Low FODMAP Protein Bars

Name: Low FODMAP Protein Bars
Prep time: 15 min
Yield: 10 bars
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons peanut butter; 2 tablespoons maple syrup; 2 tablespoons water; ½ cup protein powder; ¼ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon ginger; ¼ teaspoon turmeric; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; Dash ground black pepper ((this helps your body absorb the beneficial compounds in the turmeric)); 1 cup oats; ½ cup each puffed rice & millet; 2 tablespoons flax seeds, (optional); ½ cup total of nuts or seeds ((I like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or walnuts. Usually I’ll use a couple of types)); 2-4 tablespoons cocoa powder, (optional)

May 26, 2018

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It’s been a minute since I posted a recipe, so I took some quick pics of these protein bars I’ve been making to share with y’all today!

This recipe is a long time coming, as I’ve actually been making some variation of these bars for YEARS, and I feel super guilty for not sharing them earlier because they’re a daily staple for me. But, true to Maria fashion, I kept tweaking the bars every time, and kept telling myself I’ll post them when I “finalize” the recipe. Also, the 1.0 version of these bars (and the 2.0 version, and the 3.0 version…) were not very photogenic.

And then, when I started using collagen peptides as my protein powder as choice, the recipe I had been using came out super sticky. The collagen protein powder dissolves completely without any chalkiness which is wonderful, but when your recipe is built around minimizing the chalky and powdery texture of rice protein powder… obviously I had to completely refactor the recipe again.

Which brings us to now, with these pictures and this recipe. It’s by no means “final” and you can bet that I will continue tweaking it for years to come. But in the interest of providing an inexpensive homemade snack for y’all, it’ll do. (Plus they’re pretty darn tasty for a “healthy” protein bar.)

This recipe makes 10 bars, which lasts me about two weeks. I eat one every day during the week as a mid-afternoon snack (I work out after work and we eat pretty late so this holds me over until then). On the weekends it depends on what else I’ve eaten as my schedule is a little less strict, but I’ll usually have at least half of one of these or a little bowl of cereal.

They keep best in the refrigerator, but can handle being room temperature for a day or so (in a ziplock bag or airtight container). When I’m traveling I’ll bring these along as snacks — the only exception to that being if we’ll be gone for more than a week. In those cases I’ll buy these prepackaged protein bars — they’re more expensive but travel better! (For more premade low FODMAP foods, visit my products page!)

This recipe really is quite versatile (and I really do make it slightly differently each time, haha). You can follow the recipe exactly, or switch out the nuts & seeds, use a different nut butter, etc. If you feel up to advanced editing of the recipe, feel free to swap things out based on your macro needs. This is currently the balance of fat/carb/protein that works best for my body, but I’ve made them with more fat (usually a tablespoon or two of coconut oil), and you can add more protein powder and more/less of the dry ingredients — just keep it in the same-ish volume.

Happy snacking!