nut-free simply by using sunflower seed butter (shown top, right). My go-to is Sunbutter.
This recipe also calls for plant-based protein powder. This is the Sunwarrior powder that I use. I specifically bought the unflavoured version of Sunwarrior because I’ve concluded that stevia gives me headaches (anyone else?) and I’m really not crazy about the flavour of stevia to begin with. If you are using a sweetened protein powder, you’ll likely have to reduce the liquid sweetener in this recipe and make up for the loss of liquid with a bit of non-dairy milk. Just play around with it – as long as your dough isn’t super dry and crumbly you should be fine! We’re aiming for the consistency of cookie dough here.
After mixing the dough together, simply press it into the pan (I like to use a pastry roller to smooth it out – you can find these at the Dollarstore!) and pop it into the freezer while you melt the chocolate.
{Here is a random freezer shot featuring fillo shells, chickpeas, butternut squash, hemp hearts, blueberries, pita bread, torn kale (for smoothies), Amy’s California burgers, and corn!}
Finally, slice into bars, drizzle on the chocolate, and freeze until set. I love keeping them stashed in the freezer – they are the perfect pick me up when my energy is low and I need something fast.
Quick 'n Easy No-Bake Protein Bars
Yield
12
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Chill time
15 minutes
Total time
These no-bake bars are thrown together in minutes and make the perfect snack to store in the freezer for a quick burst of energy. Feel free to use sunflower seed butter to make these nut-free. I used an unsweetened/unflavoured protein powder, so if you are using a sweetened protein powder, you will likely have to reduce the liquid sweetener (and make up for the lack of liquid by adding some non-dairy milk). Play around with it if necessary and aim for a cookie dough texture. You can also roll the dough into balls and add in chocolate chips if you don't wish to make them into bar form.
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups gluten-free rolled oats, blended into a flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened/unflavoured vegan protein powder (I use Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Natural)
- 1/2 cup rice crisp cereal
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, to taste
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter, almond butter, or sunflower seed butter
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (or liquid sweetener of choice)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons mini dark chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life)
- 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
Directions
- Line an 8-inch square pan with a piece of parchment paper. Mix the oat flour, protein powder, rice crisp, and salt together in a large bowl.
- Add in the nut/seed butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir well to combine. If the mixture is a bit dry, add a splash of non-dairy milk and mix again.
- Press into pan and roll out with a pastry roller until smooth. Pop into the freezer.
- Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil together in a small pot over low heat. When half of the chips have melted, remove from heat and stir until smooth.
- After freezing the bars for about 5-10 minutes, remove from freezer and slice into bars. Drizzle with melted chocolate and freeze again until set. Store in the freezer for a week or longer in an air-tight freezer bag or container.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
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I made these, and while the taste is awesome, I simply cannot get the consistency right; straight from the freezer they are too hard, and after a short while in the refrigerator they just become sticky mush? I pretty much followed the recipe (except I had to convert into grams), so I would greatly appreciate if someone could tell me what I might have done wrong!
Regards,
Sebastian.
Hey Sebastian, I would recommend letting them sit for a few minutes on the counter after freezing. It’s been a while since I made them, but I think that’s how I enjoyed the texture the most.
Hi! These look delicious. Do you know the counts for calories, protein and fat in each bar?
Hi Casey! I’ve shared the nutritional information here. :)
I made these yesterday and they are delicious! I didn’t have quite a 1/2 cup of puffed quinoa, so I rounded them out with chopped peanuts. I used a vanilla protein and forgot to use less maple syrup so on tasting the ‘dough’ it was too sweet for me. I added a bit more salt and chopped tart cherries to balance this out, which did the trick. I’m sure the 85% dark chocolate I drizzled on top helped too! Yum. :)
So glad you ended up enjoying them, Gabrielle!! Tart cherries sound like a great addition, and I’m sure they did a wonderful job balancing out the extra bit of sweetness. Thanks for sharing!
