Home-Made Protein Bars

Earlier this year I asked Danielle if she’d come up with some manner of food / energy / protein bar for me to eat while doing longer bike rides. She took this Protein Bar recipe from Good Eats and adapted it to use things we had around the house, and they came out quite nice. I’ve eaten some of this stuff on all of the long rides I’ve done recently, and it seems to help quite a bit by getting some solid food in my stomach.

Once baked these have a nice, slightly fruity and peanut butter-y taste, and by cutting them, putting them in individual sandwich bags and freezing, it’s easy to take one out and thaw it before (or on the first part of) a longer ride. I’ve found that a large pizza cutter (rolling style) works very well for cutting these into individual pieces.

Here’s what goes into them — the adapted recipe:

• 4 oz. Vanilla Protein Powder
• 2 1/2 oz. Oat Bran
• 3 1/4 oz. Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
• 11 oz. Dried Cranberries (Substitute other dried fruit as desired.)
• 1 oz. Sweetened Coconut Flakes
• 12.3 oz. Soft Silken Tofu (Typically one package.)
• 1/2 cup Carrot Juice
• 4 oz. Light Brown Sugar
• 2 Large Eggs, Beaten
• 170g Peanut Butter (Natural as possible, peanuts and salt only.)

To prepare:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Line a 13″ x 9″ baking pan/dish with parchment and coat with oil.
3. In a large bowl combine protein powder, oat bran, wheat flower, and salt. Whisk together.
4. Coarsely chop the dried fruit. Set aside in a small bowl.
5. In a third bowl, whisk the tofu until smooth, then add the carrot juice, brown sugar, eggs, and peanut butter and process until smooth. A stick blender can help with this.
6. Slowly add the the protein powder mixture into the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
7. Fold in the dried fruit and coconut flakes.
8. Pour into pan and spread into an even layer.
9. Bake for around 35 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 222°F.
10. Remove from oven, cool completely, then cut into the desired number of pieces.

Nutritional info for the entire batch, for the original recipe, which should be close to the modified version:

Calories: 4008 kcal
Total Fat: 120 g
Saturated Fat: 24 g
Protein: 192 g
Total Carbohydrates: 552 g
Sugar: 336 g
Fiber: 72 g
Cholesterol: 432 mg
Sodium: 1896 mg

I typically cut this batch into around 12 pieces, resulting in ~334 kcal and around 16 g of protein per bar. Most of them go into the freezer in individual plastic bags, and then I just take one two on each longer ride.