Homemade Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Bars

It's so easy to make protein bars at home! Each of these Homemade Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Bars has about 15g of protein, and they taste just like chocolate chip cookie dough!

Store-bought protein bars are pretty expensive, usually costing between 2 and 3 bucks per bar. A lot of them also have off-putting flavors or are tough on the stomach.

It's cheaper to just make your own protein bars at home, and it only takes about 10 minutes. There's no cooking - you just need to mix everything together in a large bowl, transfer to a baking sheet, refrigerate them until they're firm, then cut them into bars. They taste just like cookie dough, and each one has nearly 15 grams of protein!

If you like making your own snacks at home, then keep reading, or check out our Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Nut Bars if you're looking for a different style of protein-rich bar.

Jump to:

• Homemade Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Bars Ingredients
• How to Make this Homemade Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Bars Recipe
• Substitutions and Variations
• Storage
• Tips and FAQ
• Use a natural peanut butter
• More homemade snack recipes to try
• Reviews

Homemade Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Bars Ingredients

• Protein powder: We used a peanut butter chocolate flavored whey protein powder, but you can use basic flavors like chocolate or vanilla, and use different types of proteins like pea or casein. Just note that your bar's final protein content and flavor will vary depending on the powder you use.
• Oat flour: Be sure to use oat flour, and not all-purpose flour, because oat flour is generally safer to eat raw. If you don't have any on hand, you can make your own by pulsing rolled oats in a food processor. If you don't feel comfortable consuming the oat flour, you can also pasteurize it by spreading it out on a baking sheet and heating it to 160˚F.
• Peanut butter: Make sure to use a natural style peanut butter that is slightly runny, as it will be easier to mix with the other ingredients.
• Chocolate chips: We recommend using mini chocolate chips in these bars, as large chocolate chips are just too big and will throw off the texture. You can also use chopped chocolate instead.
• Vanilla extract: Vanilla extract adds a touch of extra flavor.
• Maple syrup: This adds sweetness and helps to balance out the bar. If you don't want any added sugar, you can leave this out.
• Salt: A touch of salt helps to bring out the flavor of the chocolate and peanut butter.

How to Make this Homemade Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Bars Recipe

STEP 1: Mix the peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and salt with a strong spatula or a hand mixer.

STEP 2: Mix in the protein powder and oat flour.

STEP 3: Mix in the mini chocolate chips, scoop the mixture out into and 8x8" or 9x9" baking dish. Use the back of a measuring cup to smooth out the bars, then refrigerate for 1-2 hours, until firmed up.

STEP 4: Cut into bars, and enjoy! Keep refrigerated in an airtight container.

Substitutions and Variations

• Protein powder - We would recommend using a vanilla, chocolate or peanut butter whey protein powder, but you can use whatever flavor you have on hand. You can also use alternative protein powders like pea, soy, or brown rice protein.
• Maple syrup: You could also use honey or agave. If you want the bars to be free from added sugar, you can leave out the maple syrup entirely.
• Peanut butter: If you don't like peanut butter or have an allergy, you could use cashew, almond, or sunflower butter instead.

Storage

You'll want to keep these stored in the refrigerator since the cold helps to keep the peanut butter firm. We recommend storing them in layers, separated by sheets of parchment paper, inside an airtight container. They should keep for about a week.

Tips and FAQ

More tips

• Be sure to refrigerate the bars before enjoying. The peanut butter needs to firm up, or the bars' texture won't be quite right. We recommend letting them chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hour before cutting into bars and enjoying.
• If you have a square pan, the best way to cut these into even bars is to mark the midpoint of the uncut protein square on both sides, then cut down the middle so you have two equally-sized 4" halves. Then cut each of these halves into five roughly 1.5" x 4" bars.
• Mini chocolate chips work best.
• Raw oat flour is generally considered safer than raw all-purpose flour, though it's not completely-risk free. If you're worried about consuming raw oat flour, you can pasteurize it by spreading it out on a sheet pan and baking at 160˚F, until the flour is completely heated through. You can also grind up your own whole rolled oats into oat flour.

More homemade snack recipes to try

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