HEALTHY SNICKERS PROTEIN BARS
Apparently Snickers is the most popular candy bar in the United States. I know I sure love them! So I made these healthy snickers protein bars with clean ingredients and way less sugar. The hubby loves them, and so do the girls (I can’t have whey, but you can also make them with vegan protein powder). Best of all, they’re fun and relatively easy to make!
Did you know? An equal-sized Snickers candy bar has 250 calories, 12 grams of fat, 33 grams of carbs, 27 grams of sugar, and just 4 grams of protein!
The nougat layer
To keep the carbs low and up the protein factor, I used a combination of coconut flour and vanilla whey protein powder to make the peanut nougat base. I then added some Vitafiber syrup. Vitafiber syrup is a naturally-occuring, non-GMO prebiotic fiber syrup made from tapioca (it’s Paleo and vegan). Use my code “VFSARAHW20” for 20% off Vitafiber.
If you don’t have Vitafiber syrup, feel free to sub any sugar-free syrup! You can can also use maple syrup or honey, but the calories, carbs, and sugar will be higher.
The base also has unsweetened almond milk (any milk will do), creamy peanut butter, stevia-erythritol blend for added sweetness, pure vanilla extract, and sea salt (optional).
The caramel layer
For the caramel layer, I used one quarter cup packed with pitted dates, which I microwaved with water for 1 minute. Then I drained off the excess water and pulsed them in a food processor with peanut butter, plus a little more Vitafiber IMO syrup, pure vanilla extract, and sea salt (optional).
The peanut chocolate layer
To top these snickers protein bars off, I pressed some dry-roasted peanuts into the caramel layer and melted some dairy-free dark chocolate on top. So good! Tastes every bit as good as a Snickers, though admittedly not identical.
Here’s the printable recipe for these Healthy Snickers Protein Bars! I hope you will rate this recipe and comment below if you try it 🙂
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Healthy Snickers Protein Bars
Ingredients
Nougat layer:
- 1 cup (120g) vanilla whey protein*
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 2 tbsp. calorie-free sweetener* I used one that's twice as sweet as sugar
- 1/4 tsp. salt optional
- 1/4 cup VitaFiber syrup* or other sugar-free syrup, maple syrup, honey
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter*
- 6 tbsp. unsweetened almond milk* adjust as needed
Caramel layer:
- 1/4 cup (45g) pitted dates
- 2 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
- 1 tbsp. VitaFiber syrup* or other sugar-free syrup, maple syrup, honey
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp. salt optional
- 6 tbsp. dry-roasted peanuts chopped
Chocolate layer:
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips melted
*See blog above for substitutions.
Instructions
- Whisk together protein powder, coconut flour, sweetener, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add syrup and peanut butter, then add milk a tablespoon at a time until a thick, pliable dough is formed. The amount of milk varies depending on the protein powder you use, but whey takes about six tablespoons.
- Press nougat evenly into the bottom of a 8″x6″ pan lined with parchment. Place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, microwave dates covered with water in the microwave for 1 minute.
- Drain off excess water and pulse in a food processor with peanut butter, syrup, vanilla and salt until smooth. You can also blend in a blender but you may need to triple the batch and save some for later.
- Take pan out of the freezer and spread date caramel over top.
- Sprinkle peanuts over top and press into caramel. Return pan to freezer.
- Melt chocolate in a small metal mixing bowl nested inside a small saucepan 2/3 filled with water. If you don’t have a metal mixing bowl, you can melt in the microwave using 15-second increments, stirring often.
- Remove pan from freezer and cut into a dozen equal-sized bars.
- Drizzle bars with chocolate using a spoon, then return to the freezer a final time, just until the chocolate hardens.
- Remove from the freezer and enjoy! Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container up to one week, or in the freezer up to a month.
Notes
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