These Homemade Perfect Bars are a super delicious, protein-packed snack made with real, wholesome ingredients. I don’t know about you, but one of life’s simple pleasures for me is browsing Target for things random things, and my ritual is to grab a Perfect Bar and a kombucha as a snack. Almost every single time I go. One day it dawned on me that maybe I could create a copycat recipe so I could have them any time I wanted, for a much more affordable price point, too!
what is a perfect bar?
Perfect Bars are a store-bought brand of protein bars that come in many different flavors. They’re advertised as a whole-foods based protein bar, that are extremely fresh. You can find them in the refridgerator section of most grocery stores. I personally love them because they are filling, pretty high in protein, and very satisfying served chilled!
store-bought versus homemade perfect bars:
While the store bought perfect bars are delicious and also made with whole foods, they do contain dairy and eggs. While I am not vegan myself, I know many who are, and my homemade recipe is made dairy-free and has a vegan option.
In terms of macro-nutrients, I tried to make my recipe as close to the perfect bar nutrional facts as possible, while still maintaining a similar flavor and texture.
Store-Bought Perfect Bars: 330 kcal, 20g Fat, 24g Carbs, 15g Protein.
Homemade Perfect Bars: 303 kcal, 14.7g Fat, 31g Carbs, 15g Protein.
how to make homemade perfect bars:
All you need is a few simple ingredients you probably already have at home:
- Oat Flour
- Protein Powder
- Natural Peanut Butter
- Honey (maple syrup for vegan)
- Almond Milk
- Vanilla Extract
- Chocolate Chips
This recipe is super simple to make and there is no baking required. If you are making your own oat flour (which I usually do) start by pulsing your favorite whole oats in a blender for a few seconds until they are finely blended. Typically, blending whole oats will yield slightly less oat flour. For example, 1 cup of oats could yield anywhere from 1/2 cup to 1 cup oat flour, so keep this in mind when making your own.
Next, mix oat flour and protein powder in a medium-size mixing bowl. Add honey, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Mix with a large spoon until a sandy dough forms.
After this, add the almond milk and mix until everything is well incorporated. The almond milk will make the dough moist and come together. It should be a dough-like consistency, similar to cookie dough.
Add the dough to a greased pan lined with parchment paper. Using clean hands, gently press the dough into the square pan, ensuring an even thickness throughout. Add chocolate chips to the top, and chill for 2 hours in the fridge.
After chilled, remove the bars from the pan using the parchment paper to pull them out. Slice them into 8 even bars. If the dough isn’t yet stable, it needs more time in the fridge or freezer.
I hope you love this recipe! If you do, check out some of my other favorite snack recipes!
Chocolate Protein Energy Balls
Homemade Perfect Bars
Equipment
- 8×8 square pan or 8.5 x 4.5 bread loaf
Ingredients
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 cup vanilla protein powder about 3 servings of standard serving of protein powder
- 3/4 cup peanut butter room temp, not melted
- 6 tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup almond milk a splash more if necessary
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- chocolate chips sprinkled on top
Instructions
- First, mix oat flour and protein powder in a medium size mixing bowl. Next, add honey, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Mix with a large spoon until a sandy dough forms.
- After this, add the almond milk and mix until everything is until well incorporated. The almond milk will make the dough moist and come together. It should be a dough-like consistency, similar to cookie dough.
- Add the dough to a greased pan lined with parchment paper (see photo above). Using clean hands, gently press the dough into the pan, ensuring an even thickness throughout. Add chocolate chips to the top, and chill for 2 hours in the fridge.
- After chilled, remove the bars from the pan use the parchament paper to pull them out. Slice them into 8 even bars. If the dough isn't yet stable, it needs more time in the fridge or freezer.
- Store in the fridge or freezer and enjoy!