protein bar – Point1 MTB Training

1 Recipe – 2 types of protein packed snack block; multiple uses!

Snack, Travel, extra calories

Recover and Re-Build

The Base Recipe

65g whey isolate protein powder (flavour of choice)
100g ground almond meal
35g desiccated coconut
95-125ml milk of choice (unsweetened almond or hazelnut or cow’s milk)

The base ingredients, mixed, rolled and blocked!

The add-ons, add-ins and changes for your needs

Recovery Bar: So if you want a recovery bar substitute the Whey Powder for a Whey based recovery powder! The chocolate bars pictured used High5 Recovery Protein Powder. If you need or want even more carbohydrate in the mix then add some honey, maple syrup or break all the rules and sprinkle in some cane-sugar!

Orange/Chocolate Bar: I’ve added cocoa powder (the real deal) and orange zest, then substituted some of the milk with fresh squeezed orange juice to make an unreal tangy block! Chocolate-Orange with all of the gainzzz!

Vegan bar: For those who ain’t keen on tasty animal products then you can easily substitute the Whey for a Rice or Hemp Protein! Job done!

Travel Bar: If you want these guys to pack an even bigger nutritional punch or need them to be even more satiating for travel then add in some chopped goji berries, chia seeds and nuts of choice like brazil and walnuts! You’l have to adjust liquid to dry ingredient ratios though!

Protein Block , cut and ready for the fridge/freezer

How To:

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl
Measure out or weigh your milk of choice
add a little liquid and start to mix, things will seem very dry at first but the dry ingredients will absorb the liquid slowly and start to bind
have patience, adding and mixing slowly
you should get a pretty workable and dry mixture after a couple of minutes
roll the mixture into a log, sprinkle with almond meal so it is easy work
roll it out and cut into discs; shape those discs into blocks as pictured
refrigerate for up to 1 hr
they are ready to roll at any time, but once out of the fridge you can coat with dark chocolate or a chocolate and yogurt mix and it will set fast
The base recipe is key – you can go wild with modifications to suit your needs

This recipe makes about 6 to 7 blocs – double or triple as needed!

Freeze, refrigerate for up to 1 week! These go great as a quality snack after training with a coffee, in the back pack for the long missions or rides (perfect after the 3hr mark) or as a travel stop-gap when jammed with seeds and nuts!

Imagination is only limitor!

Out of the fridge and ready for dipping in chocolate or eating!

Hhmmmm Protein, Fat and all dem nutritious nutrients

Energy bar, “power-bar” (that’s a Nestlé brand..be careful now), “cereal bar” (certainly not, cereal is mainly for horses), pro-bar, a serious slab of home-made awesome! Call it what you will these bars are made with a basic “corner-stone” recipe that can be modified as needed to up any particular macro nutrient content you want, cover on or off the bike micro-nutrient worries or just simply to taste awesome and cover your energy needs out on a big old ride!

Other than in a prolonged flat out race like XCO, a time-trial or similar I’m a big fan of covering your energy needs via small, frequent intake of solid food and an electrolyte or “light” energy based drink.

These bars cover all of the needed bases, taste, texture, energy, micro-nutrients, simplicity, portability!

Pretty easy to make, simple to adjust, hold together well, have plenty of carbohydrate from multi-transportable sources and don’t stick to tin foil making an uneatable mess in your pocket.

So here goes! Choc-Nut-Protein-Fruit-Energy-#Point1-Pro-Bar – Surely there is a catchier name than that?

Ingredients:

1 cup of Medjool Dates or other re-hydrated or moist fruit

1 scoop of Chocolate or Vanilla Protein Powder

1 teaspoon of Cocoa powder (if desired, depends how “dark chocolate” you want them to taste)

Half cup of Rolled Oats

Half to 3/4 cup of Apple Sauce

1 cup of frozen Raspberries

Half cup of dried, unsweetened Coconut

5-6 tablespoons of honey

Handful of nuts of choice – I used hazelnuts only in this recipe

Texture of batter should be thick, smooth and slow running – you can add a small amount of liquid or dry ingredients to the above to achieve this texture – It all depends on your fruit “dryness” I think – But choose extra ingredients carefully – Think of Macro content!

How to:

Mix/Blitz the medjool dates with a teaspoon or two of water in a large bowl with a handheld blender – This may take a while (the dates will need to be pitted and chopped before you start)

Add all of the wet ingredients to the Dates and mix until you get a nice runny consistency – The honey may have to be heated slightly to stop it sticking. Add in your frozen Raspberries or other frozen fruit and mix well.

In another bowl thoroughly mix all of your dry ingredients – Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry until a nice smooth batter is achieved!

Poor this into a baking paper lined dish and place in a pre-heated oven at 170c – (I used a fab oven so adjust temperature accordingly)

Cook until a little crispy but not black on top – a small knife should come out clean – To get a nice texture for storage and use on the bike it’s important to use a try big enough so that the batter pours out to an even 1cm – 1.5cm while wet in the dish. After cooking this should rise to almost 2cm and be perfect to cut into consistent but moist bars.

The above recipe makes from 10-14 bars depending on how you cut them.

Please feel-free to comment on how you’ve modified the recipe or even if you like the taste or have any thoughts, tips or tricks!