No-Bake Vegan Protein Bars (4 Ingredients!)
Insanely delicious No Bake Vegan Protein Bars with 10 g protein! Naturally sweetened, 4 ingredients, so simple to make!
Servings 9 (bars)
Ingredients
- ~1/3 cup amaranth (1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups popped as original recipe is written)
- 3 Tbsp vanilla or unflavored vegan protein powder*
- 1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp maple syrup (or sub stevia // more or less to taste)
- 1 cup creamy salted peanut or almond butter (or sun butter if sensitive to nuts)
- 2-3 Tbsp melted dark vegan chocolate (optional)
Instructions
- Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper (or plastic wrap) and set aside (adjust number/size of pan if altering batch size).
- Pop* your amaranth by heating a large pot over medium-high heat. You'll know it's ready to start adding amaranth when a drop of water disperses quickly and balls up.
- Add about 2-3 Tbsp amaranth at a time and immediately cover. Shake the pot back and forth over the heat (wearing oven mitts is helpful) to move the grain around. It should start popping within 1-3 seconds, and be done popping at the 10-second mark. Be sure to pull them off at around 10 seconds or they'll start to burn.
- Not every single grain will pop (that's OK!). Very quickly empty into a mixing bowl. This may take a couple tries to dial in your heat and not burn them - it took me 4 tries! But then you'll hit your stride.
- Continue until you have roughly 1 1/2 cups popped grain (amount as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size). As you go, add your popped grain into a small mixing bowl first to ensure none are burnt. Then transfer to a larger bowl so you don't mix any burnt grain with perfectly popped grain. Set aside.
- Add peanut or almond butter and maple syrup to a medium mixing bowl and stir to combine. Then add protein powder and stir.
- Add popped amaranth a little at a time until you have a loose "dough" texture. Be careful not to add too much or the bars can lose their tackiness and won't stick together. I found roughly 1 1/4 cups to be about right (amount as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size). Stir with a wooden spoon or use hands to disperse mixture evenly.
- Transfer the mixture to the baking dish and press down to form an even layer. Lay parchment paper or plastic wrap on top and use a flat-bottom object like a liquid measuring cup to press down and pack the mixture into an even, firmly packed layer.
- Transfer to freezer to set for 10-15 minutes or until firm to the touch. Then lift out and slice into 9 bars (amount as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size). Enjoy as is, or drizzle with a bit of melted dark chocolate (optional).
- These get a little soft at room temperature, so store in the refrigerator (up to 5 days) or in the freezer (up to 1 month).
Video
Notes
*Popping method from Craftsy.com. If you can't find amaranth, you can also sub puffed brown rice cereal or most other popped grains.
*My go-to protein powder recently has been Garden of Life Raw Protein Powder in Vanilla, which works great, here! Other options would be Vega, Vegan Smart, or Sun Warrior.
*I highly recommend making a big batch and freezing these! They'll stay for at least 1 month, likely longer!
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate.
*My go-to protein powder recently has been Garden of Life Raw Protein Powder in Vanilla, which works great, here! Other options would be Vega, Vegan Smart, or Sun Warrior.
*I highly recommend making a big batch and freezing these! They'll stay for at least 1 month, likely longer!
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate.
Nutrition (1 of 9 servings)
Serving: 1 bar Calories: 215 Carbohydrates: 12.3 g Protein: 10.7 g Fat: 15 g Saturated Fat: 3.3 g Trans Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Sodium: 140 mg Fiber: 2.4 g Sugar: 4.2 g