Banana Hazelnut Protein Bars are mildly sweet yet soft and luscious tasting vegan protein bars. It’s the healthiest and nutritious vegan protein bars that you can think of. Also it is nothing like a store bought one so it’s as pure as ever. These bars are naturally sweetened and do not contain any high fructose and other unknown ingredients. It’s super easy and serves excellent as a guilt free dessert as well.
The best part of these bars is that these are kid friendly. Well, I can say that confidently because my little one loved it. She especially loves these bars with some sliced bananas and it was one of her favorite dessert. I enjoy these bars as evening snack and sometimes like post workout protein snack. I love the fact that I made these bars without any processed protein powder and that I powdered the regular hemp seeds at home. This way I saved a lot of nutrients from getting lost in processing. Also, this way I was able to save the essential oils of hemp seeds. Hence, I am totally in love with these bars.
I adapted these nutty yet chewy and moist Banana Hazelnut Protein Bars from one of my very own old blog post. Few years back I created Banana Hazelnut Cookies which were obviously not vegan. However, in my attempt to make it vegan I thought to convert it into vegan protein bars. I love nuts and hazelnuts I think is one the tastiest nuts ever. I have made a protein rich snack recipe with hazelnuts earlier but using hazelnut flour was kind of an experience.
Hazelnut flour/meal does not absorb much liquid and so the measurements become all the more important to follow. Even though it took me a while to bring these vegan protein bars to perfection, I think all my efforts were totally worth it. I used simple and as few ingredients as possible to come up with family friendly vegan protein bars infused with delectable flavors.
Banana Hazelnut Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup heaped hemp seeds
- 2 tbsp chia seeds (soaked in 6 tbsp warm water)
- 5 medium bananas (mashed)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 cups hazelnut meal/flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat your oven at 375 degree Fahrenheit and prepare your 8 inch square baking pan with a parchment paper.
- In your food processor/grinder combine hemp seeds and grind until it’s in a powder form.
- Next, in your large mixing bowl combine mashed banana, vanilla extract and olive oil.
- On the side, in another large mixing bowl combine hazelnut meal, baking powder and salt. Then, mix it well with a spoon until no lumps are left.
- Now, fold in powdered hemp seeds into hazelnut mixture.
- Then fold in banana mixture and soaked chia seeds into hazelnut mixture.
- Thereafter, mix the batter extremely well with a spatula.
- Afterwards, spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan and spread it gently yet evenly in the pan.
- Lastly, place the pan in the middle rack of the oven and bake it for 30 minutes.
- Next, take out the pan and let it cool completely (may take about 20 minutes)
- Finally, cut it into desired pieces and enjoy.
Notes
- These bars are soft and chewy slightly on a delicate side
- These bars are not very sweet and are on a mild side. These are definitely healthy + nutritious. These bars taste excellent with sliced bananas.
- You may refrigerate these bars in an air tight container for 2-3 days.
Nutrition
PRANITA DESHPANDE says
Gereat post
Denay DeGuzman says
What a fabulous recipe. These beautiful banana protein bars look so delicious! I’ll be making a nice large batch of these for my husband to take to work. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Holly Lasha says
This looks sooo yummy. I need to try it!
Liz says
Ooh these look delicious! I’m definitely a fan of hazelnut and bananas – I just need to track down some hazelnut meal 🙂
Tiia says
How tasty recipe, I have to try this! 🙂 Thank you for sharing this one.
pranita deshpande says
Very nice recipe
Gunjan says
Thank you 🙂
Sara Nichols says
These sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try them!
Ruthie Ridley says
My family would love these! They look so divine!
andrea says
This looks amazing and Vegan too YEAH!! I need a grab and go and everything I find in the store is crazy expensive:(
Jenni LeBaron says
Bananas are one of my favorite fruits so these bars are definitely my jam! What a great recipe!
Gunjan says
Mine too! I love adding bananas to my baking and for this i decided to make banana as the main ingredient.
Nathalie says
OMG! Those look amazing! I am currently eating Chobani’s new hazelnut yogurt.. and can only imagine how YUMMY one of those would taste with it! I am saving this recipe and hope to try it out soon!!
Nathalie
http://apinchofaustria.com
Gunjan says
I love hazelnuts too. I bet you will love these bars too.
Annie Cho says
Yum these look so good and healthy too! Pinned it! 🙂
xoxo
Annie
Gunjan says
Thank you Annie.
Jenny says
These look delicious. I’m saving it to pinterest and saving it to a group board. Looking forward to making this for a healthy snack!
Gunjan says
Let me know how it turned out for you 🙂