The Amazing and Incredible Protein Magic Bars - Also Gluten and Dairy-Free!

You probably know this from reading my blog and following my recipes but, if you don't let, me tell you: I'm a little crazy... crazy about (delicious and healthy) food! And it's a family thing, this love of all things cooking. My dad, in particular, is a fiend and this doesn't go unnoticed.

Last Christmas, for example, my family and I went out to dinner with some friends and I was talking to my dad about... unusual steak sauce pairings I think it was. Anyways, one of our family friends suddenly stops our conversation and goes, "guys, seriously, I have NEVER met ANYONE as passionate about food as you two are; NEVER! I mean, it's shocking! It's really astonishing how excited you get about food and how long you can spend talking about cooking!" and then everyone laughed and nodded because well... I guess it's true :-)

But what makes it fun in our case too is that we're equally passionate about exercise and nutrition. It was my dad, in fact, that got me hooked on strength training and we always accompany our food-chat with updates on our most recent exercise routines and accomplishments ("Dad! I got a deadlift PR!" or "yesterday I rowed another marathon!" or "I was doing pullups at home and the bar fell out with me on it, hahaha!") We also talk one hell of a lot about fast and short-twitch muscle fibers, it's my dad's favorite topic for some reason, hehehe.

Anyways, why am I telling you all this? I'm telling you so you understand why so many of my posts and jam-packed with exclamation marks and overexcitement! It's not that I exaggerate or am a ridiculously-over-the-top person, it's because when I experiment with my protein and it ends up working out, I just want to shouuuuut and share it with the world!!! And my recipes end up receiving hyperbolic titles and an inordinate amount of exclamation marks feature. But bear with me, OK?

OK... So, this recipe turned out AMAZING!!! WAAAAA!!!!! And it's absolutely unreal because that chocolate topping you see right there is nothing more than 100% cocoa powder + protein powder + almond milk + a tiny bit of date syrup. It's totally low-fat, grain-gree, dairy-free, and vegan too! (the top is). But let me just give you the recipe before I break into song :-D Oh, oh, oh! and don't forget to read the notes at the end too! Because they contain useful stuff, etc.

Ingredients - for the base

3/4 cup of liquid egg whites
1/2 cup of goji berries
1/2 cup of vanilla pea protein powder (see notes at the end)
1/2 cup of carton coconut milk
3 tbsp of coconut flour

Ingredients - for the top

1/4 cup of carton coconut milk
1/4 cup of 100% cocoa powder
2 tbsp of date syrup (see notes)
1/4 cup of chocolate pea protein powder

Directions

The directions would honestly NOT be any simpler, all you need to do is this:

Step 1: Blend all the ingredients for the base together until you form a batter (let's call this the 'base-batter').

Step 2: In a separate bowl, blend all the ingredients for the top (to form the 'top-batter').

Step 3: Flatten the base-batter on a small brownie pan and then flatten the top-batter on top. Use a knife, spatula, or plain old spoon for this.

Step 4: Bake the whole thing at 160 C (320 F) until it cooks. So, about 35 minutes or until, when you stab it with a knife, your knife comes out clean.

Step 5: Slice the whole thing into bars and MUUUUUUNCH!!!!!

Notes

If you  have questions about protein powder substitutions, please turn to my Protein Powder Substitution Chart here.

I used this brand for my vanilla and chocolate pea protein powders. It's a US brand and you can get it here.


If you, however, you can't access it and/or if you want to use unflavored pea protein powders all the way instead, go for it - use unflavored powders. This is what I'd use myself, (from BulkPowders here in the UK) and I'd then just add some  vanilla essence (for the vanilla bottom) and cocoa powder (for the chocolate top). The bars won't be AS sweet but they'll still be super yummy :-)

If you don't like goji berries and/or can't find them, you can use some dates instead of the gojis or some dried-up blueberries!

If you don't like or can't find it date syrup anywhere, just substitute it with your sweetener of choice (or some agave syrup!)

Macros

Per bar (out of the five you get from the mix above): 207.84kcals, 24.2g protein, 14.16g carbs (out of which 3.84g is fiber!!!!!!!!), 4.9g fat.

PS: There are only 42 of my cookbooks in Amazon.co.uk right now! I will replenish the stock shortly but, in case it runs out before that, go get your copy by clicking here!

Share

Pin It

Get widget