No-Bake Protein Bars

I have been experimenting with homemade protein bars for a couple years and really have had no luck in finding a bar that is worth making over and over again. However, I definitely think I have landed on to something spectacular with these protein bars. They were super quick to make and can be easily modified to accommodate ingredients currently stocked in the cupboards. These were so good though that I highly doubt I will change them too much in the future.

I found the protein bars via sparkpeople.com. I further adapted the recipe to cut out nearly all of the added sugar.

No-bake Protein Bars

Ingredients

Dry:

1.5 c oats

1/2 c goji berries (any dried fruit will work, such as raisins, cut up dates, cranberries, cherries, apricots)
1/2 c pepita seeds

2 tbsp dark chocolate chips

2 scoops vanilla protein powder

2 tbsp ground flax seed (can be substituted with chia seeds)

1.5 tsp cinnamon

Wet:

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/2 c cashew butter (any nut butter can be used)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp maple syrup (the original recipe called for 1/2 c maple syrup; however, I reduced the amount of maple syrup to keep sugar content low)

Directions

Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl. Mash banana in small bowl and add wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well, stirring ingredients together with a fork.

Once all ingredients are well combined, pour mixture into a 9x9 or 8x8 baking pan lined with wax paper or saran wrap. Press down mixture until flat. 

Place pan in freezer for three hours or until mixture is very firm. Remove pan from freezer and cut into squares or logs. For an easy on the go snack, wrap individual bars in saran wrap. 

Store bars in refrigerator or freezer for up to a month. Bars will soften quickly at room temperature.

Enjoy!