Double Chocolate Protein Bars | Raw Vegan & Sprouted

Amanda Nicole SmithBreakfast, Dessert, Gluten Free, Raw Vegan, Snacks, Sprouted 12 Comments

A sprouted raw vegan double chocolate protein bar made primarily with sprouted amaranth, millet, and cacao. This protein bar is layered with a chewy cookie base, chocolate crispy crunchy gooey insides and a hard chocolate coating.

If you often find yourself buying Clif Bars, Lara bars, or any other energy, protein or candy bar than this is the recipe for you! I spent a good amount of time constructing the perfect recipe that kept in mind texture, flavor, digestion, protein, cost and of course energy…and to clarify what I mean by energy; the energy it provides our bodies and the amount of energy needed to make it!  With a little patience and effort you can have the best to-go snack that is decadent, energy boosting and healthy….what could be better? Seriously this is the best protein bar recipe I have ever tasted and I say that with vigor, it’s worth the extra effort!

For all my lovely protein junkies, you’ll love this recipe. If you don’t know where the protein is because you can’t find protein powder or meat in the recipe, please take a look at each individual ingredient and check out how much protein is in just 1 cup. You’ll be surprised with what you find!

My boyfriend, Dominick, an undoubtably picky eater, loves Clif Bar’s protein bar called the builder bar. I would buy him one for every day of work. He says it’s the perfect snack in between his gallon of water and fruit for breakfast and the usual rice and greens mixin’ meal bowl for lunch. But with every commercially packaged food comes questions about the way it was processed and the quality of ingredients. Well looking at the ingredients it just doesn’t look very pure or high quality to me. We tried the raw revolution bars, he said they were good but don’t compare and I agree. It needed the layered textures with a soft chewy cookie base, crispy crunchy gooey insides, dipped in chocolate.  I also knew he needed multiple sources of high quality protein, so I looked to foods like millet, amaranth and super foods such as maca and cacao; they are indeed super. Plus he loves chocolate <3

Superfood-Protein-Bar-Hearts

Dominick loves this recipe so much, we make them every week and haven’t bought another cliff bar since. He says he feels more focused, full, and on his game after eating these. It’s funny he would only bring the regular shaped bars to work..I guess the heart shaped ones are best eaten at home so the guys at work don’t say anything…or that’s what I’m assuming. lol

This is a double chocolate bar but you could easily make a maple pecan, spirulina, vanilla almond, triple chocolate or whatever you can think of. I encourage experimentation and if you need help brainstorming just leave a comment and I’ll help ya out! I hope this will inspire you to make a bunch of different kinds of flavors that suit your personal taste.

This recipe makes about 12 bars,  they’ll last in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Please keep in mind the whole point of eating raw food is to eat everything as fresh as possible, so you can indulge and share your delicious creations with friends too.  Just make sure to plan on making more 😉 Give the gift of good energy to everyone you know and share the recipe too!

sprouting millet

It makes me happy to know that it’s filled with vitamins, minerals, live enzymes, macro-nutrients, essential fatty acids and it’s all from high-quality plant-based sources.

Sprouting-amaranth

Sprouting Millet and Amaranth

This is the best resource I have found for everything sprouts! sproutpeople.org If you have any questions about how to sprout almost anything check out this website!

For now we only need millet and amaranth.

Instructions for sprouting Amaranth

Instructions for sprouting Millet

Don’t be intimidated it’s very easy and only takes a minute every so often.

Raw Double Chocolate Protein Bars

Sprouted grains along with chocolate and nuts make the perfect all natural, gluten free protein bar. You'll love this one!
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time2 hours 10 minutes
Total Time3 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 6

INGREDIENTS

Cookie Base

  • 1 cup oats; gluten free
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1 cup sprouted millet
  • 2 tbsp almond butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 5 dates + 1/4 cup water = Date Paste*

Crispy Crunchy Gooey Insides

  • 1 1/2 cup pecans & cashews; or whatever nut seed or legume you prefer.
  • 1 cup sprouted amaranth
  • 1/4 cup cacao nibs
  • 2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 2 tbsp coconut nectar; honey or agave nectar
  • 1 tbsp cacao powder
  • 1 tbsp maca powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 5 dates + 1/4 cup water = Date Paste

Chocolate Sauce

  • 1/4 cup  golden cacao butter
  • 2 tbsp  cacao powder
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1/8 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tbsp raw agave

INSTRUCTIONS

Cookie Base

  • Grind oats in food processor until it becomes flour and put it in a mixing bowl.
  • Add all the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix well.
  • **Make the date paste separately in the food processor 5 dates+1/4 cup water Tip: double this so you don't have to do it twice for the crispy crunchy gooey insides. Don't forget to save half**
  • Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixing bowl and set aside.

