Hi!!! I’m back with my first recipe! I technically didn’t plan on really cooking until next semester, but I had a spark of inspiration I just couldn’t pass up. Here’s the scoop:

I LOVE protein bars. Unfortunately, most are full of artificial ingredients and expensive. There are plenty of recipes online, but even those are usually full of sugar. Well, just the other day, I was at a cafe and saw a bar by local company called Fenix Fit that used white beans as a base- resulting in a high protein, high fiber, vegan, GF and filling bar with an incredibly delicious velvety texture. However, as amazing as it was, there were a few problems. First, the bar was really crumbly and messy. Worse, 4.75/bar!!!!! 4.75!!!! Well, I challenged myself to make a (superior) copycat and am happy to say I succeeded.

(doesn’t look that far off from a Quest bar.. right…)

It’s high fiber, high protein, low sugar and delicious like the Fenix bars, but each bar comes out to less than $2/bar and holds together! (did I mention only 5 ingredients for the basic bar?!) They’re the perfect quick breakfast or snack and I will definitely be taking advantage of them during my journey to food autonomy.

With that said, let’s get cooking!

Ingredients

•  1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1.5 scoops vegan protein powder (I used Vega)
• 1 egg white
• 3 Tbsp water, more if needed
• Stevia, to taste

Optional: Feel free to throw in extras like PB2, Cocoa powder, coconut flakes, chocolates…. get creative!

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a baking sheet
2. In a food processor puree chickpeas with water and stevia until a thick paste forms.
3. Mix chickpeas with protein powder, egg whites and add ins. The dough should resemble a thick cookie batter
4. Form the batter into a rectangle about 1.5-2in thick and bake for 12-15min. Chill for 30-45min
5. Cut into 3 even bars. Enjoy!

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I hope everyone enjoys their week and gets a chance to try out this recipe! I’ll be going on my second “Pittsburgh Adventure” this weekend! Until then, bye!

• Breakfast
• Healthy