Peanut butter and raspberry oat protein bars
No-bake oat bars with peanut butter, seeds and concentrated freeze-dried raspberry flavour instead of a wet fruit layer.
Prep20 min
0 Rest90 min
Servings12
Research-based original adaptation informed by published no-bake oat and nut-butter protein-bar ratios
Ingredients
Written for a 20 × 20 cm dish
Units
Temperature
Servings
- 180 g rolled oats, blend 60 g to flour and leave 120 g whole rounded
- 100 g unflavoured or vanilla protein powder, unsweetened where possible; absorption varies by brand rounded
- 60 g pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped rounded
- 45 g freeze-dried raspberries, crush 15 g to powder and keep 30 g in small pieces rounded
- 220 g smooth peanut butter, well stirred rounded
- 120 g honey rounded
- 30 ml water, begin with 30 ml and add only as needed rounded
- 2 g fine salt rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Line a 20 cm square tin with a parchment sling. Blend 60 g of the oats to a fine flour.
- In a large bowl combine the oat flour, whole oats, protein powder, pumpkin seeds, raspberry powder, raspberry pieces and salt.
- Warm the peanut butter and honey gently in a small saucepan or microwave just until fluid, not hot. Pour over the dry mixture and stir firmly.
- Add 30 ml water and knead the mixture with a sturdy spatula or clean hands. Let it stand for 5 minutes. Squeeze a handful: it should hold firmly without dry cracks and should not smear. Because protein powders vary, add more water 5 ml at a time only if it still crumbles, stopping at 60 ml total.
- Press into the lined tin. Cover the surface with a second sheet of parchment and press very firmly with the flat base of a measuring cup for a full minute, especially at the edges and corners.
- Cover and refrigerate for 90 minutes. Lift out the slab and cut into 12 bars with a sharp knife, wiping the blade between cuts.
Notes
- Allergens: peanuts. Protein powder may contain milk or soy, and oats can have gluten cross-contact. Choose products suited to the people eating the bars.
- Freeze-dried raspberries are essential here. Fresh or frozen berries add enough water to shorten storage and make the bars soft, so they are not an equivalent substitution.
- Protein powder brands differ in particle size and liquid absorption. The water range is deliberate. Start low, rest the mixture and add only enough to remove dry cracks.
- No exact protein claim is given because the protein content depends on the chosen powder and peanut butter.
- Refrigerate airtight for up to 5 days or freeze individually wrapped bars for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator.
- Carry chilled bars in parchment inside a rigid container and use an insulated bag with an ice pack. Do not leave them unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 32°C.
- Pressing is what turns the mixture into bars. Gentle spreading leaves air gaps and produces rubble when cut.
Sources consulted
- Good Food: Protein Bars
- King Arthur Baking: Chia Energy Bars
- FDA: Questions and Answers on Gluten-Free Food Labeling
Sources consulted
From Christoph Mayer