These Chewy Choc Chip Oat Protein Bars are gluten free, no bake and taste like dessert. Made with wholesome ingredients, they make a delicious snack or after dinner treat. Plus, they are boosted with protein powder.
Since these are no-bake oat bars, you can set the mixture in your choice of container. I use a loaf tin, then cut the slab into six bars. You can also roll the mixture into balls. Or make individual portions by pressing the mixture into a silicone muffin tray.
Do oats contain gluten?
Oats naturally do not contain gluten. However, they are often processed on the same equipment as wheat and other grains that contain gluten. This means that traces of gluten can sometimes be found on oats.
In many countries, you can buy gluten-free oats. If oats are labelled and marketed as ‘gluten free’, it usually means that they have been processed in a gluten-free facility and show no measurable trace of gluten when tested.
Ingredients for choc chip oat protein bars
- Rolled oats: I use old fashioned rolled oats, which are processed into a flour before adding to the mixture. Quick oats would also work if that’s what you have at home.
- Cashew or almond butter: This stops the bars from drying out and provides some healthy fats. You could use another natural nut butter, like peanut butter, if you prefer.
- Protein powder: I use unflavoured whey protein isolate to boost the protein content of the bars. I haven’t tested the recipe with other types of protein powder, but I imagine the recipe would work with most varieties since not a large amount of protein powder is used.
- Coconut flour: Combined with the oats, coconut flour gives the bars a chewy texture. It also gives the bars structure and helps to hold them together.
- Maple syrup: Used to sweeten the bars, since I use unflavoured protein powder. You could also use honey or brown rice syrup.
- Almond milk: Just a small amount of almond milk is used to bring the mixture to a dough consistency. I use unsweetened almond milk. However, you can use your milk of choice, or water, as a substitute.
- Chocolate chips: Feel free to use any chocolate chips that you like. I also enjoy using a chopped up chocolate bar. For more mix-in ideas, see below.
- Salt: A small amount of salt helps to enhance the flavor of the bars.
What else can I mix into these oat bars?
I love to mix chocolate chips or a chopped up chocolate bar into these oat bars. However, feel free to get creative and add whatever you enjoy. Here are some more ideas:
- Nuts: Walnuts or almonds would pair nicely with the chocolate. I would roughly chop the nuts before adding to the mixture to ensure that the nut pieces are evenly distributed throughout the bars.
- Dried fruit: You could add some dried cranberries, dried sour cherries, chopped dried figs or apricots. If you enjoy raisins with oatmeal, why not add some into these oat bars.
- Coconut: Shredded coconut or coconut flakes would also work well as a mix-in.
- Cookie crumble: Roughly crumble up some cookies in your hands and mix the pieces into the dough for added crunch.
- Sugar-free chocolate: If you want to reduce the sugar content of the bars, you can use sugar-free chocolate chips or a chopped up sugar-free chocolate bar.
How to store these choc chip oat protein bars
Since these oat protein bars contain water-based liquid, they are best stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. If you won’t eat them all within this time frame, you can freeze them.
The bars can be enjoyed straight from the freezer if you don’t mind a firmer texture. Otherwise, you can let them soften at room temperature for a few minutes before eating or defrost them in the fridge overnight as needed.
More healthy snacks with oats
- No Bake Peanut Butter Oat Energy Balls
- Banana Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal Protein Bars
- Vegan Peanut Butter Oat Protein Bars
- Oatmeal Linzer Crumble Bars
- Nut Free Cookie Dough Protein Bars
You can find more ideas on the Oats Recipes page.
Chewy Choc Chip Oat Protein Bars Recipe
Serves
6 bars
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
20 mins chilling
Ingredients
- 1 cup / 90 g rolled oats
- 1/4 cup / 60 g almond or cashew butter
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml / 80 g maple syrup
- 1/8 tsp fine salt
- 1/4 cup / 25 g unflavored whey protein isolate (see Note 1)
- 1/4 cup / 28 g coconut flour
- 4 tsp / 20 ml / 20g unsweetened almond milk, or more as needed
- 1/4 cup / 45 g chocolate chips (see Note 2)
Method
- Line a 8 x 4 inch / 10 x 20 cm loaf tin with baking paper or cling film.
- Process the oats in a food processor or blender to turn them into a flour.
- Mix the nut butter, maple syrup and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add the oat flour, protein powder and coconut flour and mix well. Add the almond milk one teaspoon at a time, continuing to mix until you get a dough. If the mixture is too dry add another teaspoon of milk. If it gets too sticky, add a little extra coconut flour.
- Press the dough into the lined loaf tin. Sprinkle over the chocolate chips and press them into the surface of the mixture.
- Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes until firm. Once firm, remove from the tin and slice into bars.
Notes
- Protein powder – I use unflavored whey protein powder. However, most whey or plant-based protein powders should work in this recipe. If using a flavored protein powder, make sure it’s a flavor that you enjoy. If using a plant-based protein powder, you may need to add a little extra milk to get the mixture to form a dough, since plant-based powders give a drier texture than whey.
- Chocolate chips – You can use chocolate chips or a roughly chopped chocolate bar. Sugar-free chocolate works well if you want to keep the sugar content down. You can also substitute other mix-ins like chopped nuts, dried fruit, coconut flakes or crumbled up cookie pieces.
- Storage – The bars are best stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you can freeze them and defrost in the fridge as needed.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving size: 1 bar (made with almond butter and sugar-free dark chocolate)
- Energy: 228 Calories / 954 Kilojoules
- Total Fat: 8.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.1 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 26.3 g
- Dietary Fiber: 3.7 g
- Sugars: 9.2 g
- Protein: 10.1 g
- Sodium: 66 mg
- Potassium: 93 mg
