Homemade Protein Bars

By Genevieve Ko

Updated June 26, 2025

  • Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes, plus at least 1 hour chilling
Rating
4(457)
Comments
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Making your own protein bars may sound like a project, but this recipe comes together quickly and doesn’t require turning on the oven. Its greatest appeal, though, is how it combines the crackle of nuts and the creaminess of nut butter with earthy maple syrup. A fat pinch of salt and a touch of pepper bring out the nuts’ toasty bittersweetness. The black pepper sharpens the syrup’s caramel roundness, but try ground chipotle or other dried chiles for a smoky heat. There’s plenty of salt, but if you want even more, sprinkle flakes on top before chilling. Feel free to customize the nuts and seasoning: Just be sure to keep the ratios the same.

Featured in: The Best Protein Bars Are the Ones You Make at Home

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Ingredients

Yield:12 bars

  • ½ cup/167 grams pure maple syrup

  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • ¾ cup/217 grams almond butter or ½ cup/145 grams peanut butter (see Tip)

  • 1 ¼ cups/122 grams quick-cooking oats

  • 1 ¼ cups/150 grams finely chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, cashews or peanuts or a combination (see Tip)

  • ½ cup/74 grams pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving

22 grams carbs; 308 calories; 12 grams monosaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 23 grams fat; 5 grams fiber; 101 milligrams sodium; 9 grams protein; 10 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Line the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.

  2. Step 2

    Bring the syrup, salt and pepper to a boil over medium-high in a large saucepan, stirring occasionally. Boil until thickened to the consistency of honey, about 2 minutes. Turn the heat down to low, add the almond butter, and stir until smooth and bubbles just start to pop, about 1 minute longer. Turn off the heat.

  3. Step 3

    Add the oats, nuts and seeds, and stir until everything is very evenly coated. Smash and scrape the mixture as needed to get everything coated; the mixture will be quite stiff.

  4. Step 4

    Scrape the mixture into the parchment-lined pan and press firmly into an even layer. Refrigerate until stiff, at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

  5. Step 5

    Use the parchment to slide the slab out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Cut into 12 even bars. Wrap individually, if you’d like. The bars will keep in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Tips

  • Peanut butter binds ingredients best, but almond butter works as well. You just need more of it to glue the bars together. Sunflower seed butter can be used, but the bars may crumble. Tahini isn’t quite sticky enough to do the job. All-natural varieties, in which the only ingredients are the nuts or seeds and salt (and, sometimes, oil), deliver the nuttiest flavor.

  • You can use any variety or combination of your favorite nuts. Just make sure they’re raw, or natural, without added oils or salt. Also make sure that they’re chopped small enough so that the bars will hold. Pre-chopped walnuts and pecans and sliced almonds make this recipe come together even more quickly.

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FAQS

  1. Peanut butter binds ingredients best, but almond butter works as well. You just need more of it to glue the bars together. Sunflower seed butter can be used, but the bars may crumble. Tahini isn’t quite sticky enough to do the job. All-natural varieties, in which the only ingredients are the nuts or seeds and salt (and, sometimes, oil), deliver the nuttiest flavor.

Ratings

4 out of 5
457 user ratings
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Comments

Genevieve

I tested these with regular rolled oats and they're very tasty, but because they're larger and thicker than quick-cooking oats, the bars don't hold together easily. If you're ok with the bars crumbling a bit, you definitely can use rolled oats!

calisson

Could you use honey in the first place (or better yet, Lyle's syrup) rather than boiling maple syrup until it has the consistency of honey?

Constance

Made exactly as written. Came out perfectly. Absolutely delicious. Do not understand all the critical comments. No one said you had to make them.

Alison

I made these with almond butter and they did not hold together at all. More like nutty granola than protein bars, which was not what was desired from this recipe.

Henry

I followed this recipe exactly as written with one exception. I only had rolled oats. I put them through the food processor until they were pretty ground down. The protein bars never came together. I ended up with granola, sort of. I added an additional 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1/4 cup peanut butter heated and mixed. It made no difference.

Christina

This recipe tastes great, however it did not form into bars but remained crumbly even after I added more peanut butter to the mixture.

Jules

I had exactly the same experience, Christina. It's more of a peanut butter forward granola, and there are better versions of granola out there.

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