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Peanut butter, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, coconut, and chocolate chips. What more would you want? Collagen? Yep! Protein powder? Yep? Coconut oil? Of course!
It’s all included in these delicious little gems. I’ve been working on a few protein bar recipes because I like the option of a quick snack I can grab and eat without thinking.
My Coconut Cream Protein Fudge Bars have been very popular, and I hope to have a double chocolate version of those out soon.
But back to these little beauties. This is one of those throw and go recipes. You really can add or omit any of the add-ins to make it your own!
The peanut butter, protein powder and seeds provide protein, while the collagen gives a nutritional boost as well as adds additional protein. (Seriously, collagen is one of my favorite products!)
These literally take less than 10 minutes to throw together, then you just have to wait for them to harden (the hard part).
Did I mention that they are no bake? Yet another reason to make these little gems – you don’t have to heat up your kitchen!
Loaded Peanut Butter Protein Bars {THM-S, Sugar Free, Low Carb}
- 1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
- 1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- 1 Tablespoon chia seeds
- 1/4 cup Pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds)
- 2 Tablespoons Gentle Sweet
- 1/4 cup Collagen (you could use one of these Vanilla or Chocolate Flavored Collagens for an extra flavor boost!)
- 1/4 cup Protein Powder (I used this brand because it was what I had, but I’m sure THM Pristine Whey would work here as well!)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips
That’s all! How simple is that? If there are any of the add-ins that don’t appeal to you, simply omit them. Conversely, if you think of a great addition (cocoa powder, anyone) add it in! You really can’t go wrong!
I have this Silicone Rectangle Bar Pan, and I got exactly nine bars out of this recipe.
If you do not have a mold, you could pour it into a loaf pan or 8×8 baking dish and cut into bars when firm.
If you are looking for more ideas to use chia seeds, check out this informative article and recipe roundup!
Loaded Peanut Butter Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Creamy Natural Peanut Butter
- 1 cup Unsweetened Flaked Coconut
- 1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds
- 1/4 Cup Pepitas (Roasted Pumpkin Seeds)
- 2 Tablespoons Gentle Sweet
- 1/4 cup Collagen
- 1/4 cup Protein Powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 cup Coconut oil, Melted
- 1/4 cup Lily's Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together.
- Pour into mold and place in freezer to harden.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in either the fridge or freezer (I keep mine in the freezer).
Nutrition
Matt says
August 16, 2016 at 9:11 amThese look great! Really creative idea. I’ve never tried cooking with collagen before, thinking about picking some up and experimenting if I can find it. Love the site!
dsdjhardy says
August 16, 2016 at 9:14 amI use collagen in lots of recipes! It truly is one of my favorite products ever! Thanks for stopping by!
Sher says
August 16, 2016 at 11:25 amHow long do these make it at room temperature? (If I want to send one as a snack?) 🙂
dsdjhardy says
August 16, 2016 at 11:27 amBecause of the coconut oil, they soften quite a bit. If sending them as a snack, I would probably put them with an ice pack. Then I think they would be fine.
Allison Z says
August 16, 2016 at 11:57 amDoes the Coconut flakes help absorb any liquid? I don’t eat coconut (but I’m on with refined CO) and wanted to make sure it wouldn’t change it a whole bunch to leave that out
dsdjhardy says
August 16, 2016 at 12:13 pmI believe it would be fine to leave the coconut flakes out! You could always add extra chia or pumpkin seeds if you wanted, but I truly think they would be just fine without the coconut.
Alex says
August 16, 2016 at 3:14 pmHi. Do you have an estimate on the nutritional values? Especially the carbs? 🙂
Great recipe!
dsdjhardy says
August 16, 2016 at 3:44 pmThanks for stopping by, Alex! I don’t usually count macros for my recipes, but if I were to give a rough estimate, I would say 5-6 net carbs per bar.
ann in E. oregon says
August 16, 2016 at 9:56 pmThese look amazing and I’d love to make them………..but I don’t have collagen. Is there a good substitute or could I just leave that out of the recipe. 🙂 Thank you!
dsdjhardy says
August 17, 2016 at 6:17 amYou could probably use extra protein powder in place of the collagen.
