Showing you how to make homemade protein bars that are paleo-friendly – made with dates, nuts, egg white protein powder and different mix-ins for your favorite homemade RXBAR bar flavors.
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I did a thing: I made you HOMEMADE PROTEIN BARS!
Actually, I made you four flavors.
Except these aren’t just any kind of protein bar… these are like homemade RXBARS. Have you heard of RXBAR? Tried them? They’re known for their simplistic packaging, calling out the ingredients on the front of their bar wrapper – it’s just dates, nuts, egg white protein and then other additional ingredients depending on the flavor.
Homemade Protein Bars with Dates and Nuts
Guess what? You can basically make the same thing as an RXBAR at home.
I actually have my base recipe here, which is where I share the most simple version of this recipe.
But I wanted to give you specific flavor options, show you how easy they’re made from start to finish plus some more tips and tricks so you’ll feel super confident making these homemade protein bars / energy bars / paleo protein bars – whatever you want to call them.
And you have 4 FLAVORS and WAYS to enjoy them in this one post.
Main ingredients needed
The three main ingredients needed for a homemade RXBAR recipe is:
- Medjool dates – I like Medjool dates best because they’re thicker and juicer than others. Ratios may change if using other dates that are smaller or dry.
- Nuts – You can really use a mix of nuts. For every recipe / flavor combination you need 2 cups of nuts. I like to use a mix of cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans and peanuts, depending on the recipe. Peanuts are not paleo or Whole30® compliant so feel free to sub cashews or a mix when we get to the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip flavor.
- Egg White Protein Powder – This is where most of your protein comes from in the recipe. Egg white protein <– linked to the one I use keeps this recipe paleo-friendly, Whole30® compliant and also vegetarian. I don’t have an equal 1:1 sub for another protein powder in this recipe. See more notes in the recipe card.
You’ll also need water to help the mixture come together at the end. The rest of the ingredients and ratio of ingredients needed will depend on the flavor you’re making.
Don’t worry, we’ll go over everything. Just keep reading.
How to Make Homemade Protein Bars (AKA copycat RXBARS)
First things first: you need a food processor or high powered blender to make these. The nuts are dates are best broken down with super sharp and powerful blades. A NutriBullet or standard blender won’t really cut it.
I’ll list each recipe flavor and ingredients needed but scroll down further for more flavor adaptations, notes and the recipe card.
Pineapple Mango Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cup egg white protein powder
- 10 large medjool dates, pitted
- 2oz dried unsweetened mango
- 2 oz dried unsweetened pineapple
- 2-4 tbsp water, as needed
Steps
First the nuts get broken down with the egg white protein powder.
Then the dates and (soaked) dried mango plus pineapple get added to the bowl.
This is where the mixture almost comes together. And you’ll see just by adding tablespoons of water (usually 2-4 total) helps the protein bar mixture get sticky enough to where it will press into a pan.
Blueberry Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 cup egg white protein powder
- 10 medjool dates
- 1 cup dried unsweetened blueberries
- 2-4 tbsp water, as needed
You can change out the nuts as you’d like. Process described above is the same!
Mint Chocolate Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup egg white protein powder
- ⅓ cup cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa but use “cacao” for video)
- 18 large medjool dates
- ½ tsp mint extract or fresh mint leaves
- 2-4 TBSP water, as needed
There isn’t any dried fruit added here so the amount of Medjool dates increases. You can also use a mix of nuts or even all walnuts.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsalted peanuts
- 1 cup egg white protein powder
- 18 large medjool dates
- 3-5 TBSP water, as needed
- ½ cup mini dairy-free chocolate chips
This flavor is not paleo (because, peanuts) but it sure is delicious and kind of doubles as a great treat!
Tips for making copycat RXBARs
- While pulsing in the Medjool dates and other mix-ins (i.e. pineapple, mango, or blueberries) the mixture may look dry. Continue processing and being adding water one tablespoon at a time, letting the motor continue to run about 5 seconds in between each water addition. You *can* overmix these which will lead to a gummy and sticky texture. The mixture comes together in the pan as well once it is pressed together.
- For the fruit based flavors, you don’t need as many Medjool dates because you’re adding in the dried fruit.
- Use a lightly oiled pastry roller for flattening out the mixture in the pan. The oil prevents the mixture from sticking to the wood. Wetting it will also help. Alternatively, you can take a square piece of parchment paper and flatten with your hands are a large flat measuring cup.
- You can cut these homemade protein bars into 16 squares, 12 rectangles, or even shape them into balls or flatten into cookies. Note the nutrition per serving will change.
Adaptations / Looking for more flavors?
- For Chocolate Sea Salt: simply omit the mint extract from the Mint Chocolate flavor and top the bars with flaked sea salt before placing in fridge or freezer to set.
- For Apple Cinnamon: use the Blueberry flavor as your base but sub the dried blueberries for dried unsweetened apple slices (4oz) and add 1 tablespoon cinnamon. You could also use pecans as part of the nut mix for additional flavor.
- For Chocolate Coffee: Use this recipe already posted on my site.
- For Mixed Berry: Use the Blueberry flavor as your base but use a mix of dried blueberries, dried raspberries and dried cranberries (equal to 1 cup). I would opt for all cashews here or a mix of cashews and almonds.
