We all have our weird issues when it comes to food, right? I once saw a teenager at Fazoli's absolutely lose her mind because her breadstick was touching the rest of her food. I've also seen grown adults brought to tears and/or dry heaving because somebody used the word "moist" to describe a food. While I may not understand these reactions, I am entitled to my own food "pet peeves". I have two that I'm aware of:
- Armpit soup (Sometimes referred to as "chili")
- Food floss
Since I've already expressed how I feel about cumin and how it does not belong in chili (and most other foods), I need to explain the "food floss" and why I let it into my blog.
Food floss (official definition that I just made up) is the vertical lines left in a food indicating the area between the consumer's teeth where the food has just been dragged through. Just like floss. Don't get me wrong, I can share a drink with somebody no problem but once they leave teeth marks in my brownie, I'm pretty much done. Hence, why brownies were not created to be shared. I think gum is the worst. If you ever see me chewing gum, know to take a few steps back because I really need a toothbrush when I get to that point.
Why did I include it in my photo of these delicious protein bars? Because I'm assuming I'm the only person that it bothers... and one of the bars broke when I was cutting them so I had to make it look like I intentionally bit into it. At least that missing piece held me over until I could eat these after taking photos!
I'm seriously wonder how many people are still reading right now. Thanks for sticking around - you're my fave.
I used to make protein bars like this all the time using various flavors of protein. PureWOD (edit: now Equip Foods) just released BUILD in vanilla flavor (edit: now called Prime Protein) and it made me want to try a vanilla chai spice flavor of my bars. I used their chocolate flavor back in January to make "Peanut" Butter Cup Protein Chia Pudding and I had also used it to try a recipe for "Fudgy Protein Mug Cakes" which I would link to but unfortunately, the website no longer exists. I love that even though it's not whey, it's still very versatile and can be used in a lot of recipes.
I've been noticing a lot of people on my site looking for vegan recipes, probably because most everything here is dairy free. Although the protein I used is dairy free, it is made with beef so I asked my friend Edith if she had a good vegan protein she could recommend for my vegan readers and she recommended vanilla PlantFusion (Amazon Associate link). Note that the recipe has not been tested with any other protein but I see no reason why it wouldn't work with that or even vanilla whey if that's what you use.
Recipe
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Sweet and spicy vanilla chai spice protein bars require no baking, are paleo-friendly, dairy free, and contain 12g of protein each. Vegan option included.
Ingredients
Protein bars
- 12 dates, pitted and roughly chopped
- 1 Tbsp nut butter (use cashew butter for best flavor)
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 60g vanilla protein powder, dairy free (I used Equip Foods Prime Protein) *see notes for vegan option*
Chai spice blend
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ginger
- ⅛ tsp cardamom
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- ⅛ tsp cloves
Instructions
- In a food processor, blend together the dates, nut butter, and coconut oil until you get a paste. Transfer this to a medium mixing bowl.
- Mix the spices together for the chai spice blend and set aside.
- Add vanilla protein to the mixing bowl with just a little bit of the spice blend and knead by hand. Continue adding the spice blend as you knead, tasting as you go until it reaches your spice preference. I like mine pretty spicy and ended up using all of it.
- Once everything is fully mixed, you'll need to pack it into a 4x8 rectangle. The easiest way to do this is to transfer it to an 8x8 baking dish and pack the mixture into half of it. It takes a little bit of muscle but keep packing it in there until it's solid and not crumbly.
- Refrigerate until chilled. It might take about 4 hours or you can leave it overnight. Once chilled, cut into 4 2x4 inch bars.
Notes
*I have a friend who recommends PlantFusion vanilla protein (Amazon Affiliate link) as a good vegan option. It does contain gluten-free, sprouted grains but may be a good option for you depending on your needs and preferences. Note that this recipe has only been tested with Equip Foods Prime Protein.
If you have leftover chai spice blend, add a little to some black tea to make your own chai.
Each bar contains approximately 12g protein.
Wow! These sound delicious. <3
Thanks Rachel! I loved your mug cakes :)