Recipes for nutrition or protein bars THAT AREN’T SWEET?

[Miss Mick]

I’ve given up trying to find nutrition or protein bars that are NOT sweet—99% of them are just glorified friggin’ candy bars. I don’t mean “maybe a little sweet”—I don’t want ANY sweetness or sweeteners of any kind. Why is it so hard to find a protein/nutrition bar for grownups? Manufacturers make all kinds of savory snack crap like potato chips; why don’t they think we’d like that in actual healthy snacks?

 

Unless anyone one knows of any available in the U.S., I’m now trying to find recipes for same. I fantasize about bars that have Asian, Italian, or Indian spices and exotic flavors. Vegetarian; otherwise I know a lot of paleophiles will suggest variations on meat jerky. ;-D

[GlorifiedRice]

Theyve attempted to make em several times over the years and they end up failing cause in ppls hearts they buy the sweet bars to feel good about eating candy, so I guess savory bars dont give em that naughty thrill.

Kind made a few savory bars, there is a cricket flour one, a lotof ppl use beef jerky as a "bar".

Edited November 26, 2017 by GlorifiedRice (log)

[Alex]

1 hour ago, Miss Mick said:

I’ve given up trying to find nutrition or protein bars that are NOT sweet—99% of them are just glorified friggin’ candy bars. I don’t mean “maybe a little sweet”—I don’t want ANY sweetness or sweeteners of any kind. Why is it so hard to find a protein/nutrition bar for grownups? Manufacturers make all kinds of savory snack crap like potato chips; why don’t they think we’d like that in actual healthy snacks?

 

Unless anyone one knows of any available in the U.S., I’m now trying to find recipes for same. I fantasize about bars that have Asian, Italian, or Indian spices and exotic flavors. Vegetarian; otherwise I know a lot of paleophiles will suggest variations on meat jerky. ;-D

 

Kind makes a few bars that come close to qualifying, but there's still some sugar or honey (Dark Chocolate Chili Almond, Chipotle Honey Mustard, Almond Coconut Cashew Chai). YouBar used to offer custom-made bars to individuals, but unfortunately they're now handling just commercial accounts. You might want to get on their mailing list, in case they decide to do the retail thing again.

[SLB]

One issue is that so many of these adult-targeted bars are variants on good ole' trail mix -- i.e. easy-to-digest foods that can be consumed in the midst of strenuous physical activity.  So even the "protein" ones are pretty carb-y, and when you don't have much of an actual appetite, for some reason it's easier to get down the sweeter carbs. 

 

I hate the dominance of the super-sweet (and find even Kind's protein bars to be intolerably sweet), but there aren't a lot out there with no sweet in them at all.  The least sweet one I've come across so far in a store are by "Epic".   

 

Epic is meaty, though, meaning relatively difficult to digest.  Fine in a casual snack bar, but this can cause all kinds of complications as an exercise snack. 

 

Anyway, I have several recipes for DIY bars, and this is the least sweet one:

 

https://www.outsideonline.com/1897931/best-energy-bar-ever

 

It is not exactly delicious.  One might reasonably be afraid that it's going to be revolting.  But it's ok.  Also -- it is very, very effective.  And it's a lot less sweet than any edible commercial bar I've tried.  You could pull out the raisins and the cashews (which to me are sweet).  

 

There's a cookbook cited in there you could try.  Do report back.    

 

[Okanagancook]

According to the nutrition analysis the bar is only 13% protein as a percentage of total energy provided.

Powerbar has a sugar reduced protein bar that is 38% protein.

Edited November 26, 2017 by Okanagancook
Expand info (log)

[SLB]

Not to mention, not vegetarian, a requirement I missed the first time through.  

 

I got nuthin'.  

[Lisa Shock]

Do you need a bar? A goodly percentage of the ingredients in a bar are only in there to help it keep the bar shape. If you're just looking for a snack, I'd go back and look at things like nuts with flavored salt.

Edited November 29, 2017 by Lisa Shock (log)

[Maison Rustique]

I searched for a very long time for something like this, tried the Kind bars and some other "savory" options. I just never found what I really wanted. In a perfect world, there would be a bar that tasted like bacon and eggs. Yes, I know I could make a sandwich of some sort, or little quiches, but those would need refrigeration/re-heating if I wanted to take them with me for travel.

 

For the present time, I've just given up on the bar/recipe search. I eat a few crackers and a handful of nuts or something like that. If I'm not going to be too long, I might make a little cheese sandwich to take along.

[BeeZee]

I eat roasted chickpeas or favas for high protein, savory snack. Biena is a brand of chickpeas with various flavorings available in my supermarket, they have small pouches for single serve.

Also dry roasted edamame (Seapoint Farms).

[GlorifiedRice]

Quest bars are low carb and the Birthday Cake one is excellent, but they are sweet..

 

If you succeed in making a savory bar, go on Shark Tank.

[feedmec00kies]

I eat a pretty high protein diet and have trouble digesting too much fat and sugar together, so I have this problem as well, but have an easier time because I eat meat. Theoretically savory meat options like the Epic bars are too sweet for me, and Kind bars have too much nut fat. I've settled on biltong (like those paleophiles) because it's less sweet, less salty, and not as hard on my jaw as beef jerky.

 

Would you consider some sort of vegetarian product like Primal Strips? As far as I recall, some of those flavors were better than others (generally, and in terms of sweetness), and they're shelf-stable. Decent macros profile, if that's a concern; almost all of them have 10 or 11 grams of protein per serving, 2-3 grams fat, and 7-8 grams carbs.

[btbyrd]

The problem is that you're looking for a bar. Apart from candy, is there any other food that you purchase in bar form?

 

This is what nuts are for. And cheese. And tinned fish. And pickles. And pork rinds. And jerky, if you can tolerate that sort of thing. And vegetables of your choosing with a yogurt or sour cream based dip. 

 

But nuts are ideal. Portable, nutrient dense, and easily flavored. Add whatever herbs or spices you want. Mix it up! Or just coat them with melted chocolate and shape them into a bar...

[FeChef]

Why don't you just make some jerky? Its high in protein and you can omit sugar completely. Beef, chicken, even Tuna if your wallet is fat.

[jmacnaughtan]

12 hours ago, btbyrd said:

The problem is that you're looking for a bar. Apart from candy, is there any other food that you purchase in bar form?

 

Butter.

 

Admittedly less practical as a gym snack, but it will give you the calories you need.

[JohnT]

@Miss Mick Would you eat a seed bar with no syrup or added sugar other than some mashed banana? The banana is mixed with egg white to act as a binder and then baked, bars cut and cooled.

[btbyrd]

11 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:

 

Butter.

 

Admittedly less practical as a gym snack, but it will give you the calories you need.

 

I will admit to snacking on some Kerrygold. And virgin coconut oil. It's almost always been when I was going through a paleo/keto phase, and it sounds much less weird in that context.

Trader Joe's sells virgin coconut oil in individual serving-sized packets. They're not a terrible thing to have in your bag for a quick energy boost on the go. Travels much better than butter. If you mix it into coffee, you'll look less like a weirdo than squeezing it straight from the tube into your gullet. 

[Spork]

The book “Feed Zone Portables”.