ann in E. oregon says
November 2, 2016 at 3:41 pmThanks for the tip. I did go ahead and purchase collagen and made these bars….AMAZING!! Thank you! Thank you! Looking forward to making more of your protein bars and bites. 🙂
dsdjhardy says
November 2, 2016 at 7:25 pmAwesome! There are several more on my site – just use the search feature to find them! 🙂
Laura says
August 16, 2016 at 10:55 pmI’m not a coconut fan or a pumpkin seed fan. What changes should I make to make the recipe still work? Thanks in advance!
dsdjhardy says
August 17, 2016 at 6:18 amI truly think you could just leave them out (you could always add extra chia seeds or chocolate chips).
Heather Wilson says
August 25, 2016 at 9:49 amThank you for this recipe! Made them this morning and oh boy are they good!!! I used my silicone mini bar pan and it yielded 18 small bars. Two mini bars were the perfect mid morning snack! 🙂
dsdjhardy says
August 25, 2016 at 9:54 amWonderful! Thanks for reporting back – I love to hear that readers enjoy my recipes!
Katie Temple says
August 25, 2016 at 12:53 pmI don’t have
the protein powder will this work without it or do I need to wait til I have some
dsdjhardy says
August 25, 2016 at 1:04 pmIt will still work – you could either double the collagen, or just leave the protein powder out. If you leave it out, there obviously won’t be as much protein, but it shouldn’t affect the texture.
Craig says
September 24, 2016 at 8:52 pmThese look awesome! I think making my own protein bars is the way to go. I love the idea of being able to control exactly what is being put in my protein bars! Thanks for the post!
KRISTINE says
September 28, 2016 at 7:13 amDon’t have collagen. Will they work without it?
dsdjhardy says
September 28, 2016 at 7:22 amYes, they should. You could also double the protein powder.
Judy says
September 28, 2016 at 1:22 pmWhat is collagen?
dsdjhardy says
September 28, 2016 at 1:30 pmHi Judy! Collagen is a pure animal protein, in the form of a powder. You can read more about collagen and its benefits by checking out this article: http://www.trimhealthymama.com/vol-10-ezine-serenes-collagen-article/
Jolene says
October 11, 2016 at 2:38 pmDo you have anything similar for on the go that won’t melt. Like for purse or backpack?
dsdjhardy says
October 11, 2016 at 3:52 pmI do not, however, another reader said that they put some in baggies with reusable ice cubes and they stayed ok on the go!
Mrs C says
October 24, 2016 at 8:35 pmI’m so thankful I found this recipe. Thank you for posting it. I didn’t want to use too much of my collagen, because I’m almost out, so I used 2TBS and added in 4TBS of whole psyllium husk; for added fiber. I, also, omitted the chocolate chips and added 2TBS of cocoa powder. I doubled the batch and I put 2 1/2 TBS in each muffin hole and it made 21.
Sophie says
October 28, 2016 at 1:44 pmI think I’m going to try this subbing sliced almonds for the coconut flakes and sunflower seeds for the pumpkin seeds! Thanks for the idea! I need good, quick, make-ahead snack options 🙂
Becky says
November 2, 2016 at 8:21 pmUnfortunately I have recently found out I am allergic to coconut. I have read the post about omitting the flaked coconut but what about the coconut oil? Butter?
dsdjhardy says
November 3, 2016 at 8:31 amThat may work, but I can’t guarantee it as I haven’t tried it. 🙂
Taleitha says
November 9, 2016 at 12:32 pmdo you think you could use good grassfed butter in place of the coconut oil and they wouldn’t harden as much? Im not looking to keep these “low” carb necessarily… just trying to find a good recipe for my hubs… he doesnt need to stay low carb but needs a good healthy bar to take to work with him.. without needing an ice pack.. Thanks!
dsdjhardy says
November 10, 2016 at 4:38 pmI believe you could do that – please let me know how it turns out!
