Homemade Sweet & Salty Protein Bars
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I absolutely love nutritious protein bars I can take on the run to stay full on those busy days when I just don’t have time to slow down. There are a lot of store bought bars that I enjoy, but I have to be honest, they can be a little pricy at times. Recently my little guy decided he loves these bars as well and since he has been known to put away 2 or 3 in a single sitting, I decided to see if I would be able to whip up my own version of a homemade protein bar to save a little bit of $$ while having fun experimenting with our own creations.
I have to be honest- it took a while to figure out a recipe that not just tasted great, but where the bars actually stayed together. I played around with it a lot and this finalized version was the only version where the bars stayed as a bar and didn’t end up as tasty bite-sized crumbles (don’t get me wrong, I definitely enjoyed eating the reject batches as well).
After quite a few trial & errors on this recipe, I definitely see the appeal in just paying up and buying the bars, but when you have some time and want to get the kids in on the action (which always helps mine to be more likely to actually eat it) this recipe is a lot of fun to try out. And yes- I did use marshmallows in the recipe. No I don’t feel guilty. I could have used honey, brown rice syrup, or a number of other ingredients, but we had marshmallows in the house and they actually made the bars stick together, so I went with it 😉
Do you have a homemade nut bar recipe you love?
Homemade Sweet & Salty Nut Bars
Equipment
- food processor
- Large pot
- 13×9 pan
- Rubber spatula or wax paper
- Cutting board
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted almonds chopped
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted peanuts chopped
- 1 cup unsalted walnuts chopped
- 3/4 cup puffed millet
- 2 cups natural peanut butter
- 2 cups marshmallows
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate
Instructions
- In a food processor, chop nuts (if needed). In a large bowl, mix together nuts, millet, and sea salt.
- Bring a large pot over medium heat. Melt coconut oil and mix in peanut butter. Once peanut butter has begun to thin, add in marshmallows and stir until melted.
- Remove from heat. Pour nut mixture into the pot and stir until all nuts have been evenly coated.
- Pour mixture into a lightly greased glass 13×9 pan. Using a rubber spatula or wax paper, press down on mixture so that it completely covers the bottom of the pan.
- Place pan in the refrigerator and allow to cool for 2 hours. Remove from the refrigerator before the mixture hardens completely
- Fill pan over onto a cutting board and tap lightly to remove. On the cutting board, slice the block evenly into your desired sized bars.
- Once the bars have been cut, melt the dark chocolate and lightly drizzle over the bars. Place bars back in the refrigerator to allow chocolate to harden. Store in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.