Homemade Protein Bars - ala Alton Brown of Food Network

Protein Bars

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005

4 ounces soy protein powder, approximately 1 cup 2 1/4 ounces oat bran, approximately 1/2 cup 2 3/4 ounces whole-wheat flour, approximately 1/2 cup 3/4-ounce wheat germ, approximately 1/4 cup 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 3 ounces raisins, approximately 1/2 cup 2 1/2 ounces dried cherries, approximately 1/2 cup 3 ounces dried blueberries, approximately 1/2 cup 2 1/2 ounces dried apricots, approximately 1/2 cup 1 (12.3-ounce) package soft silken tofu 1/2 cup unfiltered apple juice 4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/2 cup packed 2 large whole eggs, beaten 2/3 cup natural peanut butter Canola oil, for pan

 

Line the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with parchment paper and lightly coat with canola oil. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the protein powder, oat bran, wheat flour, wheat germ, and salt. Set aside. Coarsely chop the raisins, dried cherries, blueberries and apricots and place in a small bowl and set aside. In a third mixing bowl, whisk the tofu until smooth. Add the apple juice, brown sugar, eggs, and peanut butter, 1 at a time, and whisk to combine after each addition. Add this to the protein powder mixture and stir well to combine. Fold in the dried fruit. Spread evenly in the prepared baking dish and bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 205 degrees F. Remove from the oven and cool completely before cutting into squares. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.
If you split the pan into 16 bars the nutritional values are: Calories: 162.40  Fat: 3.42 Carbs 23.8 Protein: 10.04 I use a flavored soy protein so that I can mix and match different dried fruit. I haven't tried it yet, but when I find dried strawberries I'm gonna try the strawberry protein and the dried strawberries for ALL the fruit. I like blueberries better than apricots so I leave out the apricots and double up on the blueberries...Whatever fruit you like. I use brown splenda instead of the sugar and I use whatever fruit juice I have laying around. Most times part of a can of Kern's Nectar.

I am not quite a year out but below goal.. will be a year in a couple weeks.  Was hoping I can add some recipes of my own and share some that other's RNY'ers have come up with that are very tasty!  Yours sounds good too btw.. will have to try it!

Pumpkin Protein Bars (Molly S Recipe)

3 1/2 cups quick cooking oats 1 1/2 cups instant nonfat dry milk 4 scoops vanilla protein powder, low carb 1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 4 tablespoons of Brown Sugar Twin 2 large egg whites, beaten stiff 1/2 cup Davinci Butter Rum coffee syrup, sugar fee 1/2 cup Davinci Caramel coffee syrup, sugar free

(I used SF Cinnamon Dolce syrup from Starbucks – 1 cup instead of the above others) 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie mix 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 cup apple juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a 9 x 13 baking dish by spraying with a baking-release spray such as Pam, set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine oats, instant milk, protein powder, flaxseed meal, pumpkin pie spice and brown sugar replacement. Stir well to combine. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites, fold in coffee syrups, pumpkin, vanilla extract and apple juice. Add the egg white mixture to the dry ingredients and stir by hand to combine. Pour into prepared pan and smooth top to flatten. Bake 30 minutes, or until top is dry and edges are lightly golden. Remove from oven and cool in pan 10 minutes, turn out onto cookie rack and cool completely. Cut into 12 equal bars and wrap individually. Stores well in freezer. Makes 12 servings.  Cals, 186, Fats, 2.5, Carbs 23.5 (all good carbs), protein 16.

**Make a frosting using FF cream cheese, vanilla and splenda to taste.  1 tbsp = 2 more proteins and 15 cals!  Highly recommend to pair it with the pumpkin bars!

 

Pumpkin Protein Muffin Pies

Ingredients: 22 Fl oz can pure pumpkin 6 scoops vanilla protein powder (mine has 110 cals, 21 protein per scoop) 12 oz can evaporated skim milk 6 large eggs or egg substitute equivilent 3/4 cup sugar twin brown sugar substitute 1 tbsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp ginger 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp nutmeg Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. Mix sugar and spices in a small bowl, set aside. Lightly whip 6 eggs in a large bowl, add in pumpkin and mix thoroughly before sprinkling in sugar mix. Blend protein powder and milk in a separate bowl with a hand mixer, then add to the pumpkin bowl mixing well before filling 18 lightly greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 300 and cook for 40 - 50 minutes (I have a gas stove and took it out after 30 mins). Pies are cooked when a knife is inserted into the middle and comes out clean.  Once cool, top with light whipping cream if you wish.  Store in refrigerator, do no freeze.

