When I was first learning how to refuel my body after a workout, I would grab whatever snack was available in the gym’s vending machine. At the time, no one told me that reading the ingredients was very important; it was 2009, and everyone was still on the low-fat diet craze. Clearly the gym I was a member of didn’t know any better, or just didn’t care.
I remembering gobbling down the bars with weird ingredients: crunchy rice, fake fiber and sugar, and most likely a terrible protein source. Shortly after the bars with insane amounts of fiber came on the scene; they were filled with fiber that isn’t even found in nature, but rather made in a lab. Those sketchy mofos.
Now I’m a little more educated on what I choose to put in my body. My favorite protein bar? RX BAR. No they don’t pay me to say that, I’m just truly obsessed with their bars and eat them for a post workout snack almost daily.
But what’s a girl to do when she doesn’t have a box of bars lying around, or if she wants to save a little money?
Well it’s simple: Make these homemade no bake peanut butter protein bars packed with real, wholesome ingredients and an excellent ratio of fats, fiber and carbs. AKA perfect for post workout, or a quick on the go snack. Each bar contains nearly 10g of protein.
Anyway, now that I’ve got you here, let’s discuss some of my favorite ingredients in these peanut butter protein bad boys.
Yes, I just called my protein bars bad boys. Cause they are. Anyway, here we go:
Peanut butter: The main ingredient in this recipe is peanut butter. Granted you can absolutely use a different nut butter — especially if you are allergic to peanuts. Sunflower seed butter would be wonderful for the kiddo’s lunch boxes too! The important thing to remember is to use a drippy nut butter — one made with just nuts (or seeds) and salt. You don’t need anything else.
Coconut oil: This helps the bars stay moist and chewy with the addition of peanut butter. Also it helps the bars set up nice and offers the addition of healthy fats and flavor (hello a hint of coconut!).
Vanilla protein powder: I love me some ‘nilla protein powder and especially love sharing how it can be used in things other than smoothies. My favorite whey protein brands are Tera’s Whey and Bob’s Red Mill. For plant based/vegan, I like Aloha and Bob’s Red Mill.
Oats: For a nice chewy texture! Don’t forget them. Also, be sure to use gluten free certified oats if you’re GF.
Dried fruit: I used dried cherries in this recipe but I think you could go with whatever is your favorite — chopped dried figs, dates, dried blueberries (MY FAV). Go crazy.
Chia seeds: This adds a boost of fiber, protein, omega 3 and crunch. I’m in love.
Coconut: A boost of flavor and healthy fat. Buy the unsweetened kind here!
Chocolate: Do it up with that drizzle.
These bars are seriously unreal, and I love the fact that you can totally make them your own. So what are you waiting for? Time to whip up a batch.
See how to make the peanut butter protein bars:
More healthy snack recipes to try:
Sea Salt Cashew Butter Chocolate Protein Bars
Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie Energy Bites with Chia + Cacao Nibs
No Bake Superfood Brownie Energy Bars
Salted Date Brownie Energy Bites
Peanut Butter Cup Protein Bars
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment below and rate the recipe! You can also snap and picture and post it on Instagram using the hashtag #ambitiouskitchen. And of course be sure to follow Ambitious Kitchen on Instagram. xo!
Coconut & Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (just peanuts + salt)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/3 cup honey (use coconut palm syrup if vegan)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup vanilla protein powder*
- 1 cup oats
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 2 tablespoons chocolate chips + 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- Optional: 1/3 cup dried tart cherries (or dried fruit of choice)
- Optional: 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- Fancy sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
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Heat peanut butter, coconut oil, honey and vanilla in a saucepan over low heat. Mix together until well combined and smooth, then remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.
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Stir in protein powder until smooth, then fold in oats, dried cherries, chia seeds, and coconut flakes. Place in a 8x4 inch loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
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Add chocolate chips and coconut in a small saucepan and place over low heat until melted. Drizzle over the tops of the bars. Sprinkle with sea salt.
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Place in fridge for 1 hour before removing from pan and cutting into 10 bars or squares. Store bars in fridge tightly wrapped or in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition info does not include dried fruit or shredded coconut, but does include chocolate.
