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5-Ingredient Protein Bars (no-bake!)

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For deliciously nutritious energy on the run, grab a couple of your own homemade Protein Bars! These couldn’t be easier to make and are much more affordable than store-bought bars.

no bake protein bars recipe
Homemade protein bars beat out store-bought bars

No-Bake Protein Bars Recipe

If you’ve ever stashed up on store-bought protein bars, you know it can quickly empty your wallet. The price of high quality pre/post workout energy in the form of a bar…it adds up fast. Not to mention, many pre-packaged energy bars are loaded with ingredients that leave you scratching your head in doubt.

You’re about to leave all that behind, with these super easy homemade protein bars, made of only 5 pure, natural ingredients. You’ll be rewarded with a nice batch of fresh protein bars that cost way less than your typical CLIF-type store bought bars.

Feel energized, fueled, and happily satisfied when grabbing your own homemade protein bars on the go. And have leftover cash for that latte after your workout, because you can.

Protein Bars ingredients
pure, simple ingredients

Homemade Protein Bars – only 5 ingredients

You’ll love the pure, nutritious, simple ingredients that go into these quality protein bars. All you need are:

  • Whole Rolled Oats: whole oats provide a more robust texture than quick or instant oats.
  • Real Peanut Butter: we love chunky peanut butter, as it lends a bit of crunch to the bars.
  • Whey Protein Powder: feel free to use your favorite flavor, though we highly recommend steering clear of artificial sugars, as those tend to have an unpalatable aftertaste. Our personal favorite is pure, unflavored 100% whey protein powder, which we’ve been using for years.
  • Real Maple Syrup or Honey: it just feels better than sugar. Plus, maple or honey has the sticky texture needed to help bind the bars.
  • Milk: we use regular cow’s milk, but feel free to use your milk of choice.
  • Totally optional: add-ins! We love dried blueberries, chocolate chips, or even drizzled chocolate on top.

Tip: If you’re planning to stash these bars in your gym bag, backpack, or lunch sack, we recommend skipping the drizzle on top. They’ll stay a lot neater that way and you’ll like us more.

  • Protein Bars Peanut Butter in Pan
    peanut butter mixture
  • Protein Bars Oatmeal Mixture in Pan
    oats, whey, add-ins
Protein Bars in pan
Just press into a pan and chill; no baking needed

Homemade Protein Bars Keep Well and Freeze Well

These no-bake, 5-ingredient protein bars are JUST the thing for a nutritious energy boost.  I make a nice big batch, which comes in handy for pick-me-up snacks when the kids get the munchies. They’re even great for breakfast on the go.

Thankfully, these homemade protein bars keep extremely well at a mild room temperature, stored airtight. They keep even longer if kept in an airtight container or in individual baggies in the fridge. If you like prepping ahead, feel free to freeze some protein bars so you can have them on hand all month long.

Protein Bars on a plate
Play with healthy add-ins of your choice
  • Protein Bars on plate
    dried blueberries
  • peanut butter protein bars
    dark chocolate

Try This Maple Cinnamon BakeD Oatmeal, too:

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Protein Bars on plate

5-Ingredient Protein Bars (no-bake!)

★★★★★ 5 from 12 reviews
  • Author: Chew Out Loud
  • Prep Time: 10 min
  • Cook Time: 5 min
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: snacks, breakfast
  • Method: stovetop
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Gluten Free
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Description

These 5-ingredient Protein Bars are super easy, packed with nutrition, and are the perfect pre/post workout fuel. They’re reminiscent of Clif energy bars, but are way more budget-friendly when you make them at home. 

Scale

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup milk 
  • 1 cup chunky peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup real maple syrup or honey, plus more to taste
  • 1 cup vanilla, chocolate, or plain whey protein powder*
  • 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats, uncooked
  • Optional: 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
  • Optional Add-ins (1 cup): chocolate chips, raisins, dried blueberries, chopped dates, or melted chocolate for topping

Instructions

  1. In a medium heavy pot, combine milk, peanut butter, and maple syrup/honey over low heat. Stir just until all ingredients are well combined and warmed through. Remove from heat.
  2. Add protein powder, oats, and optional cinnamon or add-ins. Stir to combine well. Taste and add more maple syrup or honey if desired. (If mixture is too thick to stir, simply add a bit more milk.)
  3. Lightly grease an 8×8 pan. Press evenly into pan, using firm pressure to compress mixture into desired bar thickness. Tip: use wet or lightly greased hands to prevent sticking. 
  4. Allow bars to cool completely. Once cool, cut into squares. If desired, drizzle with melted chocolate and let cool. Wrap in airtight container and store at moderate room temp for several days, or chilled in fridge for a week. 

Notes

Protein powder is to be measured according to standard cups, not the scoops that come inside the tub of protein powder. If needed, check for certified gluten-free labeling.

We recommend using a protein powder made without fake/artificial sugars, as those tend to have a funny aftertaste. We prefer using pure, unflavored 100% whey protein powder. This one is my personal favorite. 

Make it dairy-free or nut-free: use almond or coconut milk or any other milk of your choice. Use sunflower butter instead of a nut butter.

If you’re planning to pack these bars to go, use add-ins rather than drizzling on top. 

If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and give it a rating 🙂  

Keywords: homemade protein bars, oatmeal bars

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Greek Yogurt Spice Dip 4

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Beth Wilson says

    This sounds wonderful! And I really love the fact that it’s all natural. I have a few questions. May I use creamy peanut butter in lieu of the chunky? Also, did you use chocolate or vanilla, whey protein powder? I want to use what you used.

