Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars

So this week we are eating healthy. Last week with all the wedding cake making and devouring, well lets just say it felt like it was time to do a bit of a sugar detox. So all week we have been avoiding sweets and treats. The only problem being that it can leave one feeling quite deprived, and that my friends is the key to failure in any diet! So I decided to explore how to introduce a little treat in a healthy, no added sugar especially, way.

Can you tell that I've missed chocolate this week??!

This chocolate is dark (50-70% cocoa) chocolate so it has less sugar than most and as you can see, we have used it sparingly but appropriately. The idea being that this is a little bit of what you want with a whole lot of healthy and delicious stuff that will keep us full and feed our muscles post workout. *Just a little note about dark chocolate, be careful selecting your dark chocolate, higher quality does not always equate to better outcome baking-wise. I have never had much luck with Lindt 70% for example. So sometimes it's better to go for a lower percentage but guaranteed results.

So what's inside  - Oats for digestion
                            - Almonds for protein and vitamin E
                            - Chocolate Protein powder for obvious reasons
                            - Flaxseeds for those Omega 3s
                            - Hazelnuts for linoleic acid and folate
                            - peanut butter for flavour and protein
                            - cashew butter for texture and creaminess
                            - milk
                            - optional agave nectar for sweetness
                            - Delicious Dark Chocolate for cancer fighting anti-oxidants!!

So as you can see these babies pack a powerful nutrient punch and are absolutely scrumptious to boot. My ones are vegetarian but not vegan. However they could easily be made vegan with a brown rice or other vegan protein powder and a nut/soya milk instead of the cow's milk.

So what will you need - Food processor or nutri-bullet/other blender that can mill
                                     - saucepan
                                     - bowl and spoon.

Ingredients

100g/ 1.25 cups Oats
20-30/  1/4 cup Almonds
10-15/ 1/8 cup Hazelnuts
2 tbsp brown and golden flaxseeds/linseeds
2 Scoops Chocolate protein powder ( I used whey)
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tsp cashew butter
optional tsp agave nectar
100ml/ 1/3 cup milk

1 - Using a food processor or appropriate blender, mill your oats, then nuts, then flaxseeds into flours.

2 - Add to a bowl and mix together well

 

3 - In a small saucepan heat your milk, peanut butter and cashew butter (with your agave nectar is
     you want) and mix continuously until smooth. Let cool slightly

4 - Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add chocolate chips and mix
     through.

5 - Line a bread pan with clingfilm and then pour in the mixture. it will be sticky but a silicone
      spatula will help. Flatten it out and cover with the clingfilm before chilling in the fridge.

6 - Remove from the fridge and cut into pieces of your chosen size. I would advise smaller rather
      than larger as these pack quite the protein punch and are therefore quite filling. Then place in a
      freezer, if possible or back in the fridge to chill further.

7 - Melt your remaining dark chocolate over a bain-marie or in the microwave in careful bursts of 20
      seconds, with a drop of milk, stirring between each blast. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla extract to your
      chocolate and stir through. Temper if you want by melting 2/3 and then finely chopping last and
      adding and stirring through to melt.

7 - Remove one bar from the fridge/freezer at a time to dip into the dark chocolate and place on a
     wire rack to let excess drip off.

8 - Let your chocolate set, store in the fridge and then enjoy; after a workout or anytime =)

So the nutritional info on these. If you make 22 then each piece contains:

Calories - 77
Protein - 5g
Fat (mostly healthy) - 4g
And a whole lot of vitamins and minerals and anti-oxidants as discussed above. 

I will also being doing a review of 'Orange is the New Black' season 3 over here so check it out if you're interested