SWEET POTATO PROTEIN BAR

Protein bars are expensive. So why not make your own. They are cheaper, they taste better and you know exactly whats going into it.

Main mix:
750g sweet potato
300g ground oats
4 egg whites
1 egg yolk
60ml of coconut milk
4 scoops of protein powder
6tsp ground ginger
6tsp ground cinnamon
6tsp vanilla essence 
3tsp nutmeg
2tsp of baking powder
6tbsp honey

Middle layer:
100g peanut butter

Top Layer/Coating:
200g dark chocolate (above 70% coco)
100ml coconut milk

Bake at 200 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Makes 18-20 thick bars.

MAIN MIX

Firstly you need to put the oven on and bake the sweet potato at 180 degrees for about 20-30 minutes. While this is cooking ground your oats by blending them. Add the protein powder, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon & ginger to the oats so you have a dry mixture.

In another bowl add your honey coconut milk and eggs. This will be your liquid mixture.

When the sweet potatoes are soft and squidgy take them out of the oven and leave for an hour to cool (if you don't let it cool you will scramble the eggs). Once cooled turn the oven back on to 200 degrees to pre heat & then peel the skin off a mash in a larger separate bowl. Add your dry mixture to this and mix in well. Now this is well blended gradually add your liquid mixture while continuously mixing. It should resemble a loose cake mixture.

Line the baking tin you will be using with grease proof paper and add the mixture in. Bake for 20-25 minutes and then leave to cool.

MIDDLE LAYER

Now that they are cool carefully lift the mixture out of the tin and put onto a chopping board.Heat up the peanut butter in the microwave or saucepan for about 30 seconds. Spread this evenly across your protein bar base & wait until it hardens. (speed up the process by putting it in the fridge).

TOP LAYER/COATING

This is the messy part. Boil some water in a saucepan. In heatproof bowl break up your chocolate and add the coconut milk. Put this bowl on top of the saucepan and wait for the chocolate to evenly melt. While this is melting put greaseproof paper or cling film of top of a tray.

Now simply dip each side of the protein bar in the melted chocolate and scrape off any part gets too much. Put them on the tray, put them in the fridge and leave to harden!

Id recommend you leave them in the fridge and they should last about a week and a half in a sealed container.

This is the calorie count for this recipe. There is 10g of protein per bar but that's only because I cant pump it in like some of these big brands. The fat content is alright but not great. If you've read my other recipes you'll know that this is mostly from the peanut butter, which contains your good fats! The sodium content is very high, iv explained why in previous posts also as this is the same for my other recipes. It's because this calorie count is very crude, to get a true reading it would cost ALOT of money. Have a read of the others though because salt is brilliant for exercise, recovery and general well being.

What I really want to talk to you about is some of the new ingredients I have put in. Dark chocolate for one! I know what you're thinking chocolate on a fitness/nutrition website is abit weird but because the coco content is so high they cant  put all the milk and sugar in which in fact makes this good for my bars! This ingredient is actually a energy booster aswell. It contains something called theobromine which is a mild stimulant. This means you its brilliant to eat before the gym, during the gym or after. If you eat it after the chocolate will replenish your glycogen stores which had been used during  exercise making you feel more perky. Dark chocolate also contains many vitamins and minerals which lowers your blood pressure, prevents heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The sweet potato gives you a boost of vitamin C & D which will increase collagen stores keeping your skin elastic and youthful while the coconut milk contains many minerals, vitamins and electrolytes such as calcium and potassium. It is also high in fiber which will keep you fuller for longer. To take the fat away just go for some coconut lite! I used this as it a much healthier binding agent than butter.

This is a bit more long winded than my other recipes but I feel it is worth making. These do not have that weird protein bar texture and they do actually taste very very good. There are very portable and a lot cheaper per bar than buying them, but eat in moderation!

This is what it looks like uncooked.

And this, cooked.

And finally the finished product

Also guys if you are on Facebook give me a like as I will do a give away when I reach a certain number. Share this about and recommend with your friends as you will love it and get hold of me through twitter if you want a chat about anything! All my details are to the right >>