Well, that headline might be a little sensational. But they are damn good tasting, can be made in under 5 minutes, and are quite healthy. Trust me – these are simple to make and I’ve got the recipe and tricks to make them fast (and even pictures to go with the instructions!) at the end of this post. In contrast to their simplicity, this turned into a long post!
Last autumn I was addicted to protein bars. I loved Protein Plus from Powerbar, and Clif Builders from ClifBar. But I would go for anything that had a lot of protein and tasted good. I’d have one before, and one after, every workout (I wasn’t taking protein shakes). Yes, I knew the sugar was bad for me. But they were so yummy!!!
Then in December, as I kicked my training up a notch, I realized I had to kill this fetish. I had to stop eating these “candy bars with protein” but I still needed convenient access to healthy protein (and a guy can only eat so much chicken and tuna…). What I needed, was a homemade protein bar. One that had all the good stuff and none of the bad.
[Aside: when I was in grad school, my buddy Ross introduced me to his homemade protein bars. Except, we called them "rope bars" because they were so high in fiber that they were like eating rope; and that's also what they tasted like. Anyway...]
Goals For The Perfect Protein Bar:
- fast to make
- high protein
- slow carbs (no processed sugar)
- taste good
- inexpensive
So I did what everyone does these days when we want to find ideas – I went to Google and searched.
Holy cow, there are a bazillion different recipes out there. I spent hours reading what everyone else was doing. And I tried a bunch of them.
To Bake Or Not To Bake
Essentially, you’ve got two classes of protein bars: those you bake, and those you don’t. I tried some of the baked variations but they take too long (especially because you have to cook them at a really low temperature so that you don’t degrade the protein powder ingredient). But the non-bake ones I tried all tasted bad (unless I veered away from the healthiness.
In the end, I threw away everyone else’s recipe and came up with my own. And it achieves 100% of my goals.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb of no fat cottage cheese
- 4 tablespoons of natural peanut butter
- 2 cups of whole oats
- 3 scoops of chocolate-flavored pure whey protein power
That’s it! Couldn’t be simpler right? Now, I will state for the record I HATE cottage cheese. But somehow, in this combo, it tastes awesome!
So now you try. Here’s the process (really, under 5 minutes)…
How To Make These
Here’s a picture of the ingredients:
And here’s all you need for utensils: a bowl, a measuring cup, a measuring spoon, and a fork. [I find it much easier/faster to mix with a fork rather than a spoon.]
First add all the cottage cheese to the bowl. Generic brand. Save the container though!
Second, add the oats. Generic brand is fine.
Then the protein powder. I like the double chocolate flavor from ON but you can experiement.
Lastly, add the natural peanut butter. Make sure this is natural PB – the “regular” stuff has so much sugar it’s crazy.
Now take the fork and mix it all at once. Don’t worry, your forearms can handle it!
Result has the consistency of a light tuna fish salad. Hey, it actually even looks like tuna fish salad… Anyway, after you’ve mixed it you can now add it back into the cottage cheese container. There will be about enough for one and a half containers, so I usually have an extra one around.
Now here’s the only real downside. You have to store them in the fridge because of the dairy. I’ve tried to shape them into bars, and they do hold the shape pretty well but since you have to keep them in the fridge anyway, I figured it was too much hassle. So I just keep them in the container.
Since each batch ends up being about the equivalent of 6 bars, you can do a good job just eyeballing 1/6 of the mix if you are counting calories. And the cost is under $0.50 per “bar”.
Nutritional Content
This results in the following nutritional content for the entire batch:
Calories = 1470
Fat = 45 g
— Sat. Fat = 8 g
— Trans Fat = 0
Cholesterol = 140 mg
Sodium = 236 mg
Carbs = 147 g
— Fiber = 22 g
— Sugar = 24 g
Protein = 160 g
I break the batch into 6 servings so that means each serving would have (rounding the math):
Calories = 245
Fat = 8 g
— Sat. Fat = 2 g
— Trans Fat = 0
Cholesterol = 23 mg
Sodium = 40 mg
Carbs = 25 g
— Fiber = 4 g
— Sugar = 4 g
Protein =27 g
Highlights – strong protein, low sugar, low fat, slow carbs. You like? If so, post your comments here. And spread the word – post links to this page everywhere!
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February 26th, 2009 at 11:37 am
This sounds great! But I am not sure that I will find “cottage cheese” here in Italy… Is it very different from “ricotta”, in nutritional content and for the bar’s density?