Hi there – my kids have a ton of allergies/sensitivities – nuts and sunflower seeds included – I’m wondering if i can substitute the nut/seed butters for an apple butter? I don’t know much about cooking, so not sure if this is just a change in taste or if it affects the way the bars stick together. Thanks for your help!
Hey Jenn, I’m sorry, I’m not sure! I have only tried the recipe as written. Please let us know if you try anything out though! My worry is that they wouldn’t bind together properly or would be too wet with apple butter.
Can you try canned pumpkin instead?
I made these and made several adjustments based on what I had on hand
I substituted coconut flakes (unsweetened) for the cereal(Thanks to the person above who suggested them!) and used Vega One natural powder, a tbsp. of flax and 1/4 cup of agave syrup since the protein powder is sweetened.
I love them and now no longer buy protein bars, this has saved me money and the recipe is very quick! This recipe made enough to last one person for 3 weeks!
My errors were choosing a pan with sides too high for the pastry roller and not having the chocolate mixture turn out smooth. My bars are slightly green and less than pretty, but I love them so much! I might try a chocolate covered version too if I can manage to get the right consistency.
Recipe looks great! Is there any way to make these without protein powder?
Hi Joe, Yes, I think you can skip the protein powder – simply add more oat flour, maybe doing so a bit at a time to achieve the right consistency (cookie dough). If you want to keep the boost of protein, you could try adding some hulled hemp seeds or chia seeds, too. I’d love to hear how it goes if you experiment.
How many calories will be in each bar?
Hi Michelle, You can find the nutrition info at the bottom of the recipe. Hope that helps!
I made these , AWESOME and delicious, so easy .
I also made the endurance crackers , so so gpod .
Thanks for these easy home made options Angela.
Planing my weekly meals and these weee 2 of those recipes.
Caroline
These are always in our freezer. I use peanut butter and a whey cookies and cream protein, and I add chocolate chips into the batter before freezing. My son absolutely loves these (and he’s hard to please), and they’re perfect for our hiking backpacks.
Can you please tell me how you determine the nutritional value? I’ve been pulling my hair out trying to figure it out.
Also, if I wanted 20G of protein in each bar, how much cups or scoops should I use? The protein I’m using has 20g per scoop.
Would like to try this recipe but need to get the nutritional information (calories and protein, mostly). The “Nutrition Info” link does not work when you click on it. (I have had bariatric surgery.) Thank you very much!
Hi Susan, Sorry it’s been a bit getting back to you! Is the link working for you now? So weird! Maybe try this one, in case not: http://ohsheglows.com/proteinbars/. Hopefully it’ll cooperate! Please let me know. :)
Just tried a version of this. Didn’t have almond butter so I grinded up some almonds and added water that I used to soak dates. Replaced rice puffs with fresh grated coconut and chia seeds. Replaced maple syrup with date syrup I made by adding water. I’ll let you know how they turn out as they’re in the freezer now!~ Thank you :)
Do you think honey would be a good substitute for the syrup?
Hello I was wandering what are the macros for each bar? I can’t find it sorry if I’ve over looked it
Hi Josh, you can find some of the nutritional information here. To get a more detailed breakdown, you could try plugging the recipe info into an online tool like nutritiondata.com or an app like MyFitnessPal. Hope that helps!
These are a good basic bar you can build on to suit your tastes. Only problem with these as with all home made bars, is they are temperature sensitive and brittle. Either you eat them from the fridge which is fine or you leave them out on your desk or something and they then crumble to pieces. I started forming them in the bottoms of small tupperware and just leaving them in there in the fridge. Makes life alot easier than trying to get all artsy about it.
These are awesome!! I changed the recipe just a little the choco drip and added cocoa powder for even faster recipe. But flavor is great and they do make bars that stay together. Plus they really taste good.
I’ve made these twice now and I love them! I’m on a high-protein, low-fat, low-fiber diet and these protein bars really satisfy my craving for something sweet.