*Feel free to use a vanilla protein powder. I like to use whey protein powder. My favorites are Bob's Red Mill and Tera's Whey. For plant-based, I like Aloha's Vanilla protein powder.
*To keep these bars vegan: Use a vegan protein powder and coconut palm syrup or brown rice syrup instead of honey.
106 comments
Ooohhh love this! I’m trying to cut down on the sweets I eat and I think these would be perfect for a mid-afternoon snack when dinner feels so far away!
Can you use almond butter instead?
Hi Sharon! Yes you can, if you read the post you can see that I added a note about using any kind of nut butter you’d like 🙂
These look great! How long do you think they would last and how should they be stored?
They will last over a week in the fridge if they are properly covered. (I’ll add a note in the recipe too!) Also, if you want you can freeze them for up to 3 months (again, if they are wrapped). Enjoy!
Omg these photos!!! Im freaking obsessed with RX Bars as well! Can’t wait to make these delicious bars!
Love this recipe!! I’m an RX Bar girl too. They’re my absolute favorite! 🙂
These look amazing! Do you think they would taste just as good with chocolate protein powder?
Yep, they would be amazing!
I made them with chocolate protein powder last night, and they are sooo good! I should note that I did not add any dried fruit 🙂
AH three of my favorite flavors! Chocolate, peanut butter and coconut!! Definitely bookmarking these! 🙂
Just got home from the gym and made these with chocolate protein powder. YUM!
Who knew a protein bar could be as satisfying as dessert!! Yum!
These are great! I made a small tester batch tonight and they were delicious. The recipe is a great base and offers endless options to personalize it to your taste buds. I added pumpkin seeds for an extra crunch and swapped the honey for maple syrup. They didn’t even make it to fridge for the cooling process!
Could I just increase coconut and oats etc instead of buying protein powder?
Just made these and they are great. I did not add any fruits and it was delicious! Love how easy it was to whip together.
What would be a good way to add more protein to this recipe?
I think pumpkin seeds are the highest in protein of any seed. They would be great. Extra chopped peanuts would work also.
I love these treats. YUM!
I love no-bake protein bars…. but can’t stand the taste of 99% of the protein powders. I was at trader joes the other day and they have a new pea-based protein powder (I didn’t know that was even a thing!). They mixed it into the little yogurt, fruit, and nut butter samples they were doing that day, and I couldn’t even taste it!!! I’m betting it would be awesome in these bars too! Love the fiber/fat/protein ratios in these, btw! My post-workout fatigue will thank you;)
Are the cherrys included in the sugar count? Trying to get that sugar down
Hi Cindy! This is in the note section of the recipe above: Nutrition info does not include dried fruit or shredded coconut, but does include chocolate.
Any way to substitute any ingredients to bring the sugar level down?
Can I ask why you are leaving one star if you haven’t tried the recipe yet? Also, you can leave off the chocolate drizzle
If you substituted stevia (probably about 1/4 tsp or less) it would bring the sugar level WAY down. It is a low glycemic sugar anyway… I’m on a paleo diet and will try these next week w/o the honey. It still has carbs but I need some in my diet. HTH’s
I just made these into ball shapes rather than bars and my husband says they remind him of a no-bake cookie. Yum! I just used 1/2 c. protein powder and added 1/4 c. hemp seeds in addition to the other ingredients.
You dont mention how much of the coconut flakes in the ingredients list…
Sorry just saw it lol
These look amazing! Can I sub something in place of protein powder or just leave out? Thanks!
The taste was so good! My only complaint is that they fall apart, very crumbly. Should I add some more liquid?
Most likely this is due to the protein powder and/or peanut butter you used. If you find them crumbly then add 1 tablespoon more coconut oil and make sure to use an all natural nut butter (just nuts & salt).
I did use an all natural peanut butter but i will try the extra oil, thanks!
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t throughly look forward to one of these after a great workout! I used chopped figs as my dried fruit. So delicious, thank you for yet another stellar recipe!
So great to hear and happy you loved them!
Not a fan of protein powder, so I substituted with ground oats and hemp seed. Spread with melted chocolate and sprinkled with coconut and raw pumkin seeds. So delicious!! Thank you Monique for this versatile recipe!
