These No Bake Protein Bars are made with just 7 ingredients. Make your own homemade protein bars made in minutes!

Make your own protein bars!

Homemade protein bars are one of my favorite filling snacks to keep on hand for my kids (and me!) They are easy to make, made with pantry ingredients, and most importantly they taste amazing!

If you are a fan of classic energy balls or monster cookie energy balls, you will love this recipe!

These protein bars are a great option if you don’t want to spend the time rolling energy bites by hand. Each bar has 12 grams of protein in it and is made with real ingredients you can recognize.

I personally have a hard time finding store bought protein bars that both taste good and don’t have a long list of ingredients. That’s why I decided to make my own.

These and my no bake chocolate protein bars have become my favorite bars!

Ingredients and notes

Peanut butter: You need no stir creamy peanut butter for this recipe, which is thick and creamy. The ingredients should be peanuts, oil, salt, and sugar.
Honey: the natural sticky sweetener that helps hold these bars together.
Oats: old fashioned oats, also known as rolled oats give the bars a chewy texture.
Vanilla protein powder: we used our favorite vanilla whey protein powder, but I have heard from others that non-dairy worked as well!
Chocolate chips: this recipe uses a blend of semi sweet and dark chocolate chips. You can substitute dairy free chocolate chips to make these dairy free.
Flaked sea salt, for topping: this is optional, but highly recommended. It really makes the flavors pop!

How to make no bake protein bars

Step 1: Stir together the creamy peanut butter and honey until combined. I have found it’s easier to do this step first before adding the dry ingredients.

Step 2: Stir in the rolled oats and vanilla protein powder until combined. The protein bar batter should be thick but not too sticky. I used vanilla protein powder for this recipe, but chocolate would also be tasty!

Step 3: Transfer the peanut butter batter to an 8 by 8 baking dish. I recommend lining your dish with parchment paper for easy clean up.

Flatten down the top of the mixture and spread it evenly into the pan. A rubber spatula works best for this step.

Step 4: Melt the dark chocolate chips and semi sweet chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments until smooth. Stir often to avoid burning.

Step 5: Pour the melted chocolate over the top of the peanut butter layer and smooth it out with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the melted chocolate layer generously with flaked sea salt.

Flaked sea salt is optional, but I love that salty sweet flavor that it brings to sweet recipes like this one. Trust me on this!

Step 6: Chill the bars until the chocolate is set, around 1-2 hours. The chocolate should be hardened on top. Cut the bars into 12 pieces, or more if you want smaller protein bars.

peanut butter and honey in a mixing bowl

Storing

Leftover protein bars can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer. They will keep 5-7 days in the refrigerator or 2-3 months in the freezer.