These Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Bars taste like a peanut butter cup, but pack 13 grams of protein with just 4 easy ingredients. Creamy, no-bake, and naturally dairy-free, they’re the easy high-protein snack I keep on hand for sweet cravings and busy days.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- ⏲️Ready In: 55 Minutes
- 👪Serves: 6
- 🍽 Calories and Protein: 277 kcals and 13 grams of protein
- 📋Main Ingredients: Peanut butter, collagen powder, almond flour, and sugar-free chocolate chips.
- 📖 Dietary Notes: Dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free, paleo, and flourless.
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: Four ingredients, no baking, and a rich chocolate-peanut butter flavor that feels indulgent while quietly packing protein.
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With a super soft, peanut butter base and topped with hard-shell chocolate, these 4-ingredient protein bars curb all the cravings. Couple that with something super sweet that feels like a treat but is actually healthy? It becomes a staple (this is actually the premise behind my Strong and Sweet protein Guide!).
These peanut butter protein bars use collagen powder as their base to help you increase your protein intake. Collagen is one of the purest sources of protein, and it blends into just about anything without a gritty texture (learn more about the difference between collagen and protein powder). So, if you’re a fan of my bite-sized peanut butter protein cups (the most popular recipe on the blog) or protein buckeyes, these protein bars are going to be your new staple.
Jump To
- A Quick Look At The Recipe
- 💭Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients and Substitutions
- Flavor Variations
- How To Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Bars
- Expert Tips
- How To Store Them
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars FAQs
- More High-Protein Snack Recipes You'll Love
- 4 Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars
💭Why You'll Love This Recipe
Easy to make: The protein bars have just 4 ingredients so they’re almost impossible to mess up. Plus, they come together in about 10 minutes.
HFueling: The bars are packed with 13 grams of protein and healthy fats ,so they're a great choice for a snack that will actually fill you up.
Versatile: Kids and adults alike love this easy protein bar recipe, and they're simple to vary flavor-wise, which means you can make them over and over again.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Before you start, learn more about how to make homemade protein bars to answer most of your troubleshooting questions.
- Collagen powder: One of the cleanest sources of protein (learn about what collagen powder is). Know that it can be replaced with whey protein powder or beef protein for a higher protein intake.
- Make them low-carb: If you want the 4-ingredient no-bake protein bars to be low in carbs, opt for sugar-free chocolate chips.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Flavor Variations
Caramel: Use almond-hazelnut butter for the base of the bars instead of peanut butter, and drizzle some coconut milk caramel sauce on top.
Add-ins: Mixing in some chopped pecans, sprinkles, or extra chocolate chips makes for a tasty flavor change.
Almond butter protein bars: Swap out the no oil peanut butter for a smooth almond butter or almond hazelnut butter for a new taste.
Salt: A sprinkle of sea salt on top of the chocolate makes for a salty, sweet flavor combo!
How To Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Bars
Step 1: In a bowl, mix together the peanut butter, almond flour, and collagen powder until you have a giant sticky ball. And melt the chocolate.
Step 2: Press the peanut butter mixture into a lined 8x3 loaf pan.
Step 3: Spoon the melted chocolate over the top of the protein bars and spread it out until evenly coated. Place in the freezer to set for 45 minutes.
Step 4: Let the bars sit before slicing them.
Expert Tips
Your peanut butter needs to be a natural brand, and it needs to be runny (so fresh). Otherwise, you’re going to have a hard time mixing it with the almond flour and collagen powder. You want it oily. If you need to add a quarter teaspoon of water do it, but know that the more you add, the softer the bars are.
Heat the chocolate chips on low over the stove and keep an eye on them. Take them out when mostly melted. Otherwise, they’ll burn.
The base of the 4-ingredient peanut butter protein bars is ultra creamy and soft when made with collagen powder. If you make the bars with a beef protein powder (learn what beef isolate powder is and why I switched), they'll be a bit thicker.
If the bars seem excessively dry, add another tablespoon of peanut butter or a teaspoon of water. If they seem too sticky, add more almond flour or collagen powder.
How To Store Them
Fridge: Store the 4-ingredient peanut butter protein bars in the fridge in an airtight container for 5-7 days. Take care not to stack the bars on top of each other as they do soften a bit in the fridge. Enjoy them chilled.
Freezer: You can easily double this recipe and store the homemade protein bars in the freezer in a freezer-safe bag. Again, don’t stack the bars, but lay them in one single line. When you need them, let them thaw in the fridge overnight.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars FAQs
Much of this depends on your personal goals. Eating a high-protein diet is healthy and a great way to maintain energy and lose weight. However, eating multiple protein bars per day isn’t an awesome choice. You’d be missing out on nutrients from whole foods while taking a lot of (albeit healthy) fats. Stick to one protein bar per day or every other.
Yes, homemade, peanut butter-based protein bars should be stored in the fridge so that they stay firm. At room temperature, they'll become too soft.
Any protein powder can be used to make protein bars, but the kind you choose will affect the taste and texture. Vegan protein powder absorbs more liquid than most, resulting in a drier bar. Collagen powder, whey protein, and beef protein give peanut butter protein bars a soft base but collagen powder doesn't hold the bars together well unless another ingredient is used.
More High-Protein Snack Recipes You'll Love
If you tried this Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes!
4 Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars
Video
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup Collagen powder
- 4 tablespoons Almond flour
- ⅔ cup Peanut butter natural and runny
- 5 tablespoons Sugar-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a small pot on the stove, melt the chocolate chips over low heat. Make sure to remove the pot as soon as the chocolate chips are just melted.
- In a bowl, mix together the peanut butter, almond flour, and collagen powder until you have a giant sticks ball. You’ll have to stop and scrape down your fork a lot.
- Press the peanut butter mixture into a lined 8x3 loaf pan.
- Spoon the melted chocolate over top of the protein bars and spread it out until evenly coated.
- Place in the freezer to set for 45 minutes.
- Remove from the freezer and let the bars sit for 10 minutes before slicing with a heated knife.
- Slice into bars and store in the fridge.
Notes
Heat the chocolate chips on low over the stove and keep an eye on them. Take them out when mostly melted. Otherwise, they’ll burn. Press the base of the protein bars into the pan really well. The harder you press, the better they hold together. That said, know that it’s still a soft base. These are not hard bars. Parchment paper lined in a loaf pan works better than a silicone mold. Otherwise, it’s harder to remove. Know that the chocolate topping does crack when cutting. You can reduce this by heating the knife and slicing versus pressing, but the chocolate top does tend to crack a bit. Beef protein powder can be used in place of collagen powder and will give slightly more structure to the protein bars and more protein per serving. Don’t let them sit at room temperature; enjoy them chilled. At room temperature, they get too soft to stay together.
Disclaimer:
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data"
Nutrition
Shelby S says
I love these protein bars so much that I keep a batch hidden in the freezer so that I don't have to share with the kids!