getting big…or small…or something like that

I am not entirely sure what the goal of eating protein bars is. But in any case it seems that they have become quite popular in my household in the recent past (in part thanks to that fitness guy that seems to be all over the place…including the New York Times…). Well I will say that I am a fan of bars of various kinds (you can convince yourself that a piece of candy is healthy), and also protein is a filling thing, or at least my brain is convinced it is thanks to all the nutrition hype it is filled with. BUT looking at the ingredients list, one starts to wonder: how is each of those (~20) ingredients made, then transferred to the place to make the bars, then put into the bars. It’s a little overwhelming to imagine that process. (to be fair, not all brands are like that). So basically I decided to make a protein bar with far fewer ingredients, and that probably end up costing less (and you can be sure you know what quality ingredients you’re using). I know it seems like there is a lot of sugar in there, but there is actually less than in a typical protein bar, which gives you a sense of why it’s nice to have some say in how you make them…

Honey-Peanut and Chocolate Protein Bars (18 bars)

2 1/2 cups rice protein powder

1 2/3 cups smooth peanutbutter

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

(1) Grease a 9″x13″ baking dish and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (2) In a large bowl, stir together peanutbutter, honey, brown sugar and vanilla. (3) Stir in protein powder until well mixed. (4) Pour mixture into the baking dish and smooth/press down with your hands evenly. (5) Bake for 20-25 minutes, until edges just start to appear golden.

(6) When completely cool, cut the bars into 18 even pieces (I did 6 across by 3 wide). (7) Melt chocolate in the microwave, and use a knife to coat each side. (best done when chocolate is not so melted that it is liquid) (8) refrigerate bars until chocolate is solid.

Store in an airtight container, preferably in the refrigerator (unless you have a fancy way of sealing them individually)