OK, firstly I don't want to be accused of plagiarism, so I would like to point out that this recipe is not wholly my own; it is a collaboration of Bigfella's delicious no-bake bars and Daveo's slightly less delicious (sorry Dave) but more nutritionally complete bars.

Firstly I made a batch of Daveo's bars, following the recipe and instructions to the letter. After microwaving them for suggested amount of time, the bars seemed to be very dry and rubbery.This may have been my fault, but before I could make another batch I came across Bigfella's bars.

I had a go at making these, but messed around the the amounts of ingredients slightly, and the end result didn't set enough to be made into bars. This was my fault, but I just didn't want all that peanut butter in there. So I took the bars, whacked them in the oven for a few minutes, took them out etc etc and they turned out to be absolutely delicious and bar-like.

I have only made one more batch since then which weren't cooked long enough (didn't want to risk burning them) but I am confident that with a bit longer in the oven you will have a damn good protein bar. Without further ado, here be the recipe:

125g oats (ground are good)
100g whey
100g honey
100g peanut butter (I like crunchy)
20g cocoa powder
Approx. 150ml milk

Equipment
1 large mixing bowl
Scales
Square brownie tin or small non-stick roasting tin, buttered and lined with greaseproof paper
Oven
Microwave or hob
Spoons
Greaseproof paper
A humorous apron

Right, get cracking!

Instructions (I will be as specific as possible)

Put on the comedy apron
Preheat oven to 150oC
Grease a square baking tin or mini roasting tin with a small amount of butter, line with greaseproof paper and then grease the paper
Place large mixing bowl on scales and set scales to zero (if you are using manual scales simply with ingredients separately in there, then add to bowl)
Spoon 100g peanut butter into the bowl
Spoon 100g honey into the bowl
Wack this bowl in the microwave and heat/ melt ingredients
Once melted nicely, add the oats, bit by bit, stirring to incorporate into the mix.
Now start to add the whey bit by bit. Add some of the milk to loosen the mixture (you may not need it all, you may need more)
Now add the cocoa powder and mix again
The mixture should be like a thick cake batter; not too runny, but not too thick
Take the mixture and spoon it into the prepared baking tin
Place the tin in the centre of the pre-heated oven for around 15-20 mins (less if fan assisted)

This mixture makes 4 bars, which breakdown at:
465 calories
44g carbs
36g protein
15g fat

FYI the whole mixture makes:
1865 calories
175g carbs
145g protein
60g fat
Just in case you wanted to make the bars larger/ smaller

Any suggestions, tips, criticisms, ideas etc are welcome

Check out these badboys:









EDIT: Note that the recipe has been slightly modified and that the bars in the above pictures used this recipe

The original recipe used more whey and less oats. A few pictures of these are below:

OK pictures are at:

http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff266/AlasTTTair/

Enjoy!

How do they taste? What is the concistency like? How do they keep?

Tee Total 2008 Member #6

An humorous apron

LMFAO!!!!!!!!! Is that really necessery while baking these??

Tee Total 2008 Member #6

Apollo , they taste absolutely fantastic. IMO oats, peanut butter and honey are some of the most delicious cean foods available and this recipe has just the right amount of each. Could use flavoured whey if desired; choc would be good.

Texture wise, with the first batch the edge pieces were slightly dry (but not in a bad way), chewy and 'bar like'. The middle had't quite cooked through, making the centre slices very sticky, moist and chewy. I took the second batch out too early so the centre didn't completely cook, but then you just end up with a texture like Bigfella's bars, but with a slightly better nutritional profile.

I would recommend making sure that they colour slightly and are not too soft in the centre. I will be making some more in a couple of days and following my own advice. I didn't use greaseproof paper with batch 2 so had to basically cut them out of the tin, but they were still fine. IMO the mix is spot on but the cooking time may take a bit of trial and error. If you like them very moist and chewy, then 10 mins at the recommended temp. should yield the desired results. I recommend 15 or more though (will time next batch). Oh, before I forget, after taking them out of the oven, mark the portions lightly with a knife, then leave them to cool completely in the tin. Once cooled cut into slices, wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge to chill. Regarding the texture, I have a few more pics which may help a tiny bit.

