During my first eight years of life, my third grade teacher was one of the biggest baseball fans that I knew. A tall blonde woman with a booming voice, she explained fractions using Postseason and World Series teams, taught proper grammar and penmanship by assigning us to write a letter to a baseball team of our choice, and encouraged us to check out chapter books from the library by partnering with the Oakland Athletics’ “Read To Succeed” program.
As part of the program, the A’s front office invited students to an afternoon game in June for free if the kids read a certain number of pages by the end of the year. As a big bookworm, I completed that challenge before Spring Training ever started in late February!
Because of that, my teacher let me invite one of my parents along to chaperone the fieldtrip, and I immediately asked my dad to come. It was the one and only time he chaperoned any of my school trips, but we had a blast! We sat on the first base side, really far down the line towards the foul pole and almost even with where the right fielder stood, and we cheered alongside my classmates, waving homemade signs and shouting excitedly anytime an Oakland player reached base.
That was the first Major League game I actually looked forward to attending, and something changed that day… I started to fall in love with baseball (and now love it just as much as baking, if not more!), so thank you Dad. That wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t chaperone our fieldtrip, and I’m so incredibly grateful that we’ve bonded through our baseball games and stadium trips over all of these years since then.
And now, I basically look forward to MLB’s Opening Day even more than Christmas or my birthday, and it happens to fall on this Sunday, starting with our new favorite St. Louis Cardinals facing off against the Pittsburg Pirates. I’m so excited!
But the one thing I truly dislike about baseball is that the stadiums almost never offer any healthy options at the concession stands. A girl can only eat so many peanuts and soft pretzels before she starts craving protein! And since hot dogs just don’t cut it…
I created these Lemon Poppy Seed Protein Bars as a healthy snack to tuck into my purse! They’re really easy to make and full of bright sunshiny flavors but absolutely no butter, oil, refined flour or sugar. Even better, they taste just like the classic muffins for a fraction of the calories!
This recipe starts with two important dry ingredients: coconut flour and protein powder. Coconut flour is about three times as absorbent as any other flour, which means that even a smidgen too much could easily dry out your protein bars and turn them crumbly. For that reason, it’s incredibly important to measure the coconut flour correctly using either the spoon and level method or a kitchen scale. I highly recommend the latter, and this is the inexpensive one that I own. I use it every day, and it’s worth every penny!
You’ll need soy protein isolate for these protein bars, and this is the exact one that I used. I absolutely love it (and use it to make one of these smoothies every day!) because the only ingredient is soy protein, unlike other protein powders that can include artificial flavors or sweeteners. It’s also flavorless, so it really lets the lemon flavor shine!
Note: This recipe was specifically designed for plant-based protein powders. Do NOT substitute whey-based ones! The bars will not set.
And that lemon flavor comes from two sources: lemon juice and lemon zest. The latter actually provides the majority of the sunshiny taste, so don’t skip it! Plus those little flecks of yellow zest look so happy in the protein bars… Don’t you think?
Then you’ll sweeten these protein bars with one of my new favorite ingredients, vanilla crème stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly, and it’s really concentrated. A little goes a long way! This is the type that I buy because of its warm vanilla flavor (and virtually no strange aftertaste!), and you can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, as well as online. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
So… Is it snack time yet?? And when you make these, remember to take a picture and share it with me on Instagram by tagging #amyshealthybaking! I’d love to see your protein bars!
| Lemon Poppy Seed Protein Bars | Print |
- ¾ cup (60g) soy protein isolate (measured like this)
- ¼ cup (28g) coconut flour (measured like this)
- 2 tsp poppy seeds
- 1 tsp lemon zest (freshly grated, about 1 large)
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp (135mL) unsweetened cashew milk, room temperature
- 6 tbsp (75mL) lemon juice (freshly squeezed, about 1 large)
- 1 tsp vanilla crème stevia, or to taste
- Line a 9x5” loaf pan with parchment paper. (See photo in blog post above.)
- In a small bowl, whisk together the soy protein, coconut flour, poppy seeds, and lemon zest. Make a well in the center. Pour in the cashew milk, lemon juice, and vanilla crème stevia. Mix everything together until just incorporated.
- Press the mixture into the prepared pan using a spatula, and smooth out the top. Chill for at least 3 hours before slicing into bars.
I highly recommend Meyer lemons, if you can find them! They’re slightly sweeter than classic lemons and really make the lemon flavor shine.
Any milk may be substituted for the cashew milk.
Any sweetener may be substituted in place of the vanilla crème stevia. However, you may need to adjust the amount of coconut flour or soy protein if the dough is too wet OR more milk if the dough is too dry. You’ll need the equivalent of ½ cup of granulated sugar.
For more tips and answers to all other questions, including substitutions, see my Protein Powder Recipes: Tips & FAQ page.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, high protein, sugar-free}
These bars look so happy! Unfortunately, I only have whey protein (10 pounds of it, in fact). I really love how you answered so many questions about protein powder, and I look forward to trying some of your other recipes with protein powder.
Thanks Elaine! All of my protein muffin recipes and protein cookie recipes use whey protein powder, so perhaps that would be a good use of your 10 pounds! 😉 I’d love to hear what you think of any of those recipes if you try them!
My husband is a huge baseball fan for life – I go for the food!
Too funny! 🙂
My bars don’t really hold together into a solid, bar shape. They’re more of a very crumbly, soft fudge.
Am I perhaps missing a direction?
Oh goodness! That’s definitely not how they’re supposed to turn out. Did you happen to substitute a different protein powder than the recipe calls for Joyce? If so, you may need to add more milk or a little less protein powder to get the bars to hold together. That should solve the issue that you’re seeing!
No, I did use soy protein powder, coconut flour, etc. I left them out overnight & they seem to be firming up so maybe I was a little overzealous with the liquid, haha. Either way, they’re delicious!
I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor Joyce! I hope that they’ve continued to firm up! 🙂
I use a vegan protein powder (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CWLA56O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) how do you think I should adjust measurements? Thank you.
I haven’t used that protein powder before, so I’m not sure what adjustments you’ll need to make, if any. If the mixture seems dry, add more milk a tiny bit at a time, and if it’s too sticky, add a bit more protein powder. I’m excited to hear what you think of the protein bars Aly!
These lemon poppy seed protein bars look so delicious. But then all your recipes turn out great. I remember seeing a chocolate chip protein bar on your site and I started looking for it. Once I found that, google displayed a few more of them. Luckily I have soy protein powder at home, so I will be able to make most of these. Really excited to try them out. Nothing like home made food, can’t get any better than that.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Mita! I’m so glad you’re enjoying them. That means a lot to me! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these protein bars too!
Hi Amy,
these look great. I agree with the comments looking for a soy substitute. Its my understanding that males should avoid soy in large quantities. Unfortunately its a very cheap protein substitute and prevalent in vegan plans. I would love to see your experience with ratios of coconut flour put to work here to create a high protein non soy based version on this recipe! hint hint 🙂
Cheers,
Brian
Would it be possible to use all coconut flour or some other type of flour in place of the protein powder?
I’m honored that you’d like to try making my recipe! I haven’t personally tried that substitution, so I can’t guarantee either the taste or texture results. You’re welcome to try though! If you’d like to experiment, then I’d recommend starting with just ¼ cup of additional coconut flour to replace the soy protein isolate because coconut flour is so much more absorbent than any other flour or the soy protein that I use. 🙂 I’d love to hear how that goes if you do end up trying it!