I constantly have a supply of proteins bars (omg GoMacro is my long time fav) but sometimes it’s fun to make your own! Not only are homemade protein bars easy to make, but they’re also an amazing, inexpensive alternative to buying protein bars.
These simple yet oh-so-delicious cashew butter chocolate protein bars are made with plenty of pantry staples and your go-to protein powder. The result seriously tastes like dessert, so you’re gonna want to keep some in the fridge for when that sweet tooth hits!
Post-workout, post-dinner or even lunch dessert — make a batch of these babies and get ready to devour.
I hope you love keeping these bars in the fridge and enjoying them as a snack or treat!
Everything you’ll need to make these chocolate protein bars
These easy no bake cashew butter chocolate protein bars are made with plenty of pantry staples and a boost of protein from your fav protein powder. Here’s everything you’ll need to make them:
- Cashew butter: I love using cashew butter because it’s mild and really allows the chocolate flavor to come out.
- Coconut oil: a little coconut oil helps to keep the bars together and adds additional flavor. There is no substitute (except butter) so please don’t ask me for one!
- Honey: I like to use honey to sweeten the bars a bit. You’ll also need a little vanilla extract.
- Rolled oats: some rolled oats add a complex carb to the protein bar. You can use gluten free oats if desired, but do not use steel cut oats as the texture will be gritty.
- Chia seeds: get a boost of omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and antioxidants from chia seeds.
- Protein powder: I want to recommend my favorite chocolate protein powders for you. I use Aloha Plant Based protein powder in most of my baking recipes. Another great one is Tera’s Whey Chocolate. Please let me know if you use any other chocolate protein powders that you recommend in the comments section!
- Dark chocolate: the dark chocolate adds a double chocolate dose of love to the bars so don’t skip it! Feel free to use 1 ounce of an 85% dark chocolate bar or a few tablespoons of chocolate chips (dairy free if desired).
- Sea salt: a little sprinkle of sea salt on top takes these bars to the next level.
Easy ingredient swaps
Because these healthy chocolate protein bars are made with simple ingredients, they’re easy to customize with what you have on hand! Here’s what I can recommend:
- To make vegan: feel free to use brown rice syrup or coconut palm syrup in place of the honey. Then be sure to use a plant-based protein powder as well as dairy free chocolate on top.
- For the cashew butter: I love the mild taste of cashew butter in these bars, but you can also use peanut butter, almond butter, or even sunflower seed butter for a nut free alternative! Just be sure the nut or seed butter is all natural and is just made with nuts or seeds and salt.
DIY chocolate protein powder
If you don’t have chocolate protein powder on hand, you can mix 1/2 cup of your favorite vanilla protein powder with 2 tablespoons of cacao or cocoa powder. So easy!
Cashew butter chocolate protein bars in 4 easy steps
- Mix the wet ingredients. Start by heating the cashew butter, coconut oil, honey and vanilla in a saucepan over very low heat.
- Stir in the dry. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the protein powder until smooth. Then fold in the oats and chia seeds. Pour this mixture into an 8×4 inch loaf pan lined with parchment paper
- Top with chocolate. Add chocolate and coconut oil to a small saucepan over low heat until melted, then drizzle it over the top of the bars. Tilt the pan so that the chocolate covers the bars completely, then sprinkle with sea salt.
- Refrigerate & enjoy! Place the pan in the fridge for at least an hour, then remove from the pan and cut into 10 bars and enjoy.
Recommended tools
See all of our go-to kitchen essentials here!
Storing tips
Store these chocolate cashew butter protein bars in the fridge tightly wrapped or in an airtight bag or container for up to 2 weeks. The perfect easy snack to have on hand!
More no bake snacks to try
- Peanut Butter Cup Protein Bars
- Coconut & Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars
- Chia Banana Bread Energy Bites
- No Bake Chewy Peanut Butter Granola Bars
- No Bake Superfood Brownies
Get all of my amazing snack recipes here!
I hope you love these cashew butter chocolate protein bars! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Sea Salt Cashew Butter Chocolate Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cashew butter (just cashews + salt)*
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/4 cup honey (use coconut palm syrup if vegan)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup your favorite chocolate protein powder* (OR ½ cup vanilla protein powder + 2 tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder)
- 2/3 cup rolled oats, gluten free, if desired
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- For the topping:
- 3 tablespoons chocolate chips or 1 ounces 85% dark chocolate, dairy free if desired
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- Fancy sea salt, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Heat cashew butter, coconut oil, honey and vanilla in a saucepan over a very low heat.
- Remove from heat and stir in protein powder until smooth, then fold in oats and chia seeds. Place in a 8x4 inch loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
- Add chocolate and coconut oil in a small saucepan and place over low heat until melted. Drizzle over the tops of the bars and tilt pan to cover completely (or a nice thick drizzle will do). Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Place in fridge for 1 hour before removing from pan and cutting into 10 squares. Store bars in fridge tightly wrapped or in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on January 9th, 2018, and republished on March 15th, 2022.
