No-Bake Peanut Butter Protein Bars
½ C. crisp rice cereal (You can also use Gluten-free chocolate crisp rice cereal)
1 ½ C. rolled oats (I also substitute ¾ C. quick oats and ¾ C. rolled oats)
½ C. Unflavored vegan protein powder (I use Vega brand, but you can also use Bob’s Red Mill soy isolate powder if you can’t find other non-soy brands)
½ C. maple syrup or amber agave
½ C. natural chunky peanut butter (I prefer Whole Foods generic brand)
¼ C. dairy-free mini chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. salt
In a food processor (I use my Ninja with the mixer bowl), combine the rice cereal, oats, and protein powder. If using all rolled oats, I recommend pulsing them a few times first to cut them up slightly. Pulse the dry ingredients together to combine. Add the syrup (or agave), the peanut butter, vanilla and salt and mix well. The batter should be sticky and hold together when pressed between your fingers. Add more peanut butter if the mixture appears too dry. Lastly, add the chocolate chips and pulse briefly to distribute the chips in the batter.
If you are going to make them into bars, use a 9 x 9 baking dish, lined with parchment paper and press the mixture evenly into the pan. (You can wet your hands lightly to prevent sticking.) Place the pan into the freezer for 2 hours to freeze before slicing into 8 bars. Bars can be stored individually in plastic bags and kept for up to a month in the freezer. Thaw slightly before eating.
If you want to save time and make them into peanut butter cups, I recommend lining a muffin tin with paper liners. Using a large scoop (approx. ¼ C.) scoop batter into muffin tins and press tightly into the pan. Place into the freezer for 2 hours to freeze and then place each cup into a plastic bag for individual servings. Thaw slightly before eating.
As a side note, you can also leave the chocolate chips out of the original recipe and melt them in a small dish with a little coconut oil to drizzle over the bars/cups before freezing. I’m all about easy and the original recipe is less messy for kids (and husbands) to eat on the go.
Lastly, this recipe doubles beautifully!
Enjoy!