February 26th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Those look awesome! I am trying them out!
February 26th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Great – I’m sure you’ll love them. Paolo – cottage cheese is different from ricotta, but might be worth trying! You can read more at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottage_cheese
March 1st, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Thanks for commenting on my website!
Sorry, Darrin, I can’t agree with you that there is anything ‘healthy’ in these bars. As a primarily raw vegan bodybuilder, I can’t eat a single one of the ingredients, and I would strongly suggest that they all should be avoided.
The cottage cheese and whey protein are pasteurized dairy, which are extremely detrimental to health, are acid-forming in the body, and contribute to loss of bone calcium. Please visit http://www.notmilk.com for information about how pasteurized dairy products are devastating to health. If nothing else, read the autopsy report of Florence Griffith-Joyner. The peanut butter is OK, but most peanuts (even ‘organic and natural’ ones) still contain fungus and aflatoxins, so they are not safe to consume. The oats do still have some semblance of health benefits left in that they still contain fiber, but they are most likely steamed and heat-processed, so they do not carry live enzymes and are thus a dead food. I have nothing against oats—I do eat RAW oats, which are soaked and sprouted to be the peak of nutritional power.
Unfortunately, these are the types of ‘foods’ that are being touted as healthy by the mainstream media and all the big food and supplement companies with their clever and underhanded marketing. Most people in the health and bodybuilding fields have bought into these lies for years. I did too. I was right there a few years ago, until I started asking questions and thinking independently. Now I only eat Living Foods which have their enzymes fully intact.
Your bars are a great idea, and I especially love the ‘quick, cheap and easy’ part. And I am sure they taste great, but they are harming your internal organs and your health as well. That can’t be good!
Let’s make your great idea into a TRULY healthy bar:
1 lb raw cottage ‘cheeze’ made from sprouted living nuts (like almonds, Brazil, macadamia, etc.) OR RAW dairy cottage cheese
4 Tablespoons RAW Almond, cashew, pecan or hazelnut butter (or it’s NOT cheap, but raw jungle peanut butter is awesome! Jungle peanuts are true nuts, not legumes like what we call peanuts, and they taste delicious with tons of nutrients.)
2 cups of sprouted RAW oats
3-4 scoops of Sun Warrior RAW vegan brown rice protein, chocolate flavor
Process all together in a food processor. (Definitely not as easy as yours by simply stirring, but you will need it for the raw oats) All the ingredients, except the Sun Warrior, will be available at any health food store, Whole Foods, or good grocery store. The Sun Warrior is available through my website at http://defiant-health.com/so-w.....r-protein/.
Now this does sound pretty good. I will have to try it. You could also throw in some nuts, seeds, raw cacao nibs, etc to jazz them up a bit. Give it a try!
Thanks again!
Christy, aka “Defiance”
http://www.Defiant-Health.com
March 2nd, 2009 at 2:14 am
Paolo, you could try quark as a cottage cheese replacement, I can’t remember if there is a low fat version, but the texture is a bit like cottage cheese.
March 2nd, 2009 at 8:45 am
Cool suggestion Defiance! For those of you who share her concern with dairy and our overall food supply, it sounds like a creative alternative.
If others have more suggestions, or questions, chime in.
March 9th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Holy Cow! There is nothing wrong with these products. They are great for you. Don’t let the Vegan’s scare you. The whole Vegan thing is a political movement. I haven’t tried these, but I will because they contain the perfect foods.
Thanks for the recipe,
Dean
April 4th, 2009 at 3:03 am
The vegan stuff has merit and is a good alternative, but the foods in the bars are in no way unhealthy for you.
April 4th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
None of these ingrediants are bad for you at all. You just have to eat them in moderation and you’ll be fine. All you vegan’s out there are crazy. Eat some freakin’ meat and go on with your life…
May 26th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Hello
Very Nice blog with good ideas !
Very instructive…
Thanks
John
August 10th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Today I found this blog and are amazed by the quality of information posted here.
Nowadays are very few blogs that offer quality of information.
January 16th, 2010 at 10:35 am
Nice Post . . . I’m thinking about writing a reply actually or at least it got me thinking about some things I might want to write about . . .
February 7th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
These bars are great. I just made them and they are by far the easiest, quickest, best tasting protein bar you can make or find! Thanks for the sharing the recipe!