Homemade Protein Bars For Serious Athletes

By Mike Mahler

Just about all of the protein bars on the market are garbage. They are loaded with sugar, artificial ingredients, and low quality proteins. You mind as well eat a Snickers bar which is probably better than most of the high priced protein bars. The only protein bar that I can think of that is good is called organic food bar which you can find at Trader Joes, Whole foods, and many online retailers. However, it is still pretty high in sugar and not even close to the quality of the following homemade protein bars. The homemade protein bars on this page are nothing short of super meals that are healthy and perfect for hard training athletes. I have some everyday and you will want to as well.

Here is a list of ingredients that you need to get:

1. Protein powder. Personally, I use Sunwarrior Protein Powder and recommend it highly. However, it is not essential and you can use whatever protein powder you prefer.

2. Almond butter. Almond butter is loaded with protein and healthy fat. For the purpose of the protein bars it helps bind all of the ingredients together. You can also use peanut buter,
hempseed butter, cashew butter, and pumpkin seed butter. Personally I prefer almond butter and use it most of the time.

3. Spices: spices have many benefits and turn good meals into great super meals. I like to use ginger, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. All are great for blood sugar and have anti-inflammatory properties.

4. Flaxseed powder: flaxseed powder is great stuff and in addition to adding a nice dose of fiber to the bars, it is also loaded with magnesium and helps improve the good to bad estrogen ration. It helps clear out harmful estrogens such as 16-hydroxyestrone and increases the healthy estrogen 2-hydroxyestrone. It also helps bind all of the ingredients together.

5. Sweetener: this one is optional. If you do not want to add a sweetener to the bars you do not have to as they taste pretty good without it. However, most people will find that the bars taste much better with a sweeter. I personally use agave syrup which is a low glycemic sweeter that is loaded with minerals.

6. Almond Milk: This one is also optional. You can use water to mix up all of the ingredients. I think the almond milk adds a nice flavor to the bars and I use a low sugar almond milk that you can get at many grocery stories.
Here are some recipes:

Protein Bars

Vanilla Almond Protein Bar

Ingredients
4 scoops vanilla rice protein
2 tablespoons almond butter
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1/2 cup of almond milk
1 tablespoon of ginger powder
1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder
1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice powder
1 tablespoon of agave syrup

Put all of the above ingredients in a bowl and stir with a spoon until you have a thick paste consistency. Divide into four parts. Place on a baking tray in the oven for 15 minutes at 425 degrees.

Four bars provides around 70 grams of protein and only around 20 grams of carbohydrates and around 20 grams of fat.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bar

Ingredients
2 scoops Chocolate rice protein
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
¼ cup of almond milk

Put all of the above ingredients in a bowl and stir with a spoon until you have a thick paste consistency. Divide in two and wrap each bar in tin foil. Place the bars in the fridge overnight. The next day you will have two delicious bars ready for breakfast or whenever you want a snack.

Nutrition Breakdown (1 bar)

27 grams of protein
17 grams of carbohydrates
21 grams of fat
365 calories
Chocolate Pecan Bars

3 scoops of Sunwarrior Chocolate Protein Powder1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder1/4 cup of pecans2 tablespoons of flaxseed powder2 tablespoons of raw almond butter1 tablespoon of non dairy/non gluten brownie mix1/2 cup of low sugar almond milkStir it up into a thick paste. Broke off into 6 parts and put it in the fridge for two hours. then backed it at 425 for 15 minutes. Turned out really well. Hard three parts as a snack and then the other three parts for dessert after dinner.

Vanilla Pecan Protein Cookies

Ingredients
3 scoops of sunwarrior vanilla protein powder (equal to 45 grams of protein)
3 tablespoons of sunflower seed butter (equal to 10.5 grams of protein)
1/4 cup of pecans
1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon of stevia
1 teaspoon of agave syrup
3 tablespoons of flaxseed powder around
1/4-1/2 cup of low carb almond milk

Stir all of the above and start with 1/4 cup of almond milk. If it is still chalky, add more. Once you get it into thick paste like material break it into 7-8 pieces. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 and you are locked and loaded.

SUN WARRIOR RICE PROTEIN:

Tastes great and will not upset your stomach! Finally a protein powder that is organic, tastes great, and will not cause nausea and have you running to the bathroom with the runs!

It is not often that I get excited about protein powder. Most protein powders taste terrible and are loaded with unhealthy chemical ingredients. Sure I have used a few protein powders that are decent but none that actually motivated me to want to sell them on my website until recently. Not too long ago the guys at Sunwarrior were nice enough to send me a few bottles of their rice protein to test drive. Honestly I was expecting another bland terrible tasting rice protein like all of the other options that are on the marketplace. To my pleasant surprise I was actually shocked with how delicious the vanilla and chocolate flavors are. Unlike most protein powders both the vanilla and chocolate flavors taste great in water. This is the true test of a protein powder as you can make just about any protein powder taste great by mixing it with tons of fruits in a blender. However, if it tastes great in just water then you know you have a winner.

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