I'd say they would keep for a week at least. I'm no expert, but they have milk in, so I think that would limit the shelf-life. If you replaced the milk with water they would keep longer. Your choice.

Apollo the apron is crucial!

OK just uploaded more pics from the first batch. I had the oven a bit too high, so you can see with the edge pieces that they are slightly too dark at the very edge. With the centre pieces, you should be able to see the difference in texture between the very centre of the slice and the 'top and bottom' of the slice. If you look closely you can see how the centre is moist and uncooked, whereas the outer parts are cooked; this is the texture you are aiming for throughout the whole bar, and tastes much better than the uncooked batter IMO.

Im workin today but I wanna try your recipe over the next few days, need to get to tasco first though!

Ill take pics too and compare to ur originals!

Tee Total 2008 Member #6

Cheers mate. I'll do some more as soon as I get some greaseproof paper. Without it they're very tricky to get out the tin if not completely cooked; peanut butter and honey were never going to be the easiest things to pry out of a baking tray were they?

ORIGINAL: AlasTTTair

OK just uploaded more pics from the first batch. I had the oven a bit too high, so you can see with the edge pieces that they are slightly too dark at the very edge. With the centre pieces, you should be able to see the difference in texture between the very centre of the slice and the 'top and bottom' of the slice. If you look closely you can see how the centre is moist and uncooked, whereas the outer parts are cooked; this is the texture you are aiming for throughout the whole bar, and tastes much better than the uncooked batter IMO.

Sorry, here's the linky:

http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff266/AlasTTTair/Further%20pics/

They look good AlasTTair, let me post you up a pic so viewers can drool

My Story
Female Member of The Year '07!

Looks great. What if I were to reduce the amount of honey and replace it with dried fruit, would that work?

The look of terror at 0.07

ORIGINAL: RedHotF

They look good AlasTTair, let me post you up a pic so viewers can drool

Looks bloody good mate, Ill be joining u in the kitchen tomorow!

Tee Total 2008 Member #6

Cheers for posting that up RedhotF. Cheers for the comments Apollo.

Jango, the honey acts as a sort of binding agent. I made Daveo's original recipe which used less honey, no peanut butter and 200g sultanas, but didn't like the texture at all. If you were to use say 50g honey and 50g raisins it may still work, you'll have to see. Anyone who is willing to give these a bash or can tamper with them to produce better results is more than welcome. If you try this let me know how it goes.

Personally I think the combo of oats, PB and honey is spot on, but feel free to play around and let us know of the results. I'm just about to make a 3rd batch. Got some greaseproof paper now and will be cooking them for longer than the last batch. Pics will be up later.

Cheers guys

P.S. if anyone could upload any more pics for me I'd really appreciate it!!

K guys, just made the 3rd batch.

Cooked them for 22 mins at 150 in the centre of the oven. 22 mins may have been slightly too long, but I wanted to make sure they were cooked through this time. Haven't tasted them yet, but they are very 'bar-like' unlike the last batch which were undercooked and flimsy. I have a feeling these may be slightly dry, so would now recommend cooking them for between 15 and 20 mins.

The latest pics are at:
http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff266/AlasTTTair/3rd%20batch/

Enjoy!!

OK guys, currently eating a bar from batch 3. I'd say this batch is a wee bit too dry (cooked for 22 mins). As stated earlier I would recommend cooking them for 15-20 mins depending on how moist you want them. Anything below and they'll be a bit too sticky; anything above and they'll be too hard and dry.

Just trying to get them spot on!

Its good your trying to get them just right! Its about trial and error to find the perfect balance! One word of caution though, overcooking can waste the quality of the protein I have heard.

Tee Total 2008 Member #6

The third batch certainly look the best.

The look of terror at 0.07

Anyone know how I can make them smaller and upload them on to this thread?

I've got enough bars to last me about another 4 days, so when I make the next batch I'll do them for 15 mins, and if not perfect, the next batch for 20, then 17 etc (they overcook quite quickly). If anyone fancies doing a bit of experimenting in the meantime so we can get this nailed that would be fab!

We also need to think of a way of wrapping them or something for when taking them out somewhere! I normally eat bars if Im out for long periods so I dont go without protein for too long.

Tee Total 2008 Member #6