Protein bars

These little babies are my saving grace on my big work days. I pop one or two in my lunch box for when I'm driving. I'm a compulsive eat-while-driving sufferer. I try really hard not to but I think it's years and years of conditioning, combined with radio ads and boredom. My strategy to fight this habit is to have a full bottle of water on the seat and a protein bar in case I cave in.

For the last few weeks I've been buying these:

but I've also been researching home made protein bar recipes. I found one I liked the sound of but it requires tinned black beans - only available in America. Lots of other recipes sounded good but required crushed nuts and I really wanted to try the bean base. I figured I should just experiment and see what happened. My desire to make my own really only stems from trying to eat as clean as possible without additives and other nasties. This way I know exactly what is going in to my bars.

The original recipe came from here.

Fudge Brownie Chocolate Protein Bars

1 1/2 cups Red Kidney Beans drained and rinsed well
3 tbs cocoa powder
7 tbs chocolate protein powder (I used Natures Way)
1/3 cup of honey (pure maple syrup or agave can also be used)
pinch of pure stevia or 2 tbs of sugar of choice  (I botched this and only just realised I did 2tsp not tbs..we'll see how it turns out)
3 1/2 tbs coconut or vegetable oil
1 tbs pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup to 2/3 cup of chocolate chips (optional - I didn't put these in)

Put all ingredients except the chocolate chips into a food processor and process until smooth. If adding the chocolate chips add once smooth. Tip into a greased 8 x 8 tin and bake at 180 for 15 minutes. Allow to cool then refrigerate overnight. Cut into pieces and enjoy.

So then they went into the fridge over night, then I cut them into 16 even squares - 100 cals each. I put them in ziplock bags in pairs and popped them in the freezer - all but one bag which I took to work.


And the result....they were DELICIOUS!!! Definitely worth the hard work!!