Easy Double Chocolate Cookie Dough Protein Bars Recipe

If you need a delicious pick-me-up and are looking to meet your daily protein requirements while enjoying it, you’ll love these easy and healthy cookie dough protein bars. They’re loaded with tons of good flavor and they’ll supply you with the protein you need to meet your fitness goals. In addition, this delectable “almost” dessert functions the same as gluten free protein bars. 

What’s not to love, right?

In this post, I’ll spill the beans on how to make the most amazing double chocolate chip protein bar, all by using a little protein powder and a few other ingredients. Let’s dig into the details!

Table of Contents

• Why This Cookie Dough Protein Bars Recipe Works
• Are These Raw Cookie Dough Protein Bars Safe to Eat?
• How to Make Cookie Dough Protein Bars
  • Ingredients for Homemade Cookie Dough Protein Bars
• Double Chocolate Cookie Dough Protein Bars Recipe
  • Supplies
  • Ingredients
  • How to Make Cookie Dough Protein Bars
• Cookie Dough Protein Bars Storage
• Tips for Making the Best Cookie Dough Protein Bars
• Cookie Dough Protein Bars: Making It Your Own
• How Do You Make Cookie Dough Protein Bars? It’s Simple!
• FAQS

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Why This Cookie Dough Protein Bars Recipe Works

It is generally understood that adding protein to your diet in the form of a shake or natural means (such as peanut butter) can help you grow muscles and amplify your performance in the gym. Because of these facts, protein shakes and bars are well sought after in order to help people achieve these benefits.

In the upcoming recipe, you’ll not only find protein powder which can supply a hefty dose of protein on its own, but also, peanut butter which aids as a natural protein supplement. Know that while these homemade protein bars are packed with protein, they aren’t merely for fitness. They contain all the yummy goodness of double also chocolate chip cookie dough.

If that doesn’t sound like a match made in heaven, I don’t know what does!

Are These Raw Cookie Dough Protein Bars Safe to Eat?

I wouldn’t necessarily consider these protein bars made of “raw” cookie dough. “Raw” cookie dough would need to contain raw ingredients that need to be cooked before eating. In this recipe, I don’t use any raw eggs nor do I use raw flour. Yes, the almond and oat flour are uncooked, but they do not pose the same risks that raw wheat flour does.

Raw wheat flour contains similar strains of bacteria that raw eggs do. It is for this reason that it isn’t recommended that you eat raw flour or raw cookie dough made from raw flour. Flour needs to be cooked in order for that bacteria to disappear.

Thus, most recipes that call for raw flour for edible cookie dough involve a process known as “heat treating” to ensure that the flour is, indeed, safe to eat.

As mentioned, we won’t need to take the steps of heat treating this recipe because no raw wheat flour is used. Instead, you can feel free to dump your almond and oat flour in a bowl, add in the listed ingredients, and munch away without worry that you’ll potentially end up sick.

Sweet, right?

How to Make Cookie Dough Protein Bars

In order to make homemade protein bars, you’ll need only a select few ingredients. Note that though these aren’t technically vegan protein bars, they could be adjusted a bit to fit a vegan lifestyle as long as you select a vegan protein powder outside of the traditional whey protein powder sort.

Ingredients for Homemade Cookie Dough Protein Bars

To make these delicious protein bars, you’ll want to gather the following ingredients:

• Peanut Butter
• Chocolate protein powder (feel free to substitute with vanilla protein powder if you’d rather enjoy traditional chocolate chip cookie dough flavors)
• Almond flour
• Oat flour
• Honey
• Cinnamon
• Pure vanilla extract
• Sea salt
• Chopped dark chocolate (or traditional chocolate chips)
• Optional: Chopped almonds or walnuts (for topping)

Double Chocolate Cookie Dough Protein Bars Recipe

Supplies

• Loaf pan
• Parchment paper
• Wooden spoon or silicone spatula

Ingredients

• 2 cups peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cup chocolate protein powder (sub chocolate protein powder for double chocolate cookie dough)
• 2/3 cup almond flour
• 6 tablespoons oat flour
• ⅓ cup honey
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1-2 teaspoons of milk (as needed)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (scale back to 1/2 teaspoon if using regular salt)
• 2/3 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate (may use chocolate chips or other add-ins- see suggestions later on in the post for more details)
• Optional chopped almonds or walnuts

