Soy Free Protein Bars

Thursdays are my killer days this semester - 5 straight hours of class, from 11-4. Early this semester I discovered Clif Bars and fell in love. They were fast, and kept me full for hours. Except that I always ended up hurting halfway through my second class, and was barely able to drive home by the end of the day. It's no wonder:

In case you can't read my low-quality picture, it contains soy rice crisps, soy protein isolate, roasted soybeans, soybean oil, and soy lecithin. It's basically a soy bar. No wonder I was hurting so badly halfway through class.

I've had 2 soy-free Thursdays so far, and crunching on carrot sticks in the middle of a lecture just isn't going to work. So I hit the internet to find a soy free protein bar. And I did:

Their ingredients list is heaven. It's all fruit, nuts, and a little organic chocolate (depending on the flavor). No chemical names that can't be pronounced, and best of all - no soy. These were the answer to my Clif bar quandry. Except that they cost about $2/bar. More than double the cost of a Clif.  I shuddered a bit when I saw the price.

The answer? Make them myself. I browsed a couple of blogs with homemade Larabar recipes. I really liked Julia's recipes. It was pretty clear that dates should be the primary ingredient, so I went to work this evening.

I have to say, my ego is pretty inflated right about now...

Ingredients
20 Dates (pitted, of course)
1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon natural peanut butter

Chop the dates in a food processor (my #2 favorite kitchen appliance, behind my KA stand mixer), then add in the nuts, honey, and peanut butter and pulse some more. It should look like this:

Form four balls by hand with the mixture, and wrap each ball tightly with plastic wrap. Chill, and enjoy! The finished product:

Clearly, approximating serving sizes is not my strong suit. But, had I managed to evenly divide the four servings, here's the nutritional info:

Calories:203
Fat:6g
Carbs:38g
Protein:4g

Not really a 'protein' bar, but filling nonetheless. And the mix tasted pretty good! I think if I had bought the fresh dates I wouldn't have needed the honey, but the prepackaged dates were a third of the price. Honey it is.

So I challenge you - create a protein bar flavor of your own! Just don't forget the dates.