I’m using almond butter and I’ve substituted toasted pecans for the puffed rice. And I use honey instead of maple syrup (I’m not actually vegan) and I skip the chocolate drizzle. Mine are kinda sticky so I wrap each one in a scrap of the parchment I used to line the pan – so each bar looks like a present to me. They are so good straight out of the freezer!
I would love try this recipe! Every no-bake bars I ever try to make was just a mistake, bad consistency, terrible taste.. I’ll give it a try :)
I made these. Awful. I have tried 10 recipes in this vein in the past month and a half, these were the worst. YUK. No stars.
I had to tell you, we just made this. So great for my kids with nut allergies who love clif bars. We live where we cant buy them easily so we decided to make our own. to quote my 12 year old: “This recipe just changed my life in one day!” THANK YOU!!!
Hah, that is too cute! So glad to hear the bars were a hit :)
Hi Angela! Just made these along w a link to your recipe. Thanks for all you do!❤ New at blogging, so if there is a preferred way to link to you please lemme know. Much love!
Summer at theportlandvegan.com
Hi Summer, thanks so much for the shout-out on your blog (and the super kind words!). You linked to the recipe exactly how we’d like you to. :) Wishing you all the best, and a ton of fun, on your new blogging venture!
After trying a few store-bought protein bars these last couple weeks, I figured that it may just be easier to make my own… so off to OSG I trekked and found this recipe (I should have just clicked my bookmark right away. Super excited to try these… while stevia doesn’t give me headaches, t does make me super nauseated… ugh.
The rolled oats…. Is that 1 5 cup before ground up or after?
Hi Ellena, You’re blending 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats into a flour (1 1/2 cups go into the blender). Hope that helps clarify! :)
These are incredible. They’re delicious, they have a wonderful, lightly crispy texture, they’re full of protein, and they’re quick to make. I make them all the time – they’re the perfect snack to have on hand and especially great if I’ve got a workout coming up later in the day. I use agave syrup from Trader Joe’s instead of maple syrup to keep costs down. Thanks for this fantastic recipe!
Thanks for the lovely comment, Anne! So happy to hear you enjoy the bars.
How much protein per bar?
Hi Jason, You can find the nutritional info for these bars here. Hope this helps!
Whoa, amazing. I feel like I just got $25 worth of store-bought protein bars for like $3 worth of ingredients, I’m pretty pleased.
I didn’t have rice cereal so I used chopped pepitas so there’s still a bit of a crunch, turned out awesome. I also added everything into my food processor after blending the oats and that was super easy.
OMG! I just made these and they’re amazing. Thank you!
So glad they’re a hit, Barb! Enjoy :)
I have made these bars countless times over the past few years and subbing with different ingredients.
My favorite is with brown rice syrup instead of maple syrup and almond butter instead of PB. It holds together better and they stay more firm.
I have even tried it with nutella in place of PB and added in a few drops of peppermint to make a mint mocha bar- defenitely not the healthiest, but soooooo good!
These are incredible! I swapped the rice crisp for sunflower seeds, and also added dried cranberries the next time I made them. Sooo yummy, easy and perfect for those hectic days.
Hey Leah, I’m happy you enjoyed these so much! Dried cranberries would be delicious, I bet.
I LOVE these bars, and the Mocha bars! They are my favorite, but there are many recipes you have developed that my family loves. I have both your books and the apps, and have bought your books for my daughter and friends. Thank you for all your recipes!
I have a question that I hope you can help me with, but probably not. I have a grain mill and grind my oats. I used to put the groats into my flacker and flatten the oats, then blend them, this is a pain. Do you know how much 1 1/2 rolled oats makes into flour? ( I am probably just going to have to wing it, huh!
Michelle
Hey Michelle, So happy you love these bars (and other recipes too)!
1 1/2 cups of rolled oats should make about 1 1/2 cups of oat flour based on what I’ve tested at home. Hope this helps!