How to Make Cookie Dough Protein Bars

1. Begin by preparing your loaf pan. To do so, take your parchment paper and carefully line the inside of it. When doing this, make sure to let a little extra parchment paper hang on the outside to ensure you have something to lift up on when it is time to extract your protein bars out of the pan.
2. Using a mixing bowl, combine your peanut butter along with your honey and vanilla extract and stir.
3. To this, add your chocolate protein powder (or vanilla if you so choose), almond flour, oat flour, cinnamon, and sea salt. Combine these until the ingredients are fully mixed through.
4. At this point, your batter may be rather thick. Though you don’t want the batter to be thin, you can make it a bit easier to stir by adding a splash or two or milk as needed (be careful not to add too much).
5. Add your roughly chopped dark chocolate( or chocolate chips) and stir until well incorporated.
6. At this point, take a wooden spoon, tip, and scoop the contents of your mixing bowl into the parchment paper lined loaf pans, using your wooden spoon to aid in the process.
7. Once in the pan, press the mixture down firmly with clean hands until the batter appears uniform in the pan.
8. Sprinkle with crushed nuts of choice if desired.
9. Place your protein cookie dough loaf pan into the freezer for about 20 minutes.
10. Remove from the freezer. Using the edges of the parchment paper, carefully lift your protein batter out of the pan. It should be very firm at this point.
11. Use a sharp knife (cleaver knives work well) to slice through the dough. Feel free to make your bars as thick or as thin as you want, though making them too thin may cause them to crumble.
12. If you’re having trouble with slicing, try running your knife through hot water and cleaning it before each slice. Also, try to use a knife with a straight blade if you can; jagged or serrated edge knives can sometimes make more of a mess.

Cookie Dough Protein Bars Storage

For storage, simply transfer your freshly sliced cookie dough bars into the fridge, where they will keep for about 5-7 days.

Beyond this point, you’ll want to store your bars in a freezer bag and place them in the freezer where they will keep about 2-3 months at best quality.

Tips for Making the Best Cookie Dough Protein Bars

When making cookie dough protein bars, feel free to get creative with the type of protein you use, as well as the mix-ins you choose to add in. This will make the dough customizable according to your taste preferences.

Remember also that this cookie dough recipe is adjustable according to your dietary needs. Feel free to use plant based protein powder if you need to or use cashew butter instead of peanut butter if you’re allergic or are avoiding peanut butter for one reason or another.

Remember that these cookie dough protein bars are intended to increase your protein intake. I don’t recommend altering this recipe to the point where you leave out the protein powder. Doing so will render these cookie dough bars practically useless, as regular cookie dough bars include other ingredients to help them taste as amazing as they normally do.

If you’re trying to make these protein bars keto friendly, you may have to make adjustments. Protein powder can be high in added sugar, so be sure to select a protein powder that is suitable for your keto lifestyle before trying this recipe.

In addition, you’ll want to find low-carb chocolate chips to use instead of traditional chopped dark chocolate or standard chocolate chips. Substitute the oat flour in the recipe with the same amount of coconut flour, and omit the water. I used low-sugar ingredients in my low sugar cookie dough recipe.

I’ve also got a protein cookie dough recipe and protein cookie dough balls if you don’t want your protein dessert in bar form!

Cookie Dough Protein Bars: Making It Your Own

As previously mentioned, you can totally make these cookie dough protein bars your own with just a few tweaks. Apart from obvious substitutions like what kind of protein powder you’ll use or whether or not you’ll use cashew butter over peanut butter, it’s important to note that there are also many mix-ins that can take these high protein bars to new heights.

Consider the following add-ins for converting these protein bars into your very own protein bar recipe:

• Crushed peppermint
• Walnuts
• Almonds
• Dried fruit
• White chocolate
• Toffee bits
• A couple of tablespoons of espresso (recommended only for double chocolate chip cookie dough protein bar recipes)
• Various spices
• Various extracts
• Marshmallows
• Crushed pretzels
• Food dye (for fun colors)
• M&Ms
• Reese’s Pieces

How Do You Make Cookie Dough Protein Bars? It’s Simple!

Making your own cookie dough protein bars at home couldn’t be easier. With just a few ingredients and a few scoops of protein powder, you can whip up a deliciously decadent double chocolate protein bar dessert that’s all your own.

Please note that how many grams of protein will be in each bar will depend on the type of protein you use. This is just a fun little recipe that can help you meet your high protein needs in a fun and tasty way.

Enjoy!

FAQS