Homemade Protein Bars - oats

Method

• Line an 8x8" dish with foil, leaving a few inches of extra foil extending over the edges of the dish. You will use this extra foil to grab on to when you remove the bars from the dish later on. Very lightly spray the foil with cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, combine the oats, oat flour, salt, cinnamon, protein powder, dry milk powder, and seeds. In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, vanilla, water, and honey. Microwave for about 45 seconds. Whisk, then combine the liquid ingredients with the dry ingredients and stir to combine. The mixture will be quite thick. Add the nuts and dried fruit and stir to combine.
• Roughly spread the mixture into the foil-lined dish. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the "dough" and compress the mixture evenly in the dish. Leave the plastic wrap on and place in the fridge for an hour or until firm. After an hour, remove and discard the plastic wrap. Use the foil to lift the mixture out of the dish. Slide the mixture off of the foil and cut the block into 8 bars. Place the bars in a sealable container. Since this mixture contains no preservatives, I recommend keeping them refrigerated.
• Notes:
• 1. I have never used instant oats with this recipe, so I do not know if they will work as well.
• 2. These bars can be made gluten-free if you buy the right brand of oats and protein powder.
• 3. Do you have teenage sons participating in sports? Consider increasing the protein powder by another scoop.
• 4. On a low-salt diet? Reduce or eliminate the salt.
• 5. Watching your blood sugar or carbs? Reduce the amount of honey (or substitute sugar-free maple syrup for the honey) and reduce the amount of dried fruit.
• 6. Watching your fat intake? Reduce the amount of peanut butter and/or nuts.
• 7. Watching your salt, carbs, AND fat intake? Skip this recipe and eat the wrapper off a ding dong.
• For an accompanying story, check out the related blog post.