Again, another delicious and super easy protein snack! I’ve been making your “Salted dark chocolate coconut almond protein candy bars” on repeat (OMG so good) so I decided to try another protein snack recipe from you! I can’t tolerate oats unfortunately so I subbed 1:1 with quinoa flakes (and because my chocolate protein powder (Truvani) tends to be sweet I only added the tiniest bit of honey to meet my sweetness needs. I just took them out of my fridge to try and YUMMM!! I definitely recommend making these! But now I’ll have to try all of your other recipes as well LOL! THANKS!
Love those!! So glad you gave these a try, too!
These were DELICIOUS!! I made these intending for them to be snacks for my kids to take to school (which starts tomorrow!) but they devoured them in a day, lol. Scrumptious!
So good!! Sounds like you’ll need a double batch next time haha 🙂
These sound amazing !!!! I want to make them but currently only have a big container of unflavored and unsweetened protein powder. Would that be okay to use, and if I did, should I add any more sweetener? Or should I just get a vanilla?
I think these should be okay just with the honey + mixing your protein powder with cocoa powder! The chocolate will also help. Let me know how it goes!
I have made this recipe about four times within the last month. These bars are absolutely delicious…you forget that they are healthy! Sometimes I will leave out the oats for a lower carb snack and they work out just fine–in fact, the texture reminds me of fudge. Other times I have added shredded coconut, and that works too. I find these bars are forgiving with omissions and substitutes. Great recipe–highly recommend!
Perfect! I am so glad to hear you’re loving this recipe and it is a hit for you, Tara. Thank you for your comment, it means so much to me!
Can I freeze them
Sure – but before you eat them you’ll probably want to leave it out for a bit or it’ll be too hard.
Do you think that you could roll this mixture into small balls like truffles and serve them in paper candy cups? Will they get very soft at room temperature? I want to put them into a gift basket. Thanks.
Hi Deborah – I haven’t tried rolling these in balls so I am not sure how they would turn out. Let me know you do give them a try and it how turns out for you.
Do you think you could sub flax meal for oats?
I haven’t tested it so I’m not sure if the texture would be right! Let me know if you try it.
Yummy!!!
Glad they turned out amazing!
This looks yummy but what can I sub for the protein powder? Would almond flour work instead? I have tried several protein powders and they just give me a stomach ache . Thanks
Sorry to say I haven’t tried these without the protein powder so I can’t be sure. This recipe is somewhat similar and doesn’t have protein powder!
These are so delicious – they have a chocolat nougat / three musketeers type of flavor. Thank you!
I’ve made this twice now but with almond butter and unsweetened coconut flakes! I also did ¾ the amount of honey because I found it a tiny bit too sweet the first time I made them.
I doubled it the first I made it and my family gobbled it up even though I froze it all and only took out portions at a time! …so this past time I quadrupled it and told them they can only have it after they’ve worked out or if they’re in need of chocolate/a protein boost!
So easy to whip up and a favourite of mine that I’ll definitely continue to make and maybe add other things like nuts or sour cherries! Thanks Monique!!
Thanks so much for sharing this review, Andrea! I’m so glad you all love these 🙂 Such a good snack to have on hand, right?? And oooh sour cherries would be AMAZING!
Can collagen peptides replace the protein powder?
Hi, Jazmine! I haven’t personally tested it but I think it should work! Let me know how it goes 🙂
Thanks for the great recipe. I am so thrilled to ‘stumble’ on this recipe. Since it is after midnight now…..will be making this recipe later in the morning. 12:26 in the morning is a bit too early to bake, but not to fine a great recipe!1
These were delicious! I used almond butter and the vanilla protein powder with cocoa.
Nice! So happy that you loved them, Sarah!
Just wondering if I could use date sugar (liquid) and also toast the oats?
I think date syrup and toasted oats should work fine in here! 🙂
It would help more if the print were a bit darker and bigger, this making this impossible this somewhat a lot easier to read.
Sorry that this is hard to read! I’d recommend zooming in on your computer (ctrl+ on a PC, command+ on a Mac) 🙂
These are delicious! They were super easy to make, Literally dumped all the ingredients in a bowl and then dumped that into the pan. I used chocolate protein powder and added a bit of collagen powder. I wasn’t even careful about the measurements and they still turned out excellent in taste and texture. The inside is so satisfying and the chocolate topping adds an element of decadence. These were my treat each day and they delivered, Five Stars
So easy and delicious! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Is it possible for you to give the recipe in grams?
I’ve tried converting it, but it doesn’t make sense to me with the different kinds of ingredients.
Also, are the chia seeds necessary or can they be left out?
Unfortunately I haven’t measured these out in grams so I would try using an online conversion calculator if possible. Feel free to leave the chia seeds out!
Just wondering if I can substitute the chocolate protein powder for cocoa powder? I feel silly asking, but I’d love to make them, but currently can’t have protein powder!
Unfortunately I wouldn’t recommend, as it would likely be too much cocoa powder. These no bake bars are a delicious alternative! https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/no-bake-superfood-brownie-energy-bars-video/