    I buy organic, to stay away from GMOs. I’m assuming the whey protein is NON-GMO. I’ve never bought that.

    Thank you so much, and I look forward to trying this. What a great feeling to know you made such a healthy snack and it’s NOT Frankenfood, like so many “healthy” or “all natural” snacks on the market today.

    Beth

    Reply

      • Iain says

        I’m guessing you can pack more protein value into it by adding more whey for more nutritional value protein, typically I buy ones with 20g opposed to the 8g protein in these

        Reply

  4. Gargi says

    Thank you very much for sharing this recipe.I have one question, like when i made it it was where sticky so not able to eat properly all sticked around teeth. Kindly help me . Thanks in advance

    Reply

  5. Hannah says

    Do you know approximately how many grams of protein are in each bar? And how many bars does this recipe yield? Thanks!

    Reply

    • chewoutloud says

      Hannah, the grams of protein will vary, depending on the size of your bar and the brand of whey protein you used, too. Generally, there’s about 8 grams of protein per 2 TB of peanut butter. Most protein powders probably have at least 20 grams of protein per scoop, but again, there’s variation of ingredients in each brand. As for how many bars, that got me thinking to how big/small I cut mine. It can be 8 – 16 bars, depending on the size you cut them. I hope that helps? Thanks for stopping by, Hannah 🙂

      Reply

        • chewoutloud says

          Mike, I don’t see why not 🙂 I’d wrap them tightly and freeze them probably up to a few weeks at most. Let them come to room temp before enjoying. Way better than spending a ton on store bars; I can never get myself to justify the cost. Enjoy! 🙂

          Reply

  8. Laurie says

    Has anyone tried these with dairy free milk? I was wondering if almond milk could be subbed in. Thanks!

    Reply

  9. Ana Nabo says

    Hello.

    In regards to the Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars, can we substitute the butter with anything else?

    Thank you 🙂

    Reply

  11. Joel says

    Can I substitute peanut butter for say almond butter, sunflower seed butter, etc?

    Also will it be ok to use almond, hemp, or other type of milk?

    Reply

    • chewoutloud says

      Absolutely, Joel! I sometimes do that for friends who have peanut allergies…almond butter, sunbutter, even cashew butter…all good 🙂 And yes for other type of milk as well, though you might get a bit of texture differences with the milk sub. Enjoy and thanks so much for coming over today! 🙂

      Reply

  12. Terry says

    One of the questions leaves me more confused! I assumed from the recipe that it was 1 1/4 CUPS ~ as in a standard measuring cup. A reader asked if you meant the scoop that comes in the protein powder. Is it 1 1/4 scoops or cups???

    Reply

  13. Ari Hoffman says

    Hello! These look great, but I’m really curious on the nutrition values. I’m new to all this so I don’t know how to calculate it when it’s cooked, so do you have any idea to how cooking it effects the nutrition values or how I could calculate it?

    Thanks!

    Reply

  14. Hannah Murphy says

    Hi,I love the sound of this recipe. I’ve just recently tried to make my own protein bar with all organic ingredients (that’s my edge) but they seem to have gone terribly wrong :(I was wondering whether I’d be able to incorporate bananas into this particular recipe as my protein powder is Banana flavour. Could you suggest any changes id have to make or any advice really. Id appreciate it! 🙂

    Reply

    • chewoutloud says

      I think you’ll have great success with these bars, Hannah! 🙂 As for incorporating bananas, you can try banana chips or some version of dried bananas. I wouldn’t recommend fresh bananas, as the texture would change and the bars would have a much shorter shelf life. Have fun playing with the flavors!!

      Reply

    • chewoutloud says

      Chrissy, these are relatively dense and moist enough to take along with you – they shouldn’t be crumbly or dry out on the road. If you’re making a batch for a lot of people, you can cut them into smaller bite-size squares and they’ll go a long way. We really like them for tough workouts!

      Reply

  16. Tambi durai says

    hi

    wondering whether normal cooking butter can be used for making proteins bars if nut butters are not avilable

    thank you in advance

    Reply

  18. Kristine Nicole Alessandra says

    You had me at no bake. Since I promised myself to pick healthier food this year, I am going to make these protein bars to snack on instead of chips. Thanks for the recipe. I will make some this weekend.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  25. Susana says

    Thank you for this easy and healthy protein bar! I went grocery shopping today and forgot to buy protein bars; I made these instead. Glad I made these instead!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  26. Tricia says

    Hi, I have digestive issues due to several surgeries done at abdominal area and also have a bolted colon.
    Would like to know what can I replace the oats with for easy digestion. Also, can maple syrup replace honey?
    Many thanks.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • chewoutloud says

      Tricia, would it help to use quick-cooking oats, with the finer texture? Otherwise, maybe try using some rice crispy type cereal (dry) …and yes, maple syrup can be used 🙂

      Reply

  27. agnes says

    Hi,
    I tried this yesterday and they taste very good! Unfortunately I think I put a little bit too much milk when I was mixing it (I don’t like my oak too dry) so the final bar is a bit soft. Can you share a picture of the mixture’s consistency so that I can roughly tell if mine have enough water?
    Thank you!!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  30. Stine Mari says

    These look so delicious, filling AND healthy. Chunky peanut butter is the best. I just need to get some unflavored whey protein – I agree, that sounds best!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  32. Emily says

    These protein bars are so delicious! I made a big batch and my family loves having them on hand to snack on!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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