No-bake, Nut-Free Ginger Chocolate Protein Bars with simple ingredients. Each square has about 5 grams of fat, 12 grams of carbohydrates, and 6 grams of protein. Perfect workout snack!
This post is sponsored by Naked Nutrition. All opinions, as always, are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands I trust and have the pleasure of working with!
Yoga…
That form of exercise likely everyone could use in their life, yet most probably don’t partake in the practice enough.
This is me. I could 100% use more yoga in my life. For a multitude of reasons…
to decompress
to relieve tight muscles
to develop more self-awareness, a mind-body connection
Well my friend and I went to a yoga class put on by our local lululemon last week. The image shared on Facebook was something like this: “It’s National Yoga Month! Come join us for a free class!” Very straightforward. I thought, “Awesome, I could use some more yoga in my life, let’s check this out.”
I will be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. For those of you that don’t know me very well, I am not a yogi… although I think with a little practice I could totally get into it…. Anyways, so I thought we’d go in, have a nice hour long class of some basic yoga.
Holy sheet was I ever wrong. This class was a LEGIT 90 minutes of some hardcore yoga shiz. For anyone who practices yoga on the regular, I’m sure they’d be all like “Girl, please. That was a breeze. Namaste.”
However for someone who practices yoga about once a month, I was in child’s pose thinking “Nah, I’m a stay right here…”
But for real I was DR-IP-PING sweat all over the place. The studio we were in was on the upper level and it was kind of humid that day, so that didn’t help matters much. Needless to say I was soaked. And no, it wasn’t hot yoga, but I did find my mind wandering to this post quite often <– thanks for that Emily…
I can’t tell you how many times we went from downward dog to plank and whatever else they call it (yogi friends, I am sorry I don’t know the correct terminology). And then holding a very straight chair position for 5 minutes… At one time during some other balancing act the instructor came in between me and my friend, basically holding both of us up at the same time.
Anyways, long story short my entire body was feeling it the next day. Like, every fiber in my body felt sore. I think I even over-worked my big toe somehow… stop laughing. Yoga is freaking hard.
Oh em gee… Since I’ve started writing this little recap of my yoga experience I’ve done a little digging… Come to find out it WAS power yoga after all. Well no wonder I was dying! I go to read the description of the class on the studio’s website and it specifically states “not intended for beginners”… That would explain the multiple looks of concern on the instructor’s face. Or the fact that my friend was sitting on the instructor’s lap during chair pose. <– true story.
Alright, alright. Time for some SNACKS.
We’re making no-bake, Nut-free Chocolate Protein Bars using some high-quality whey, thanks to my friends over at Naked Nutrition.
As you guys know, I get pretty snooty particular about my protein powder supplements. If you’re like me and like to know where your whey is coming from, Naked Nutrition is the perfect option for you. “Naked” kind of speaks for itself but to give the low down here’s what they say:
The Naked Difference:
- From Grass Fed Cows’ Milk From Small Dairy Farms in California
- No Artificial Sweeteners, Flavors, or Colors
- 25 Grams of Protein and 5.9 Grams of BCAA’s Per Serving*
- Only One Ingredient: Grass Fed Whey Protein
- GMO Free
- Soy Free and Gluten Free
- Growth Hormone Free, no rBGH or rBST
- Cold Processed
- Acid and Bleach-Free Processing
I was playing around with my NutriBullet* the other day and realized it breaks down dates like a CHAMP. And for this recipe I wanted a good amount of carbohydrates so including dates was the perfect natural energy source. I also decided to leave out the nut butter (my typical homemade protein bar ingredient) and opted for whole seeds instead.
Here’s What You Need
dates
pumpkin seeds
hemp hearts
honey
coconut oil
fresh ginger (or ground)
cacao powder
cinnamon
Nut-Free Ginger Chocolate Protein Bars
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 16 squares 1x
- Category: Snacks
Ingredients
- 8 Medjool Dates
- 1” cube fresh ginger
- 3 TBS raw honey
- 1/2 cup hemp hearts
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 4 scoops (60g) Naked Whey
- 1 TBS cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa)
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1.5 TBS extra virgin coconut oil
- optional topping:
- 2 heaping tablespoons chocolate chips + 1/2 tsp coconut oil, melted
Instructions
- You can use a silicone brownie squares mold, or line a small loaf pan with plastic wrap or parchment paper, set aside.
- In a small blender or large cup of NutriBullet, add all of your ingredients to cup starting with dates, ending with coconut oil.
- Blend until all ingredients are processed down and ball starts to form. You may need to stop and start the blender a couple times, pushing the ingredients around with a spoon or spatula in between. Mixture will be thick and slightly sticky.
- Transfer mixture to silicone square mold, or lined pan, and press mixture in evenly. Transfer pan to freezer for about 10 minutes, then remove bars from pan and coat with melted chocolate topping. Enjoy!
Notes
Bars are best stored in fridge, but can be enjoyed at room temperature.
Nutrition info approximate. Does not include chocolate topping.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 squares
- Calories: 267
- Sugar: 25
- Sodium: 197
- Fat: 7
- Saturated Fat: 1
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 36
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 17
- Cholesterol: 33
tools used
brownie mold
I’m actually prettttyyy excited about these ginger chocolate protein bars you guys.
Dare I say… they kind of remind me of an RX bar… ?
let’s chat
- Are you a yogi?
- Do you have first time yoga experience (or other form of exercise) to share?
NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. When you click on the link and make a purchase, I may get credit for the sale. Please note that purchasing products this way is at no extra cost to you. I only supply links for products and/or services I truly believe in, and feel would be helpful to you as well. Using an affiliate program helps to cover some costs of running a blog, so thank you in advance for your support!
Amylou McBride says
Love hearing about your yoga experience!! As a yogi, its amazing how the practice still challenges me. I love it! Its something I crave daily — not for the physical aspect, but to bring my mind into connection with my body, to look inward rather than outward, and to find inspiration and love within my self! THAT is why I yoga and I think its such an important practice in any wellness/health junkies life!!!
AND OMG these bars look to die for….no yucky ingredients and still look delish!! i will have to make them and will let you know what I think!! can’t imagine it would be anything but love! Thanks for the recipe and definitely do yoga more!! Its amazing.
xo!
★★★★★
Ashley says
I definitely plan on having more yoga in my life now 🙂 And do let me know what you think if you make the bars!
Ellen @ My Uncommon Everyday says
Yoga is HARD, but I love it and it totally chills me out, even if I’m in pain during the actual class. Aaand I haven’t done it in way too long. I’m looking forward to getting back into it as I heal a little from my silly injury 😛
These bars look amazing! I’m loving RXBars lately and these definitely seem similar. I’m super interested in the ginger-chocolate combo, so when my Ninja gets fixed, I think I need to make these 🙂
Ashley says
Yes yoga is so great. I am going to aim to go at least once a week! I took another class this week that was a little slower paced so I could totally do that on the regular.
Oh I hope your injury heals fast!
–and your ninja gets fixed fast too! :-p
Jess @hellotofit says
Cheese and rice, girl. These look fabulous! I’m looking for any excuse to add ginger to my foods these days, so…they’re perfect.
And hellz yes I’m a yogi. And so are YOU.
Ashley says
I love ginger SO much. Good thing it’s so awesome for you!
I like to think I am 😉