Homemade Keto Protein Bars (Paleo, Vegan, Low Carb)
An easy homemade keto protein bars recipe made with almond butter and no protein powder! 4 ingredients, 5 minutes and the perfect grab-and-go snack packed with protein and no sugar! Paleo, Vegan, Low Carb, Gluten Free.
Looking for a homemade protein bar recipe without protein powder? These homemade low carb protein bars are your answer! Otherwise, we’ve got 4 ingredient protein bars, low carb crunch protein bars, and low carb protein bars!
Homemade Keto Protein Bars
I’ve been busy working on an easy ketogenic protein bar recipe for you, and I’ve got you covered!
I always thought homemade protein bars needed protein powder, but alas, I stand corrected.
By using a combination of low carb flours, sugar free sweeteners and protein-packed nut butter, you are able to create a naturally high protein bar without protein powder!
You only need 4 ingredients to make these homemade keto protein bars-
- Coconut Flour
- Almond Flour
- Almond Butter (or appropriate substitute)
- A sticky sweetener of choice
When combined, these homemade protein bars are thick, chewy and perfectly sweet. They keep you satisfied between meals and are perfect before or after a workout.
Not only is this homemade protein bar recipe keto-friendly, it is also paleo, vegan, dairy free and gluten free!
Low Carb Flours
Coconut flour and almond flours are two keto-friendly and keto-approved flours. Both of them are low in net carbs, high fiber and suitable to eat raw.
Low Carb Keto Nut and Seed Butters
If you follow a low carb or keto diet, most nut and seed butter varieties are acceptable. Granted, some are lower in carbs than others, and depending on your other dietary preferences, some may not be suitable (e.g. peanut butter on the paleo diet).
I made these protein bars using smooth almond butter, as they contain higher levels of protein than the other nuts, along with a hefty dose of fiber.
For those with nut allergies, sunflower seed butter or tahini are both fantastic substitutions and work well in the recipe.
Low Carb Keto Sweeteners
A sticky sweetener is necessary for these bars to hold shape.
While there are quite a few keto-approved granulated sweeteners (stevia and erythritol are both keto-approved), neither of these will work for this recipe.
I used a monk fruit sweetened maple syrup, which works really well and has a nice, sweet taste. You can order it online (link provided) and in health food shops.
Please do not use a generic sugar free syrup (like sugar free pancake syrup), as they won’t have the right consistency. If you don’t follow a strict ketogenic diet, pure maple syrup, honey or agave nectar can all be used.
Keto and vegan chocolate chips
To take this recipe up a notch, add the optional chocolate topping! Before you roll your eyes and say ‘chocolate isn’t keto’, you’d be surprised at what options there are!
For a keto baking chocolate, I use either stevia sweetened chocolate chips or 100% baking chocolate. Be wary that the latter is extremely bitter, so only use if you prefer subtly sweet bars.
For a paleo-vegan chocolate chip, I use these dairy free mini chips. They melt beautifully and taste great on their own!
Homemade Keto Protein Bars (Paleo, Vegan, Low Carb)
Ingredients
- 2 cups smooth almond butter
- 1/2 cup sticky sweetener of choice * See notes
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 2 tbsp almond flour
- 2 cups chocolate chips of choice Optional
Instructions
- Line an 8x8-inch loaf pan or 20-count mini muffin tin with muffin liners and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all your ingredients and mix until a thick batter remains. If the batter is too thick and crumbly, add some extra syrup or liquid (milk) until a batter forms.
- Fill each muffin tin until 3/4 of the way full. Repeat until all the batter is used up, then refrigerate until firm. If using the chocolate, melt and cover each cup with it.
Notes
Nutrition
These are very tasty. I made a half batch and used Lily’s stevia sweetened chocolate chips (only 1/2 cup) and just mixed them in. My nuutrition data is nowhere close to what is listed here. How was this calculated?
Using the data provided and ingredients used 🙂 Follow the macros for your own ingredients 🙂
Maybe I read the recipe wrong. The almond butter I used had 200 calories for 2 tbsp vs the 210 in the Kirkland which was linked. The recipe calls for 2 cups or 32 tbsp. There would be 3360 calories from the Kirkland almond butter alone. That’s 168 per serving just from almond butter. I’m confused.
The video doesn’t seem to be the item that this recipe is for (has oats and protein powder). Then, the picture of the protein cups appears to have oats (or is that coarsely copped almond flour?) so a little confused. The protein cups look delicious just don’t seem to add up to the listed ingredients.
It is almond meal, not oats. Also the videos are automatically populated, so aren’t necessarily the recipe video for the recipe. 🙂
You say: “To keep this 100% refined sugar free, you can use pure maple syrup.” There are 105 g carbs in 1/2 cup of maple syrup. If this recipe makes 20 portions, that’s 5.25 g carbs ALONE from the maple syrup in your 5 g total recipe. You may want to provide this corrected information for those who think that maple syrup is an equal substitute.
With all due respect, this is correct information. I said ‘refined sugar free’ which means using maple syrup, agave nectar etc as oppposed to white sugar or corn syrup.
Enjoy!
Is it possible to add creatine to these bars?
I haven’t tried, but feel free to experiment and see- I’d love to know if it works!