Once you have your base for this homemade protein bar recipe, it’s fun to change it up! I hope you enjoy these homemade protein bars as much as we do!
Even more paleo homemade protein bar recipes
4-Ingredient Paleo Protein Bars
- My original base recipe used to develop the four flavors in this post.
Pumpkin Spice Paleo Protein Bars
- These ones use collagen peptides!
Coffee Cacao Date Nut Protein Bars
Banana Bread Date Nut Energy Bars
- This recipe doesn’t call for egg white protein powder but you could add it in, you’d just need more water to get the mixture to come together. Or use 60 grams collagen peptides with no additional water.
Coffee Cashew Energy Balls
If you make any of these homemade protein bar recipes, I’d love to hear from you! Leave a review and comment on the blog below. It helps others learn more about the recipe too! Xx Ashley
Homemade Protein Bars {copycat RXBAR}
Ingredients
Pineapple Mango
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cup egg white protein powder
- 10 large Medjool dates, pitted
- 2 ounces dried unsweetened mango
- 2 ounces dried unsweetened pineapple
- 2-4 tablespoons water, as needed
Blueberry
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 cup egg white protein powder
- 10 Medjool dates, pitted
- 1 cup dried unsweetened blueberries
- 2-4 tablespoons water, as needed
Mint Chocolate
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup egg white protein powder
- ⅓ cup cacao powder, or unsweetened cocoa powder
- 18 large Medjool dates, pitted
- ½ teaspoon mint extract
- 2-4 tablespoons water, as needed
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
- 2 cups unsalted peanuts
- 1 cup egg white protein powder
- 18 large Medjool dates, pitted
- 3-5 tablespoons water, as needed
- ½ cup mini dairy-free chocolate chips
Instructions
Pineapple Mango
- If dates or dried mango and pineapple are super dry, soak in warm water for 3-4 minutes then drain well.
- Line a 8×8 pan with parchment paper (or use silicone pan), set aside.
- In the bowl of your food processor with S blade, process almonds, cashews, and egg white protein until nuts have broken down into small pieces.
- Add in pitted dates, dried mango and pineapple; process until combined–the mixture will look a little dry. With the motor running about 1 tablespoon of water at a time until mixture is sticky and everything comes together. Depending on if your dates were juicy or dry, you may need less or more water.
- Transfer. Once mixtures has come together and is sticky, transfer to lined 8×8 pan or silicone pan. Use slightly wet hands to press evenly into pan. I use the little pastry roller to make it extra flat.
- Place pan in fridge for 1 hour, or freezer for 30 minutes before cutting into bars. Use large sharp knife and cutting board, cutting bars into 12 or 16 squares.
Blueberry
- Line a 8×8 pan with parchment paper (or use silicone pan), set aside.
- In the bowl of your food processor with S blade, process cashews, walnuts and egg white protein until nuts have broken down into small pieces.
- Add in pitted dates and dried blueberries; process until combined–the mixture will look a little dry. With the motor running about 1 tablespoon of water at a time until mixture is sticky and everything comes together. Depending on if your dates were juicy or dry, you may need less or more water.
- Transfer. Once mixtures has come together and is sticky, transfer to lined 8×8 pan or silicone pan. Use slightly wet hands to press evenly into pan.
- Place pan in fridge for 1 hour, or freezer for 30 minutes before cutting into bars. Use large sharp knife and cutting board, cutting bars into 12 or 16 squares, or roll into balls.
Mint Chocolate
- Line a 8×8 pan with parchment paper (or use silicone pan), set aside.
- In the bowl of your food processor with S blade, process walnuts, cashews and egg white protein until nuts have broken down into small pieces.
- Add in cacao powder, pitted dates and mint extract; process until combined. With the motor running add about 1 tablespoon of water at a time until mixture is sticky and everything comes together. Depending on if your dates were juicy or dry, you may need less or more water.
- Transfer to lined 8×8 pan or silicone pan. Use slightly wet hands to press evenly into pan or use pastry roller.
- Place pan in fridge for 1 hour, or freezer for 30 minutes before cutting into bars. Use large sharp knife and cutting board, cutting bars into 12 or 16 squares. Or try rolling into tablespoon size balls.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
- Line a 8×8 pan with parchment paper (or use silicone pan), set aside.
- In the bowl of your food processor with S blade, process peanuts and egg white protein until nuts have broken down. It won't take much because the peanuts are already fairly small.
- Add in pitted dates; process until combined–the mixture will look a little dry. With the motor running about 1 tablespoon of water at a time until mixture is sticky and everything comes together. Depending on if your dates were juicy or dry, you may need less or more water. I needed 5 tablespoons water here. Once the mixture has come together, remove the S blade and fold in chocolate chips. If using regular-sized morsels, feel free to pulse in.
- Transfer to lined 8×8 pan or silicone pan. Use slightly wet hands to press evenly into pan.
- Place pan in fridge for 1 hour, or freezer for 30 minutes before cutting into bars. Use large sharp knife and cutting board, cutting bars into 12 or 16 squares. Or roll into balls, press into cookie shape, etc.
- Store bars covered in fridge for 2-3 weeks. Or in freezer for about 3 months.
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