Sorry, I meant to ask how much oat groats makes 1 1/2 rolled oats. I ended up using 1cup of oats in my grinder, and made the oat flour. Using a cup of the groats seemed to make the perfect consistency for the bars!
Oh gotcha…I’m sorry but I’m not sure!
I have made these a few times now, they are awesome. I use a whey chocolate protein with peanut butter. I find they are good for before or after the gym and great as a recovery snack with my protein shake.
I’m so happy you love them Sheri…I love them post work out too! Great to pop in the purse or bag.
Hi! I just bought unflavored sunwarrior plus protein powder and am finding that it has a very distinct and unpleasant aftertaste. Do you know if the original (like the one you use in the recipe) is any better? Does it have an aftertaste ? Thanks!
Hey Sarah, The Sunwarrior I buy is the “Warrior Blend” in “Natural” (no stevia). It took me a bit of time to get used to the flavour, but now I love it and I like that the ingredient list is super short. I haven’t had the sunwarrior plus before I don’t think! I find protein powders are such a personal preference thing and it can take some time to find one you love.
Can you please post the nutrition facts?
Hey Angela, just wanted to let you know that these bars are the bomb! The first time I’ve made something using protein powder that actually not only tastes good, but delicious! I used the SunWarrior Natural protein powder. Couldn’t taste it in the bars. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Kelly
Hey Kelly, Thank you for trying them out and letting us know how they were. I’m so glad you love them so much!
These sound super yummy! Do you think I could sub collagen powder for the protein powder?
Hey Jessica, Oh that’s an interesting question! I’m sorry I haven’t worked with collagen powder before so I’m not sure what kind of qualities it has in recipes. You might want to try googling some collagen protein bars for ideas? That might help you avoid any possible failed attempts! :)
These are very good as no-bake, but can I also bake them? Perhaps need a tsp of baking powder to bake?
Hey Alan, Oh I’m not sure…it would be an experiment for sure! Baking powder may help a bit but they’d probably still be quite dense.
I went ahead and experimented, adding a couple of eggs and a bit of baking powder. The baked bars are not as moist and indulgent as the no-bake, but they are still very good and now I can take them to work!
Thanks for sharing your tweaks, Alan!
Hi Alan, at what temperature did you bake the bars?
Hi, I just made a double batch of these and they are sitting in the freezer, I also used puffed quinoa for the cereal. Happy to have them made, but I do have a question regarding the nutrition.
What is the size (weight) of each bar? The total count would be great if I knew what they each weigh. I ended up with 32 at around 1.2 oz each, which may be a touch small. Could you please let me know?
Question..I made these and love them, but wondering what the equivalent gram measurement would be for a serving size? I cut way more than 12 out of mine so would prefer weighing them to know the nutrition info.
Thanks
I made these with vegan pure pea protein and they are great! I will not have to purchase expensive chalky protein bars again. I also used fresh ground peanut butter from the grocery store but will grind my own almond butter next batch. They are a little bit dry but I will add a touch of almond milk as suggested on the next batch. I may like them a little too much. I am eating them every time I pass by them. Thank you for the fantastic support you provide gluten free vegans. I couldn’t have done it without you. I am 3 years this week!
I make these all the time. The first time I followed the recipe exactly and it was great. Now that I am familiar with it I add flax, chia and hemp seeds along with the protein powder (I use pure pea protein powder). I add a little extra peanut butter and sometimes a touch of almond milk to hold it together. I put the chips in the batter rather then melt them because I want to avoid the oil. I either make bars or roll into little balls. I just love this recipe!
I tried it, it works great. I did even used alot less sugar and it is so delicious. Thank you for sharing.
Question
So these are meant to be frozen. How long can they last outside the freezer? If I were to keep one in my backpack at work- how long do you think it would last before it starts to crumble?
Thanks
Hey Carina, It’s been a while since I’ve made this recipe so I’m not certain, but I think if you took it out of the freezer and placed it into your backpack it would be okay for 2 to 3 hours?