Cooking with Coach Levi: Maple Walnut Protein Bar Recipe

Are you fed up with paying $2 or more for a protein bar? I sure am, which is why I’ve been making my own energy bars and protein bars for the past five or six years. The recipe changes each time, but (with the help of my mother) I think I found something I can enjoy eating for a long time.

Without further ado, here is our recipe for a maple walnut flavor protein bar:

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 cups Oat Flour (How to make your own oat flour.)
• 1 cup Honey
• 1 cup Plain Yogurt
• 3 scoops Protein Powder (1 scoop is 28g)
• 2 tbsp Maple Flavor
• 1/4 cup Organic Cane Sugar (optional)
• 1 cup Ground Flax Seed (Gold or Brown)
• 1 cup Chopped Walnuts or Pecans

1. Warm the Honey and Maple Flavor.

Warm Honey and Maple Flavor together, either on stove or in microwave. (Now is the time to add the sugar if desired.)

2. Stir in Yogurt.

Add the yogurt to the mix and stir it in.

3. Mix in dry ingredients.

Add Oat Flour, Flax Seed, Protein Powder, and walnuts. Stir.

If the mix seems too wet and sticky, add more Oat Flour.

4. Prep the pan.

Spray a 13″ x 9″ baking pan with non-stick spray. Then sprinkle on a little Oat Flour.

5. Pour mix in pan.

Drop the mix into pan and spread out the best you can. It should be stiff.

6. Smooth out the mix.

Finish pressing flat and smooth with wax paper sprayed with non stick spray. You can sprinkle some Oat Flour on the top also.

(The oat flour on the top and bottom of the bars will prevent them from sticking to your fingers.)

The easiest way to smooth this out is to spray your hands with non-stick spray and then press it down; the wax paper method is used if you don’t want to get your hands messy, or if you don’t want your greasy bike mechanic hands to contaminate the food.

Pressing down with your hand will give you a smoother top, though.

7. Cool bars.

Place pan in freezer for at least 3 to 4 hours before cutting. You can leave it overnight, but you may have to let it sit a while before cutting if it gets too cold.

8. Cut bars.

Cut the bars to whatever size you prefer using a butter knife. You could do bars or bite-size chunks. I like the bites. (Speaking of bites, these tasted quite a bit like the maple walnut flavor of Simbree Energy Bites, but these were more moist/wet.)

The finished product:

Mmm mmm, they’re really good! Let’s eat!