I'm on the Health & Wellness committee where I work, and we had a meeting coming up where we were all going to bring a "healthy or healthified" food dish. I originally had plans on finding and creating some amazing, hearty dish that I would bring and wow them all. Silly, typical me- I forgot all about it until pretty much the late evening before. Since it was my idea to do this, I figured it would be obnoxious if I showed up empty-handed, so I scoured Pinterest for something healthy and easy that I could do with items in my house.
I had recently picked up the Snack Bar Maker from Pampered Chef, and figured that would be the perfect vessel to make something. I knew I had to have the ingredients for some granola bars. Then I came across this recipe for Vegan Chocolate Almond Protein Bars and knew it was the winner. It seemed simple enough, it was quick, and I had everything I needed.
This recipe as specified on the website has you process raw almonds into almond butter. I was lazy, it was late, and well- I had almond butter on hand, so why not? So I substituted about a cup of almond butter for the processed almonds. I did crush up some raw almonds and press them into the tops of the bars for added flavor and a bit of crunch.
Let me tell you- despite being horribly last minute-thrown together, these things still made a definite WOW factor at that meeting, and again when I brought them to a gathering at a friend's house just yesterday. They come across unassuming. They are extremely soft, so don't be alarmed by that. They taste amazing! The Snack Bar Maker was indeed the perfect product for this, allowing me to really press the mixture together in the wells, creating perfect sized, uniform bars. Snap the lid on, and pop it in the freezer for a bit, and ta-da! I'm seriously in love with this product!
I'll give you the recipe for how I put them together here, but please go check out the original recipe on PopSugar Fitness and take a look at her website. There is a ton of great info there!
Vegan Chocolate Almond Protein Bars
Ingredients:
3/4 - 1 cup almond butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 & 1/2 cups oats
1 scoop (about 5 oz) vanilla flavored protein powder
1/3 cup maple syrup (the real stuff)
Optional:
1/4 cup chocolate chips
and /or
1/4 cup crushed almonds
Directions:
Combine all the ingredients together (except for the optional ones). The dough will be a bit hard to mix, but it will eventually combine. Make sure it's combined well.
If using the Snack Bar Maker,:
1. I found it easier to just grab a chunk of dough and press it into the well, then use the top of the mini spatula to press it into the corners and then smoosh the whole thing down into the well real good. Continue until all wells are filled. The recipe gave me just enough to do all 12 wells.
2. If using the crushed almonds, sprinkle a bit over the top of the bars and then press in with the mini spatula.
3. Snap the top on and place in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
4. If you want to add the chocolate, melt the chocolate chips, take the lid off the Snack Bar Maker and drizzle the chocolate all over the bars. Don't worry about being "clean" about it. The pan will clean up easy. Pop back into the freezer without the lid for about 10 minutes or so. Long enough for the chocolate to firm back up good. (you can probably add the chocolate before the first round in the freezer, but I like to let the bars set up first with the lid on it first. You do whatever works for you!)
5. Once set, pop the bars out of the silicone base and store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
If you don't have the Snack Bar Maker yet,
1. Stop what you are doing, click the link up there, and go get yourself one. Then, while you anxiously await your new kitchen toy:
2.. Grab an 8 x 8 inch pan and line it with parchment paper.
3. Smoosh the dough into the pan with your hands, or the back of a spoon, or a spatula. Whichever is easiest for you. Try to get it as uniform as possible.
4. If using the crushed almonds, sprinkle across the top of the mixture, and press firmly into the mix.
5. If using the chocolate, melt the chocolate and drizzle across the top.
6. Put in the fridge or freezer until set, about 30 minutes. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
Next time I do these, I'm going to try with natural peanut butter and peanuts, and maybe with cashew butter and cashews. If you do your own variations, let me know how they come out!
