Mint Chocolate Protein Bars are delicious make at home protein bars with 14 grams of protein that come together in less than 5 minutes!
Hi friends! How was your weekend? You know what, the better question yet, how is your Monday? I love Mondays, they are all about achieving your dreams, setting priorities, and the possibility of achievement! However, I am kind of sad I had to put these freaking delicious bars in the freezer.
I gave up chocolate for lent but did you know that Sundays aren’t part of the 40? So apparently your Lent sacrifices aren’t required to be upheld on Sundays during Lent.
This is a rule I always kind of ignored and stuck with my commitments the whole time, but this year I NEEDED to make this protein bars. I’d been dreaming of them since Mr. Hungry bought a box of thin mints last month.
I usually put oats in my energy bites, but somehow we were out of oats. So I decided to substitute almond flour which made them lower in carbs and higher in protein and healthy fat.
That means these protein bars will be more filling and satisfying, it also gave them a nice protein bar texture. Kind of like a quest bar and RX bar had a baby!
The cool thing is with this recipe you can also make energy bites instead of bars. With the energy bites, all you have to do is roll the dough into balls instead of pressing it into a pan then refrigerate.
(You’ll notice the energy balls I made in the second batch are a little lighter than the bars. That’s just because I ran out of cocoa powder and didn’t have time to go get more, so those only have 1/2 the amount of cocoa powder in them (less liquid as well to adjust for that).
They still turned out pretty delicious though! The balls or bars are good as for 7-10 days or as long as your almond milk is good for since that’s the most perishable ingredient in them. Speaking of that….
Let’s talk ingredients:
Medjool Dates – These act as a binder, mine were brand new so they were soft. If yours are kind of old you may want to soak them for 30 minutes to an hour.. You can sub for 10 deglect noor dates, but I have tried it.
Vanilla Protein Powder – I used Vanilla Formulx, but any vanilla whey protein powder. I would assume that vegan protein powders would work as well, the texture just may differ. I would refrain from using any kind of protein powder with mixed greens included.
Blanched Almond Flour – You can sub this for other nut flours but not coconut flour. My in-laws bring me bulk Almond Flour from their Costco in Cali since we don’t have it at ours in AZ. Otherwise, I order from Amazon.
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – Like what you use for baking! Makes it a chocolate flavor, so you definitely don’t want to skip this!
Coconut Oil – the coconut oil hardens in the fridge and helps to hold the bars together. Don’t sub this with any other type of oil.
Maple Syrup – you can substitute any liquid sweetener you have on hand such as honey, brown rice syrup, or agave. I haven’t tried it though! I chose maple because I thought it would be neutral enough to compliment the mint flavor.
Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk – Can substitute any milk or even water if needed. It’s only to help get enough liquid that the bars will stick together.
Mint Extract – You may want to start with 1/8 teaspoon and add more as desired. Mint extract can be very strong depending on the brand, I found 1/2 teaspoon to be perfect!
Mint Chocolate Protein Bars
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Mint Chocolate Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 5 medjool dates
- 1 cup vanilla whey protein I used Formulx
- 1 cup blanched almond flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil melted
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons vanilla unsweetened almond milk or any other milk
- ½ teaspoon mint extract
- Optional: sea salt flakes and chocolate chips
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor until a chunky dough forms. Press dough into a parchment lined 9 x 9 pan. Optional, sprinkle with coarse sea salt and press in chocolate chips. Refrigerate for at least one hour and then cut into 9 bars.
- Alternatively, roll into small tablespoon energy balls.
Notes
Nutrition
Like this recipe? Check out my other recipes, workouts, and nutrition tips!
Healthy Shamrock Protein MiilkShake
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These look so good! It seems like the almond flour worked wonders!
It totally did, it was a huge win!
These sound so good and perfect for St. Patricks Day next week!
Definitely part of my celebration!
Omg, these look amazing! I need some homemade protein bars. Thank you for sharing.
Amazing! I need some yummy homemade protein bars. Thank you for sharing.