Good to Go

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by Hannah (BitterSweet)
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Pardon the cliche, but it’s true- When it rains, it pours. Though equally applicable to the unprecedented amounts of snow endlessly falling on the New England area, in this case I was thinking about deadlines, school work, and freelance jobs. To be utterly booked and maddeningly busy in the industry that I love is the best problem possible, but it does wear one quite thin. Never before have I had any sort of job that had me out of the house for 13 hours at a time, or – heaven forbid – force me to work through lunch. It was always difficult to understand how someone could lack the time to sit down for even a 15-minute meal, but now I get it. Sucked into the dizzying pace and fully absorbed in the task at hand, it can be difficult to break away.

I’m not the type of person who can painlessly forgo a meal though. Prepared for such situations, there’s always some sort of snack secreted away in my bag, mixed amongst the knitting needles and scratch paper. Larabars are standard fare, but like just so many other fans of this natural food bar, I felt compelled to take a crack at a homemade version. Having lamented that their main failing is a lack of protein, this was finally my opportunity to take matters into my own hand and pump up the nutritional stats.

With so much goodness crammed into such a small package, these svelte morsels positively glow with green energy! Instead of using just nuts and fruit as a base, I deviated from the traditional formula to include a generous helping of protein powder, infused with greens no less. Shockingly sweet and tasty for something that looks so grassy, it may not be particularly original, but this is what’s been keeping me going for the past couple of days.

Yield: Makes Approximately 6 Bars

Green Protein Bar

Green Protein Bar

With so much goodness crammed into such a small package, these svelte morsels positively glow with green energy! Instead of using just nuts and fruit as a base, I deviated from the traditional formula to include a generous helping of protein powder, infused with greens no less.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Cup Raw Cashews
  • 1/2 Cup Vegan Protein Powder with Greens*
  • 12 Medjool Dates, Pitted (About 1 cup, packed)
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • Pinch Salt
  • 4 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Dark Chocolate or Mini Chocolate Chips, Divided

Instructions

  1. Start by placing just the cashews into your blender or food processor, and pulse until they’re pulverized into a coarse meal. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure that there are no large pieces hiding in the corners, add in the protein powder, and pulse a few more times to combine. For the final addition, toss in the dates, vanilla, and salt, and let the machine run until the contents become a mostly smooth, slightly sticky dough. Depending on your equipment, this could take anywhere between 2 – 6 minutes.
  2. Scrape out the dough onto a silpat, and knead in 3 tablespoons of the chocolate by hand. If it’s too sticky to handle, lightly oil your hands before proceeding. Once the chips or chunks are well-distributed throughout, shape the dough into a fairly flat rectangle, approximately 4 x 6 inches. Take the remaining 1 tablespoon of chocolate, sprinkle it over the top of the block, and gently press it in so that it all sticks.
  3. Stash it in the fridge to solidify a bit more, as it’s likely somewhat warm and soft at this point. After it has chilled for about 2 hours, slice it into 1-inch wide bars. Wrap each bar individually in plastic, and store in the fridge for up to a week.

Notes

*I used Peaceful Planet’s Supreme Meal in these, but I also highly recommend Amazing Grass’s Amazing Meal.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 254Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 112mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 4gSugar: 30gProtein: 11g
© Hannah Kaminsky
Cuisine: American / Category: Starters and Snacks

36 thoughts on “Good to Go”

  1. Wow! I’m going to have to try these. I will admit that the green color scares me a bit, but I trust that any recipe by you would taste fantastic!

  3. Brilliant – I’ve never thought to add protein powder to my homemade Larabars. I wonder if the chia flavoured Vega would work.

    Thanks Hannah

  4. HANNAH!!! OMG, MIND READER!

    I have been making my own Larabars lately, and just yesterday I was thinking, “I wonder if I could incorporate protein powder into these…” Ahhh, perfect timing! Can’t WAIT to try these! :)

    P.S. Your bars are SO MUCH prettier than mine… My boyfriend & I have started calling my bars “Turdbars” because they look like, well – yeah. Delicious, but ugly! :) I have to work on my rectangular shaping skills.

    P.P.S. CONGRATS ON THE NEW BOOK!!! That is SO exciting! I LOVE your first book & have been wondering when you’d come out with a new one. Yay!!!

  5. Do you have any thoughts on substituting dried dates for the fresh? Should I reconstitute in water first, or add some liquid to the mix until it gets gooey? I’ve a huge tub of dried dates to use up, and no fresh, and I love love love the idea of adding protein powder – that’s my biggest complaint as well! Thanks for posting.

  6. This is the second post I have read on a food blog this morning that has a raw snack recipe! I can’t wait to try these! I wonder if you could use hemp powder instead, or almond meal? Do you think that would work? Its the only powder I have in my cabinet right now! :)

  7. You know, if anyone else posted this recipe, I’d be thinking ‘blech.’ But knowing you and your AMAZING desserts, I’m going to trust you that this tastes good. I’m going to give it a go–thanks! :)

  8. As much as I love protein or energy bars, I’m not a fan of the unavoidable packaging and higher cost. Thanks so much for daring to go homemade on these and sharing your great results! Hope things slow down a bit for you and you get to breathe some. I recall the days of working through lunches a bit too well hehe…

  9. That looks great, green and all, hehe. I love making homemade bars … so much cheaper too! Good luck with all of the deadlines and work! Bettr to be busy than bored …

  10. These look great–love the greens and chocolate combo (really!).
    xo
    Eco Mama

    ps. Organic Fair Trade Chocolate Giveaway over on my site ♥

  13. I’ve often wondered about Larabars lack of protein as well…I love them but sometimes a gal needs a protein fix in the middle of the day! These look wonderful!

  14. there’s a brand i’ve been buying lately called Raw Revolution. but everything is better made at home. I love this idea and will try it with my greens – The Ultimate Meal. saving this to my online cookbook

  17. When I saw the pretty green shade of these bars I immediately thought of matcha! I honestly can’t imagine a better meal on the run than this…healthy and delicious…what more could a girl ask for, right? ;)

  20. Or, if you’re in Australia, “When it’s really hot, bugs land on you when you’re trying to get to sleep at 2am”. Ahem.

    LOVE the look of this! I just made my first nut-date snack ball thingies, and they’re divine. Funnily enough I thought these were matcha-flavoured, when I saw the colour, and because I don’t have access to vegan protein powder like that, I now want to actually make a matcha version :)

  22. Awesome idea. I love Larabars but they are expensive and along with a lack of much protein, they are more of a junk food for me, who REALLY loves and needs my greens. Spirulina, here I come. Great job and I hope you get some you time soon.

  29. That lovely shade of green is calling my name ;) These look wonderful. And being that cashew cookie is my favorite larabar AND these are basically that but with the (wonderful) addition of protein – I. am. sold.

  31. Hannah, I just made a vanilla/coconut/strawberry/white chip power bar using your recipe above as the base (everything is the same, but I subbed vanilla soy protein powder for the green powder, and put extra add-ins well, in it). :-)

    Could I blog the actual recipe (not just the link, as I did last time) with my add-ins and crediting you, of course, and I’ll link back here.

    Let me know!
    P.S. They came out fantastic.

    Thanks so much!
    Dawn (Vegan Fazool)

  32. I am going to link to the recipe normally and just type up my own add-ins & subs, so you don’t have to bother with the above question. They were SO good!!

    Thanks and sorry to bug you!
    Dawn

  34. I honestly cannot believe how good these are! I didn’t have any chocolate but I added a bit of coconut oil. Fabulous!

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