Do you think agave nectar would be an ok honey substitute?
i have used all of the above now, and they taste fine and the texture wasn’t any difference, but that could just be me. 🙂
My kiddos loved these! Big hit.
I think so! Or you could try coconut palm syrup.
just made these and they are the bomb dot com!
Coconut, chocolate and peanut butter?? You won me with the title! I love your recipe, it looks insanely delicious. Can’t wait to try it!
If anyone else can’t do nut butters like me, I made them with Wow Butter and they turned out great.
Oops, forgot to rate.
Made these a couple nights ago. I’m not sure what I did wrong but mine were SUPER dry and crumbly. I ended up compacting them into a 1/4 cup so they would hold some type of shape then putting them into muffin papers and feezing them. They still taste yummy, but are very messy.
Yes, I found the same thing! I wonder if we added some extra coconut oil, maybe that would work?
Hmmm I’m thinking that it must have been the peanut butter or protein powder you used. Did you use an all natural peanut butter (just peanuts & salt)?
I had the same problem. I’m thinking it’s because I used natural peanut butter but had to scrape the bottom to get enough – most of the oil was already gone it seems. Maybe make sure your natural PB is fresh or add a bit more coconut oil!
So I just made these and they taste great but mine turned out really dry and crumble fast…I followed the instructions and measurements, what can I add to fix the driness?
You could try adding coconut oil next time. I’m guessing it’s the brand of protein powder you used OR the peanut butter you used. You want to use an all natural peanut butter with the ingredients just peanuts or peanuts & salt.
What kind of oats? traditional (slow cook) or the quick cook kind?
These look delicious…..I saw the suggestion for other nut butters, as I have a peanut intorelance……any recommendations for coconut oil substitute? I have an intorelance to that as well
You could use a vegan butter!
Sometimes oats bother my stomach. Is there another option or a way to make the oats more digestible?
These are delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
You are very welcome!
What do you think about using Bovine Collagen instead of protein powder?
These look fab! can’t wait to try! I’m assuming that the honey is necessary to hold it together. Any thoughts on getting the sugar content down by using less honey and adding something else to hold it together?
Yes, it’s necessary to keep them moist and helps to stick together. You could try using coconut palm syrup or date syrup instead.
Anyone try these with just putting the chocolate chips in the bars? Thinking they’d make a great snack for my son but the chocolate drizzle on tope screams “messy, chocolate seven year old fingers heading for his shirt or my couch” 🙂
I made these last night. I used regular peanut butter, and threw the chocolate (85%) into the mix once it had cooled a bit. I also used Stevia (1/4 tsp) instead of honey. It was so good that my husband ate half of them while I was out today (stinker). I will be making a double batch next time. BTW – I used old fashioned rolled oats not instant which may be why mine were gooey and others were crumbly.
I’ve made these twice now and love them! Next time I will add either try adding a little more coconut oil as mine were on the dry side (perhaps because I am using Sun Warrior vegan protein blend) or will try a whey protein powder!
I just made these and they’re delicious but yes, very crumbly. I will add extra coconut oil next time. I used Kraft Natural Smooth PB.
Love these! Made them this afternoon. The batter for mine also got a little dried out so I had to add a touch more agave or honey, that seemed to fix the problem. As a result, I skipped the chocolate on top to cut the sugar. So excited to have these for breakfast in the morning – love good take away meals! Thanks for the great recipe.
I made these tonight and oh my gosh they are fantastic! I used quick oats and Bob’s red mill whey protein powder and I skipped the chocolate drizzle and threw the chocolate chips right in the mix to avoid the mess I knew I would make. The chia seeds add the perfect crunch, though I think I’ll try a crunchy peanut butter next time.
Is there a away to make this with less or no honey/sweetner? The bars seemed overly sweet to me, more like a dessert than a post work out snack. I don’t typically have packaged bars so I don’t know if that’s the norm. Thanks for the great recipe!
It looks so great! Thank you for sharing this recipe, will try it when I come home!
They are my absolute favorites! Hope you enjoy 🙂
These were by far the best protein bars I’ve ever made. They were so satisfying too. Thanks for all the great recipes!
