Stella’s No-Bake Nutrition Bars

This recipe was adapted slightly from Stella’s Kitchen.  These bars are an excellent source of protein, don’t contain the extra additives that store-bought bars have, are easy to make, and are delicious!  They’re a great meal replacement or on-the-go snack.

Ingredients:

5 tbsp Natural Peanut Butter (Your preference of Chunky or Smooth) 
1/2 cup Dry Oats
1/2 cup Oat Flour *
6 scoops Chocolate Whey Protein powder (132 grams protein)
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 tablespoons Flax seeds (optional)
1 cup Non-fat Dry Milk
1/2 cup Water (more may be needed)

Directions:

Spray an 8×8 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Combine dry ingredients in a medium size bowl and mix well. Add peanut butter and mix.  At this point, the mixture will be crumbly and dry.  Add water & vanilla.  Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix ingredients until a dough forms. (The dough will be quite sticky.) Spread dough evenly in pan using a clean wooden spoon, cooking-spray-coated spatula, or greased hands.  Refrigerate the pan for a few hours, or freeze for an hour.  Cut into 9 squares.  Wrap bars individually, or store in a covered container between sheets of wax paper.  Keep refrigerated.

Modifications: Vanilla protein powder can be substituted for Chocolate. The oat flour can be substituted for different nuts, seeds, or dried berries.  Try chopped almonds, cashews, peanuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, raisins, blueberries, etc.  (Note that adding nuts, seeds, or berries will change the nutritional information.)

* Making Oat Flour: To make your own oat flour, simply put a cup or two of oatmeal in a regular household blender and blend it on high. It will turn into flour. Store in an airtight container in the pantry.  It takes only a minute and is an easy and cheap alternative to buying oat flour in the store.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:
197 calories, 21 g protein, 7.2 g fat (8% saturated), 13.7 g carbohydrate, 1.6 g fiber