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.
These protein bars sound fantastic! I’m always a fan of quick, easy and healthy recipes! I will be pinning these! :-)
I have been searching for a new protein bar recipe to try out – these look delicious!
I don’t have rice cereal … could I just add more oats do you think? And/or some nuts?
Hi Katie, I would probably go with the nut idea! I added the rice crisp for texture, so I think crunchy nuts would be a great swap. Enjoy :)
I didn’t either and I used a crumbled up rice cake.
me too. works perfectly
Hello, Angela.
I noticed this recipe upon searching for protein bars to take in my backpack to travel with (on foot). I was going to vacuum seal them so they stayed fresh longer. Do you know if there is any way I can store them out of the freezer or prepare them differently so they will store in a backpack?
Thank you so much.
In case anyone else wanted a non-frozen option, I made these as is, but I added a flax egg, rolled them into balls, and baked at 350 for about 15 minutes. Also wound up leaving out the chocolate because I didn’t have the ingredients on hand-tasted fine though!
Glad you asked this, Katie! I was wondering the same! Can’t wait to try this!
I just made these with puffed millet cereal instead of rice cereal, and with raisins instead of chocolate chips. They turned out perfect! Thanks!
I didn’t have the cereal so I puffed a batch of amaranth (took all of two minutes to get 1/2 cup) and subbed that instead. Bonus: amaranth has 13 grams of protein per 1/2 cup. It tasted awesome. I just mixed everything together in my food processor after I turned the oats into flour and it worked beautifully. Amazing recipe, as always!
How do you puff amaranth? I’m asking cause id like to try it as a substitute as well.
Thank you! Great idea!!!
I used cranberries
I added bran buds and ground nuts (assorted). Yummy!
Ok thanks dear!!
Oh man this looks GOOD! I can’t wait to make these!!
Oh yeah, I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t like the taste of stevia. People always recommend it and I’m like “uh yeah but have you tasted it!?” Bleh. :)
ive been using xylitol for baking breads and desserts, found it to be fantastic. its just a little pricey
Hey Angela!
this looks great! I cant wait to try it out :)
By the way, not sure if you are aware but your whole post doesn’t show up in feedly. it stops right before the recipe is given.
Hope you have a great day! Thanks for all your hard work!!
Hey Tiffany,
We’re working on the post not displaying in feedly – hopefully it will be fixed soon!
this recipe was horrible it tasted disgusting i will never ever try this again. srry 4 loss
These look so good! But do you think I could skip the protein powder? Or substitute it for almond flour or more oats? In Denmark we only have protein powders filled with all sorts of weird chemicals, and we don’t really have a vegan version, so I never buy protein powder. So if you have any ideas about how to make a protein bar without protein powder, please share them! :)
Yes you certainly can skip the protein powder – and your idea of adding more oat or almond flour would work just fine. Just add a bit at a time to achieve the right consistency (cookie dough).
As for boosting the protein content – the nut butter helps, but if you want to add more try adding hulled hemp seeds or chia seeds too.
These look like the perfect grab and go snack! Healthy homemade versions are the best, thanks!
Looks quite similar to Amanda’s “no bake almond fudge protein bars” posted a few days ago on runningwithspoons.com .
We must be on the same wavelength! :) I assume there are many recipes similar to these on the internet…they aren’t exactly revolutionary. I made a similar recipe to these a few years back using brown rice syrup.
Yes-definitely same wavelength because I have a recipe very similar too, minus my egg binders since I baked mine! Only difference is I used a full cup of crisp cereal, where you used half crisp cereal and half protein powder. I love baking with protein powder, but haven’t tried it in no-bake yet. Thanks for the idea…I bet they are delicious! :)
I called mine “peanut butter lovers granola bars” :)
Saw the ugly post. Theres always a critic. Thanks for the recipe. I thought it was great.
I am happy you have added a few to the book; I use to get most of your globars as Christmas giftsfrom friends.. I would try to recreate them, but I could never get it right. I am happy to see the famous globars, I hope a few glo-nola recipes as well.
Thank you Shundara – that makes me happy! I hope it’s worth the wait :)
these look delicious, angela! i love the consistency of cookie dough (but who doesn’t?). peanut butter would be my favorite, too, because peanut butter is just the tastiest thing in the world. i need one of these now!
Oh man. I would seriously love these! I’m always look for easy grab and go snacks.
I cannot stand the taste of stevia at ALL. I remember the first time I tried it I dumped one little packet into my tea…can you say GAG? I tried to develop a taste for it I really did, but I just cannot get past the aftertaste. I also tried quest bars since everyone seems to adore them and got through half of the bar before I threw it out. I’d purchased a whole box of quest bars too and I ended up taking them to my local CrossFit box and handing them out for free. The after taste was so bad of the stevia and/or sucralose that I was thisclose to washing my mouth out with soap. I’ll take real sugar and all its “empty” calories anyday over stevia.
If you mix stevia with other sweeteners (eg a little honey, couple drops liquid) it really is tolerable and helps with getting used to it. Liquid seems less aftertasty than powder also.
Haven’t tried this recipe yet, but it looks yummy.
These protein bars look delicious. I can’t wait to try them from the freezer!!
These look fantastic and super easy, love it! And I can’t wait for the GloBar recipes in your cookbook! I discovered your blog just after you had closed the bakery and I never got to try the bars everyone raved about! :/ Excited I’ll be able to try them at home though!! =)
I’m excited for you too!
These look great! Love that they are no bake! Makes them so much more convenient!
So so exited for your upcoming cookbook, you go girl!
I can not wait for your cookbook and to try these! Seriously, they look amazing and I love the fact that they incorporate Sunwarrior.
These look so fabulous! I love having granola bars on hand for quick snacks. I’ve never used protein powder before but will have to look into it!
I like the texture and colour of these. They seem more dry than the bars I’ve been making lately, so I’ll give these a shot. I need to replenish my freezer stock of energy bars so this is great timing :)