Homemade Dark Chocolate Quest style Protein Bars
Quest protein bars are very popular with my clients. A lot has changed since I first reviewed the product several years ago and you can check that out my old review here Quest Bar review.
Since then, the brand has come out with several flavors, and revised their ingredient list to accommodate food allergies and changing tastes. More on them here: http://www.questnutrition.com/
Even though I’m not a protein bar fanatic, I have to acknowledge that they are a tasty convenience food, especially for busy people and travelers that want a good protein source. I’ve also seen Quest bars on enough of client food intake logs so I know they are popular for a variety of reasons, and they are sold widely now.
Homemade Quest bars are shockingly easy to make too. All you need the main ingredient that gives it the chewy consistency. And that is this:
Vitafiber Basic Syrup, is a sweet, low-calorie prebiotic fiber source that will help bind your homemade Quest bar and give it a nice chewy texture. You can buy it on Amazon though I’m sure there are other retailers.
Next you’re going to need your favorite, most tastiest brand of protein powder. I used the Quest brand (chocolate whey protein) and the bar you make will take the flavor of the style of protein powder. So, use a strawberry flavor if you want something that tastes fruity; vanilla if you want to add cookies, etc.
You might want to buy some sort of silicone tray to contain your homemade Quest bar. The silicone trays are ideal because you can just push the bars out once you’re done cooling them off, and you can use them as the mold rather than trying to form them with your hands into something that resembles a bar.
Here’s what the finished product (which I covered in saran wrap so I could place something over it to flatten them) before I stuck into the fridge, looks like. You can get the silicone trays here. I’ve seen them at some grocery stores as well.
Okay now onto the recipe for the homemade Quest bars, which is so super simple even a mom-zombie like me can make it.
Homemade Dark Chocolate Quest style Protein Bars
I made enough to make 9 bars, so the recipe is tailored for that amount. Each bar is about 140 calories, which is less than most Quest bars (they are about 200 calories). My flavor of choice was basic dark chocolate.
1. Step 1. Heat up 18-20 Tbsps of the Vitafiber in a pan until small bubbles form. I used this many tablespoons of the Vitafiber to make a total of 9 bars, so alter the recipe if you want fewer. For one bar, use 2 TBSPs.
2. While still warm (but not bubbling), stir in 9 scoops of powdered protein of choice, 9 tsps of dark chocolate cocoa powder, and 9 tsps of vanilla extract.
3. Mix it together until it forms a doughy paste. Then mold into silicone trays (see above) or use hands to form 9 bars. Again, you’d just use 2 Tbsps of Vitafiber for one bar (and only 1 scoop of protein powder, 1 tsp cocoa powder, and 1 tsp vanilla extract for just one bar).
4. Cool in fridge for an hour or longer.
Each bar contains about 140 calories; 23 grams of protein, 13 grams of carbs, 7 grams of fiber, and 0 grams of fat.
To boost the calorie and fat content of this bar, you could add your favorite kind of nut butter, chopped nuts, shredded coconut or coconut oil, and/or real chocolate chips.
For more a fruity flavor, you could add dried fruit (cranberries, cherries, blueberries), or fruit essence flavorings (drops that you can get in the baking/spices aisle). Instead of chocolate protein powder, you might want the base of this to be a strawberry or vanilla protein powder.
You could also add a crushed oreo cookie or a chips ahoy cookie to each basic bar to mimic the cookies and cream flavored bar, or the cookie dough bar.
Or, to make more of a peanut butter and jelly style bar, you could use the Quest protein brand of peanut butter protein, PB2 (powdered peanut butter) or real peanut butter, and some dried fruit or grape jelly.
The possibilities are endless!