Gluten-Free Protein Bars

If you're at all into physical fitness and nutrition, chances are that you've sampled (or choked down) your share of protein bars. Commercial versions come in two main versions: those that are somewhat health, and those that taste pretty good. Unfortunately, there is not much mingling of the two, and even the "healthy" versions generally contain copious amounts of saturated fats, sugar, and artificial this or that. To make matters worse for the gluten-free devotee, not many of these bars fit the GF lifestyle.

Fortunately, though, you can make your own protein bars, simply, in your own kitchen, and you can fine-tune their nutritional profile and taste. Here is a good, basic gluten-free chocolate protein bar recipe that you can use as a starting point for your own experimentation.

Ingredients

2 scoops vanilla protein powder
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 packets of sugar substitute (Splenda, Equal, etc.)
4 tablespoons natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons silium fiber (Metamucil, etc.)
1/4 cup instant brown rice
1 cup warm water

Preparation

Combine protein powder, cocoa, sugar substitute, and silium in a large cup or glass (a container with tall walls and a relatively small opening will work better for this recipe than a wide-mouth bowl).

Add the peanut butter to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly, by hand with a large spoon. This will take a bit of work, and you may need to scrape the "goo" off of the spoon a few times, but the mixture should eventually form a fairly dry, sandy paste.

While continuing to mix, add an ounce or so of warm water at a time until the mixture "sticks" together and attains a dry, taffy-like consistency. You probably won't need to add the whole cup of water.

Place the rice in a covered plastic container large enough to hold all ingredients.

Divide the protein mix into four equal parts, place them into the container with the rice, and put the lid on the container.

Gently shake the container side-to-side and up-and-down until the protein "bars" have been coated by the brown rice.

Enjoy your treats! Store the unused bars in the refrigerator.