It has been awhile since I brought you a new recipe. It isn’t that I haven’t been cooking. We have actually had countless dinner parties in the intervening time between food centric posts.  My culinary silence is merely due to the fact our life has been bananas, and I haven’t had the moments to sit down and pen out the meals we have concocted.  So I figured I should rectify the situation promptly and bring you a new, simple, no bake treat to enjoy!

For those of you who haven’t jumped on the fitness bandwagon yet,  it is the Crossit Open right now. Every Saturday the Comp team at CF NYC does their open workout publicly so spectators can come ogle at their impressive skills (and cuteness).  The team has been doing a secret santa for each other each week.   Before the weekend they draw names and each team member gets or makes something small for the person they drew.  This week Jay got our badass friend Kate, and since he was away all week I tackled prepping her gift.  I have an out of control addiction to Quest bars which my wallet feels in spades.  I have been seeing homemade versions Pinterest and figured this was the perfect opportunity to try my hand at them.  Unfortunately, the first couple recipes I tried didn’t quite work out- probably because protein power can be variable and finicky.  I wound up augmenting and combining a bunch of the recipes, and also looking at the ingredients list on Quest Bars (where I learned I can pronounce only a fraction of them) to create these pretty awesome bars.  The result were Quest-like protein bars that are not only Paleo but also comprised of ingredients that I can pronounce. Enjoy!

Note, these can be messy.  At one point you will probably think you have ruined the entire batch because the dough isn’t forming and everything is a sticky mess, but persevere and just keep kneading! They will turn out, and the reward is worth it.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Supreme Protein Bars

makes 6 big bars or 8 medium sizes bars

Ingredients

• 4 scoops of chocolate protein powder
• 1/2 cup of chunky, organic peanut butter
  • stabilized peanut butter works best (Whole Foods breaks down of the difference between stabilized and non-stabilized peanut butters for you). A good rule of thumb is that if you have to stir it (e.g. it separates in your cupboard) it isn’t stabilized. If you don’t use stabilized peanut butter the oils will begin to separate in your bars giving them a strange texture.
• 1/4 cup of date syrup or agave nectar
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 cup of coconut flower (or fiber powder or almond flour)
• PB 2 for dusting (alternately, you could use coconut or almond flour)

Directions

1. In a large bowl mix together protein power, peanut butter and syrup or nectar.
2. Slowly add water, small amounts at a time to avoid it getting too sticky.  Since every protein power is different the amount of water may vary.  Therefore, just at it small amounts at a time until a sticky dough forms.
3. Mix in the coconut flour a 1/4 cup at a time.  Again due to the consistency of the protein you choose the amount of coconut flour will vary also.  Keep stirring in coconut flour until a dry dough forms that can be easily formed into a large ball.  It will still be slightly sticky but should be the consistency of very firm cookie dough.
4. Break dough into 6 pieces.  use your hands to form each ball into a bar shape.
5. Dust each bar with PB2 to decrease the stickiness of the bars.
6. Place on a plate and cool in the fridge for at least 30 to 45 minutes.  Enjoy!
7. Note, these should be stored in an air tight container in the fridge until ready to be eaten.