DIY Protein Bars Cookbook: Easy, Healthy, Homemade No-Bake Treats That Taste Like Dessert, But Just Happen To Be Packed With Protein!

I discovered this blog about a month ago and was dying to make protein bars at home that didn't have all of the crap in them. I am trying to lose weight, and when the cravings for something sweet hit me, it is best for me to satisfy it, even if it isn't with pure chocolate, sooner rather than later. I thought this would be perfect! First, let me say that I made one of the recipes - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough - it was pretty good, better than the store bought ones, but definitely not a replacement for traditional cookie dough. I chose to do this bar first (my first time making these) because it was more simple than some of the other bars. I wanted my bars to taste EXACTLY like hers, so I went out and bought a BUNCH of expensive, obscure, hard to find ingredients, both in my health food store and online. Once I got everything, I found out that you needed a stand mixer - I do not have one, nor can I afford to go and buy something else, especially seeing as how I just dropped a truck load of money that I DON'T have on the ingredients. I did it without a stand mixer - was it difficult? Yes, I can see why she would say to get a stand mixer, but I was still able to do it. I mean, I almost killed the little hand held one, but still, I made them. Now, for the taste...they were good, not fabulous, OMG where have you been all my life!! But, way better than store bought ones. I have a real sweet tooth, and for me, they were not sweet enough. I am definitely going to do more recipes, I bought all of this stuff, so I kind of have to, but I am hoping to find bars that taste a little sweeter and more candy-isn or desert-like. I give this book 3 stars because she gives a lot of good advice and tries to make changes to what you eat in a good way. The reason that I knocked off 2 stars was because of all the hard to find ingredients and the fact that they they really ARE NOT candy bars, BUT they REALLY help when you need SOMETHING. Also, I know she is a baker, but I don't have a lot of the utensils that she uses, other people may, so I am not going to knock off any points for that one. All in all, it is a good book that will help get you to eat better, but you need to buy expensive ingredients and make sure you have the tools needed to make the bars AND know in advance that it is no real substitute for actual candy.

I subscribe to Jessica's blog, Desserts with Benefits, and have made a few recipes from her website. They've all come out delicious, and I appreciate her commitment to health and education. I like to support bloggers like her, so I decided to buy her cookbook. Added bonus, I'm a fan of protein bars, because when I wake up in the morning, I'd much rather grab a bar than sleepily try to make an omelet or something.Each recipe comes with ingredients, instruction, and most importantly - nutritional information. No more bookmarking tasty-looking recipes and realizing later they're 900 calories. Calorie-wise, I don't think there's a single bar that clocks in over 300 calories, most are 170 - 250 calories. If you're doing the low-carb thing, eyeballing it it looks like the bars come in between 15g - 30g (depending on the recipe). All the ingredients are natural, and there are no added sugars (primarily using liquid stevia for sweetness). The only downside is if you don't already own protein powder, almond butter, stevia, or any of the other ingredients, it can get a bit pricey. She does have a section illustrating that making your own protein bars actually winds up being cheaper, but it's hard to remember that when you're ordering a giant tub of expensive protein powder on the Internet! Most of the recipes use the same base ingredients, so you most likely won't end up with a giant tub of protein powder you've only used one scoop of.I haven't owned the book long, and have only made two recipes (Cookie Dough Protein Bars, and Matcha Green Tea Bars), both have come out tasty. They're fairly easy recipes too - basically just throw everything at the stand mixer, toss it into a brownie pan, refrigerate and then cut everything up.Overall, I'm glad I bought this book, I'm looking forward to trying new recipes (next I think will be Red Velvet Cake Fudge Protein Bars...), and hope to see more from Jessica in the future!

I would give this book ten stars if I could. Everything is laid out so beautifully! The author has answered every single question you could possibly have before you ask it. Every recipe has been a delicious success! I found some pretty spectacular sales on the SunWarrier protein that she uses in all the bars. A KitchenAid mixer if really a prerequisite for these bars, but most of the ingredients used can be purchased on Amazon. I wish I could shake the author's hand. I wish all cook books were this plainly laid out and easy to use. If you want to make your own protein bars, this book is the benchmark to which all other books should be held. OUTSTANDING!!

Every recipe has a nut base which is hard because my son is allergic to nuts. Most bars taste the same.

The toughest part of Ms Stier's recipes is tracking down a few ingredients if you stick to your local stores. I found everything easily accessible online and from there the fun began! The recipes are simple to prepare and most of the bars I made had a creamy nut base. They won't make you forget about a Snickers Bar, but they will satisfy any cravings and leave you feeling 10x healthier!

Love the recipes in the book...I've done my own modifications to the bars so they form and hold better...otherwise they are too sticky and don't hold shape.

The book is nice, but after trying a few recipes, I gave up. The protein bars are just awful. Makes me wonder if anyone has ever tasted them before putting their recipes in a book

I've been enjoying this book, and have made a few of the recipes. Some of them I liked and some of them I didn't, pretty much like all recipe books. If you're interested in making your own protein bars, I think you'll find this a useful read.

All the proportions of ingredients are completely wrong, you frequently end up with dry mix that cannot possibly hold together and, enough frosting to cover 10% of the batch, and bars with remarkably low protein content, so you have to eat a sickening about for them to be of any use in a post work out situation. Also, yes, most ingredients need to be translated into English English. So essentially, none of the recipes are worth following. Not recommended.

5 weeks in and I've managed to get the majority of the ingredients. Am sure the financial pay off will work out in the long run but a costly stockpiling of ingredients needed and not all available at main supermarkets :(

Awful book. Nothing really turns out. You can do it better on your own. Just full of fake sweeteners that will make you ill from the sugar alcohols causing symptoms for you. Headaches, indigestion, alcoholic like numbness in fingers and extreme fatique. These are not health foods. These are illness and insulin resistance inducing foods. All the while, the consistency of the food is also unworkable. Bars do not harden and so forth. These are dangerous for your health ingredients in very high amounts and food does not end up being a "bar". Stays runny and you feel awful after you eat it.

Te puedes olvidar de comprar barras de proteína, tú puedes hacer las tuyas con este súper recetario! Muy recomendable compralo

I'm sure this is a great book, but only if you live in the US. A lot of the ingredients used are not available in the UK, and if you're vegan, you're very limited to the replacement options. Some examples: Bakto flavours, roasted walnut butter and other nut/seed butters, stevia extracts, all not available in the UK, and vegan equivalents are either hard to find, incredibly expensive or not available at all. Also be prepared to buy a LOT of new cooking utensils, there is a 3-page long list of all the stuff you'll need. A real shame, as I was so excited to start making my own protein bars. Will be sending this back and see if I can find a book that was published in the UK.