They are my absolute favorites! So glad you’re enjoying 🙂
I make these bars for my sister-in-law who is borderline diabetic.
I double the batch and use only 1/3 cup of maple syrup…still plenty sweet and so much healthier than sugar.
I have used half almond butter and half peanut butter…delicious!
I add sunflower seeds to mine and dried blueberries or chopped dates.
All variations turned out well and were so tasty.
Thank you so much for this incredible recipe!!!
Dried blueberries sound amazing! This one is great for your favorite add-ins. Glad you enjoyed!
YES! I’ve been meaning to make my own protein bars. They look so easy and so versatile because you can customize them any way! These bars look absolutely delicious. The chocolate and peanut butter must go so well together!
These will be perfect for you! So delicious 🙂
I’ve been looking for a good homemade protein bar for quite some time, I’ve bought them in the store and were never satisfied, I’ve even gotten recipes online to not like those either, but I have not given up. I came across your recipe today and looking at the reviews thought I would give this one a try, I use Premier Protein powder and based on what your replys were about the bars being crumbly I hope my powder stands up to create something awesome, I have everything on hand except the peanut butter so plan on stopping by Trader Joes on my way home, will let you know how it turns out.
There are one of my absolute favorite homemade protein bars! I hope you enjoy them!
Did not turn out as I hoped. I did use natural peanut butter (salt + peanuts), however the recipe didn’t state if the peanut butter had to be smooth. I had the crunchy one sitting on my shelf. Ended up making it a big glop. I tried to solve it by running through the food process to “smooth” it up… didn’t do too much. I had a tablespoon of cold water & that worked just a bit. I ended up finishing the recipe, but honestly it’s very dry. I also don’t think I would ever go for a recipe that has such a ‘raw’ taste to the oats.
This is an awesome recipe! I was able to lower the overall calories to 187 per square by using powdered peanut butter plus water instead of regular peanut butter- they turned out great!
Glad it worked out for you!
These were fantastic! Couple of changes though. Used almond butter instead of peanut butter. No chocolate drizzle or salt. Thanks for the recipe.
Glad you enjoyed!
Hi, can you tell me what type of oats you use? Old Fashioned or instant? Didn’t see it in the post. Sorry if it’s been asked already…there are hundreds of comments on here! Thank you!
Hi Tracey! I used old fashioned rolled oats in these 🙂
These bars are truly delicious. Can’t wait to make more of your recipes.
YES love these! Hope you find some more favorites here!
We took these along on a road trip with my 9 year old grandson. He is a picky eater but absolutely fell in love with these tasty treats. Thanks very much for sharing!
So happy to hear that! These are such a great travel treat 🙂
I loved how easy this recipe was. And they are delicious. All my favorite ingredients. My kids loved them too. I’ll be making these a lot. I’m already getting requests to make another batch from my family.
Amazing! So happy to hear that Edwina. I make batches of these all the time for weekday snacks!
WOW! I made these bars because my husband “hates coconut” and I wanted him to stop eating my stuff. Lol! It didn’t work…he loves these and so do I. I skipped the coconut drizzle out of laziness and they are still very sweet and delicious. I cut them into small squares and they’re going fast in our house. Thanks.
So good!! Glad you both love them 🙂 One of my fav snacks.
Honestly, it’s the first time ever I comment on a recipe online, but those things are DELICIOUS!! I only regret making them because I can’t stop thinking about eating ALL OF THEM. It is true that they fall a little bit apart, but I didn’t have enough PB as it is required in the recipe and I didn’t want to add more coconut oil, so I am sure that that is the reason. I’ve tried for so long to find a protein bar recipe that has enough protein and also tastes good and I think this is the one. Love it
So glad you found this recipe! These are one of my favorite homemade protein bars. Delicious enough for a treat!
Love these
So happy to hear that!
I have made these bars a couple of times and my daughter has asked for the recipe. They are outstandingly delicious and I like that all the calories come from healthy ingredients. This is a staple in my “sweets” file!
Amazing! So happy to hear that. One of my favorite snacks/treats, too 🙂
Why buy protein bars from the store when you can easily make these beauties!