"Vegan" Power Protein Bars

My husband works on his feet for 11 hours a day and is finding that this new diet is a bit hard to get the calories he needs in the day to keep going. But, bless his heart! He’s still trying! So I searched the glorious world of pintrest to see what I could whip up that he could easily eat to get some extra calories and nutrients in, and found these: Chocolate Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars

And of course since I am incapable of perfectly following directions, I switched up a few things. They turned out AHHHmazing and my husband even said, “They taste like a Reese’s cup! YUM.”

"Vegan" Power Protein Bars

1½ cups rolled oats (use gluten-free if desired)

 2 tablespoons chia seeds

1/4 cup flax seed meal

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup raw hemp seeds

1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup raw cashews, roughly chopped

1/2 cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped

1/2 cup agave nectar, or honey, or maple syrup

1 cup nut butter of choice – I used half raw almond butter, half organic peanut butter

1/2 cup vegan, gf chocolate chips such as Enjoy Life Mini Chips (I roughly chopped these as well to extend more chocolately goodness to every inch of these bars… Also, since my current diet only requires 95% plant-based, whole-foods, I cheated on this and just used organic semi-sweet chocolate chips :) Whatever’s your preference

Directions:

1.  Line 9x9 pan with parchment or wax paper.

2. In a bowl large enough (I was lazy and just used my kitchenaid) add all ingredients and mix thoroughly.

(This is actually my food processor, used to "roughly chop" the walnuts, cashews, and chocolate chips)

3. Spread mixture evenly in 9x9 pan and press down with fingers or I used the back of a 1-cup measuring cup to get a nice flat surface.

4.  Pop those babies in the freezer for a few hours!

5.  After nice and frozen, pull the bars out of the freezer and remove the whole 9x9 “bar” onto a cutting board.

6.  Cut into as many bars as you want, but I find the perfect size are 4bars’x’4bars, totaling 16 bars.

7.  To store, place cut bars in an airtight container, with parchment or wax paper separating layers. I’m sure you can store these in your fridge, but I love the crunch of them when they are frozen! Can be stored for up to a month in fridge, couple months in freezer.

And BOOM. There you go! Minimal effort, maximum delicious nutrition. And perfect to grab and go in the morning for busy husbands.

"Vegan" Power Protein Bars FOR THE WIN!