Makes 18 servings.  Using egg substitute in place of eggs the nutritional stats are as follows:

Cals, 84, fats, 3, carbs, 6, protein 12.  Enjoy!

 

Fudgey No Bake Protein Bars

Makes a 1/2 of 9 X 13 pan.  So double the recipe if you want it to fill a whole 9 x 13 pan.  Cut into small pieces as it is very rich but pretty good stats.  I am not a fan of peanut butter in general because even though its good for you fat, its still a lot of fat but I don't mind it something portion controlled such as this.  Would make great almost like fudge for the holidays also! Ingredients: 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) Fat-free cream cheese 6 tbsp Reduced-Fat Natural Peanut Butter 4 scoops Chocolate Whey Protein (i used isopure) about 1/8 cup Eggbeaters Egg Substitute 1 packet Nestle Carnation Fat-free hot cocoa mix 1/2 cup raw oatmeal (regular, slow cooking) Splenda artificial sweetener (amt. depends on how sweet you want them) -Heat cream cheese and PB in the microwave until soft. Mix well -Add splenda until it's sweet -Add a little of the Eggbeaters -Add Protein and mix well. It will be hard to mix at first but will eventually mix in. -Add Nestle Hot-cocoa mix and mix well. If it needs to be wetter, add more of the Eggbeaters -When you get a nice, play-doh conssistancy, add oats and mix. -Lightly spray wax paper with cooking spray. -Place dough on wax paper and press out to desired thickness -Chill in refrigerator for a while -Cut into bars **Nutritional info (for the whole recipe. divide as you like): Calories- 1288 Fat- 36 g (8 g saturated) Carbs- 74 g (16 g fiber) Protein - 160 g *** depends on the protein powder and peanut butter you use.

The ratio comes out to be: Protein- 50% Carbs- 25% Fat- 25%

Careful that last one. I cannot make it anymore tooooo addicting.  Enjoy!

Actually I did this recipe a while back and brought them to work and everyone loved them.  But it cost a pretty penny to make.  Anyway they were tasty.

When I saw Alton Brown make these I had pretty much everything in the recipe but the tofu. I didn't notice they were that expensive...Which part do you think is pushing it up, maybe I can figure a substitute? I followed the recipe exactly the first time but have since adjusted it to my tastes, which usually means leaving out stuff like the spendy blueberries. I did see where a cup of dried Blueberries are about $4 over at Walmart. Spendier than raisins, that's for sure! I forgot to add that I substitute brown splenda, I think. I made them again today with Vanilla Soy Protein and just dried cranberries instead of all the other fruit. I bet just using raisins would work too. The dried cranberries I found at CVS Pharmacy on sale a while back. A cup for $.99. So 2 cups was $2. Seems pretty cheap there...I think Walmart has most of this stuff really cheap. I bought tofu at Albertsons and it was $1.29 for the whole thing...But it was firm instead of the silken. I use my stand mixer and pulverize it pretty good so it works. I also substituted a individual cup of NSA Applesauce instead of the apple juice, plus alittle water to make it less thick. And this time I added salted roasted peanuts just for fun. Not chopped or anything. It may increase the fat and cholesterol but it also boosts the protein a bit more. Hmm. Maybe I better check my prices a bit and make sure they aren't topping out over $1 a peice like the ones I've been buying. But you know, I haven't bought Oat Bran or Wheat Germ in some time so you could be right. It keeps so well in the fridge I just haven't had to buy that part of it since last winter. I'm going to need some this week if I want to make more after Thanksgiving.. I also made Banana Frozen Yogurt today (with soy milk instead of the whipping cream and splenda instead of the sugar) so that I have a dessert to have when everyone is pigging out on the regular stuff..I don't mind. I love Banana Frozen Yogurt (my way).  As you can see, I'm not a "stick to the recipe" sort of cook. I like to improvise..