Crispy Crunchy Gooey Insides

  • In a food processor chop the pecans and cashews until they are in bite sized pieces.
  • Add in all the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix well
  • Add in the rest of the ingredients a mix again till well mixed and set aside.

Base Assembly

  • You can mold the cookie dough with your hands or you can roll it out with a piece of plastic wrap so you can cut it into rectangular pieces or use a cookie cutter.
  • Add the crispy crunchy gooey insides with a spoon and smooth it out.
  • I put them in the dehydrator for in 1-2 hours, they can go a little longer or you can just stick them in the fridge to firm up for 1 hour.

Chocolate Sauce

  • Melt the golden cacao butter in a glass measuring cup by sticking it in the oven, on warm, for about 15 minutes -or- boil 2 cups water, take it off the heat and put the glass measuring cup in the hot water for about 1 minute or less. There will still be chunks left but the heat from the already melted butter will melt the rest; plus you don’t want to cook it. Add in the coconut oil to melt as well.
  • Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir.

Dipping in Chocolate

  • I find it best to refrigerate the cookie bars before dipping them in chocolate. I also recommend letting the chocolate mixture cool for 10 minutes or less before dipping.
  • I dipped them in a medium square glass dish this worked really well and then I just flipped them around and put them on a cooling rack to harden.
  • Put them on the cooling rack in the freezer for 30 seconds to harden.

NOTES

Store them in a plastic air tight bag in the fridge.
Remember any ingredient can be substituted to your liking, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.
Leaving positive energy and good vibes…don’t forget to take some before you leave!

love,

Amanda

Ingredients Used






You’ll find all these ingredients stocked in my cupboard and they last a long time even though I use them often for many different recipes. A little goes a long way! You can also look for the smaller sizes if you don’t want to bulk up. Most likely you can find all these ingredients at your local health market or whole foods.

Recommended Tools

Excalibur dehydrators starting at $199.99

5 tray excalibur dehydrator5 Tray Excalibur Dehydrator

5-large trays, 15″ x 15″ each. Mesh screens are BPA free.

Adjustable Thermostat 95◦F to 155◦F. Temperature range is low enough to preserve active enzymes in fruits and vegetables. Temperature range is also high enough to meet safety standards for dehydrating meat for jerky. Unit turns on automatically when thermostat is in use.



Comments 12

  1. These bars were amazing! I love Luna and raw revolution but Amanda’s protein bars blow the others out of the water. What made them unique was the dip-like chocolate coating and delicious flavor and texture of the bar. It was flavorful, fresh, and filling! Highly recommend!!!

  2. Thank you for such a great recipe! The heart molds are absolutely adorable! My only question is how can you store these? I’m afraid that after a few hours out of the refrigerator, they would start loosing shape or possibly melt during hot summer temperatures.

    1. Post
      Author

      I am so glad you like the recipe! I store these in the refrigerator in an air tight container or bag. The only reason I refrigerate is so the sprouts don’t go funky. These bars are really sturdy because cacao butter becomes solid as a rock when solidified, they start to melt at 90 degrees. I would guess if you freeze them you could easily leave them out on a super hot summer day for about an hour or so.

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  4. I have finally tried my hand at sprouting, just so I could do this recipe. It’s been fun! I am just wondering how big do you let the sprouts get before using them?

    1. Post
      Author

      Yay I’m happy to hear you’re having fun sprouting! Don’t let them get too long, I usually use them once I see the little tails because they grow quick after that. If they get too long it will taste like grass.

      I can’t wait to hear how you like them! 🙂

      Happy Sprouting!

    1. Post
      Author

      I would substitute millet with either buckwheat, amaranth, or you could go a completely different route and use a nut of your choice. Maca powder is not necessary, just an optional energy booster. Hope that helps!

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    1. As long as the air temp is below 72 degrees and they’re out of direct sunlight, they should stay hard, but I wouldn’t recommend keeping them out for too long because of the sprouts. I’d say if you do leave them out in a cool dark place, you could probably keep them out a maximum 2 days before the sprouts get funky.

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