Caffeine protein chocolate mocha bars

I woke up on tuesday morning, and just felt like making bars. I'm not sure why. Maybe I was tired of all the store bought crap that I had been eating for the last week or so. I'm not really sure. Anyways, at 7:30 am I was rocking the food processor, and making a lot of noise. Neighbours were probably upset.

I was meeting up with someone to ride at 11:00, so I brought along a few extra, and then this person requested the recipe. Hence the blog post.

Anyways, these bars turned out really well. Disclaimer: These are wicked bars for the last 2 hours of a long ride. They are the "anti bonk" bar, if ever there was one. These are not a "grab one on the way to yoga because your kinda hungry" bar. Be warned.

Ingredients:

-2 cups loose dates (buy the cheap ones)

-1 cup almonds

-1/2 Cup shredded Coconut (I used unsweetened)

-1/2 Cup Chocolate covered espresso beans

-2 Cups raw oats

-4 big scoops of chocolate protein powder

-1/2 Cup milk powder

-2 to 4 espresso shots (if you use 4 or more, you might need to increase the milk powder, and oats)

-2 tbsp cocoa powder

-1 tbsp cinnamon

-2 tbsp maple syrup, or honey

Directions

1. Grind the almonds, or just sliver them on a cutting board

2. Put the dates into a food processor. If you don't have one, just cut them up, and then smash them with a super solid fork. This is a good strength workout.

3. Start adding all the ingredients. Order doesn't really matter. Stir until everything is worked in. You want them to be sticky, but not too much liquid. If this is the case, add more of the powdered milk, oats, and even some more protein powder. I don't think you'll have the problem of it being too dry, but if you do, add some honey, or some more dates.

4. Request the help of a friend to cut pieces of plastic-wrap, and make them into bars, about 50-60 grams each. Proceed to roll them into bar shape, then toss whatever you don't want to take with you today, into the freezer.

I made about 15 bars with this recipe. Cost per bar works out to about $1 each. About 300 Cal each, 12 gram protein, and some caffeine, to keep you going :)

Enjoy.

11 all-star bars, propel me far

This is probably at least my 12th time making bars. I enjoy making the "no cook, Lara style" of bars the most. They are easy, delicious, raw, and its simple to make different flavours. These bars turned out to be Peanut Butter - Chocolate Chip - Banana flavoured. Very yummy.

Since I already went on a 4 hour bike ride, 30 minute run, and 1:30 yoga today, I decided that activities would be omitted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

- 2 Cups dates

- 3/4 Cup crushed up banana chips

- 1/2 Cup chocolate chips

- 1 banana

- 1 Cup almond meal (ground almond)

- 3 tbsp peanut butter

Directions:

Cut up the dates into small pieces. Do the same with the chocolate chips, and the bananas. I put the bananas in a plastic bag and punched them, which was kinda fun.

Put all the ingredients in a bowl. With a very hefty spoon, start mixing it all up. This can get a bit tiring after a while, but its good for you hands, and arms.

Keep mixing. haha. It takes a while. A food processor would be easier, but the blender-type don't seem to hold up to the dates very well.

Once everything is nicely mixed together, you need to start checking the humidity. They shouldn't be very sticky. Try to make one bar with your hands. If you can do it without getting a really sticky mess all over your hands, you are set. If not, add more almond meal.

After the humidity is good, start making bars. I ended up with 11 bars, approximately 60 grams each. These would equate to approximately 300 Calories each.

You can see in the picture, the process of folding the plastic wrap, and rolling them into bars. the bar on the top left is pre-flattening. the one on the right is after flattening. I use a cutting board, and just push down with my body weight.

Another good note, is to re-use the plastic wrap. I'm going on my 4th re-use of the current batch. This helps do my part in reducing the 10 million square mile Great Pacific Garbage patch. Anyways, enjoy the bars, and go on some good long ride. Also, play around with flavours! Once you can get the consistency right, the only thing limiting you is your imagination.