Brenda Staples says
November 12, 2016 at 6:52 pmThese sound so good, but how can one print off the recipe without having to waste a lot of paper on all of the comments?
dsdjhardy says
November 12, 2016 at 10:48 pmI’m sorry, I haven’t updated this post to a recipe card yet. You can copy and paste it into a word processing program and print it that way. 🙂
Brenda says
January 13, 2017 at 12:02 pmHow can I print your recipes without having to waste paper on pages and pages of comments? Some of your recipes have a print feature and some do not. What am I missing here?
dsdjhardy says
January 13, 2017 at 11:01 pmI’m sorry – my older recipes do not have a print feature. I would suggest copying the text and pasting it into a word processing document (Word?), then printing from there.
Nancy says
January 15, 2017 at 8:25 pmare the pumpkin seeds shelled or not? thanks!
dsdjhardy says
January 15, 2017 at 11:16 pmYes, they are out of the shell.
Tanya Brillhart says
January 26, 2017 at 10:51 amWondering if you just have one for a snack do you put anything else with it?
dsdjhardy says
January 26, 2017 at 6:04 pmI occasionally just have one for a snack. Especially if I’m in a hurry. You could always pair it with some collagen tea or coffee as well.
Ashlee says
January 29, 2017 at 7:00 amWhen you say half a cup of coconut oil melted, do you measure a half cup solid, then melt? Or do you melt some and measure out a half cup?
dsdjhardy says
January 29, 2017 at 7:47 amEither way would work fine. My coconut oil is always melted, so I measure it when it is already liquid.
Ann says
March 4, 2017 at 12:11 pmHow do I print your recipe s
dsdjhardy says
March 5, 2017 at 2:39 pmUnfortunately, my older recipes do not have a print option. I would suggest you copy and paste the recipes into a Word Processing document.
Anoude says
March 20, 2017 at 11:33 pmMade these with lots of subs based on ingredients I had at home…still turned out great, thanks for the recipe!
Christine says
August 27, 2017 at 9:20 pmHas anybody tried these with peanut powder instead of peanut butter? Itf so, how’d they turn out?
Jill Morris says
September 17, 2017 at 12:48 amThese are my absolute favorite bars!
Andrea says
November 11, 2017 at 8:05 amI have mixed together and it seems quite “liquidy”. I used Mct coconut oil. Could this be why-instead of melted coconut oil? Or will this still firm up?
Sarah Hardy says
November 11, 2017 at 8:23 amNo, MCT does not harden, so it will stay liquid. Perhaps you could use it as a sauce on low carb pancakes or ice cream?
Diane says
November 20, 2017 at 2:11 pmThanks for the great recipe- really love them, but don’t think they need so much coconut oil, personally.
By the way, I entered the ingredients into myfitnesspal (without shredded coconut) and they come up at 5g protein, 5 g carbs, 14 g fat, 2 g sugar, 165 calories, 2 g sugar.
Joyce Vogel says
March 19, 2018 at 11:12 pmThese are the best protein bars/ treats I’ve tried yet! I love them and probably am eating a few too many! I used the organic Costco peanut butter protein powder instead of the plain and didn’t need to add any other sweetener i used flax instead of chia and added some walnuts. This time i did the recipe x4 so i have them around for a snack Thank you
Ellen says
July 19, 2018 at 5:52 amThanks! And one question- How important is the collagen? What happens if you leave it out?
Sarah Hardy says
July 19, 2018 at 7:54 amThe collagen adds extra protein and healthy benefits. You can omit it, and the bars should still turn out fine!
Sherrill Hilton says
January 10, 2019 at 12:39 pmOh my word! I made these today and they are fabulous! My pan made 10. I ate 2!!! I couldn’t stop!
I used raw pumpkin seeds inside of roasted but still so yummy! Next time I’m going to put sunflower seeds in them.
Rebelah says
August 6, 2019 at 3:10 pmEver the skeptic, but these were amazing! I subbed sunflower seeds and almonds for the pepitas and chocolate chips. Also doubled the collagen since i did not have protein powder. Reminded me of the center of a butterfinger candy bar! I wonder if you could use melted cocoa butter in lieu of the coconut oil to make them stable at room temp or atleast of mix of the two ingredients? What do you think? Thanks for a great recipe!
Sarah Hardy says
August 6, 2019 at 3:11 pmThat is possible – I think it may change the flavor a bit, but worth a try! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!