• 1 cup plain, vanilla, or chocolate Shaklee Protein
• 1 cup oats, + more oats as needed
• 1 cup almonds or walnuts, chopped
• 1/3 cup flax meal (optional)
• 3 Tbsp. flax seed (optional)
• 1 cup almond butter or PB
• 2/3 cup raw agave or raw honey
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional: I LOVE it with this added in!)

Optional Mix-Ins:

• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Coconut
• Chocolate chips
• Nuts

Directions:

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

2. Heat agave or honey on a stove till it comes to a rolling boil. (only takes about 1 minute). Remove from heat immediately. Be careful not to let the agave cook beyond when bubbles break the surface so that it doesn’t burn!

(If no stove is available, just simply add the nut butter, agave, and vanilla.   Stir until combined.   You may need to use your hands to get it to all stick together and this version will be slightly more difficult to get it all together, but it definitely works if you can’t get to a stove!!! We’ve made these in a hotel before and used on the road!)

3. Add in peanut butter or almond butter and vanilla immediately to the hot agave in the pan.  Stir until peanut butter melts and is well combined and smooth.

4.  Add Agave/Peanut Butter mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients. Combine.  I have found that it works best to just get in the old fashioned way and mix it with your hands.  Almost kneed all the ingredients together until they stick! If mixture seems too wet add in more oats and continue to combine until mixture forms a ball.  If it is too dry, add a bit more PB or Agave.

5.  Press down into ungreased 9 x 13 in. glass dish.  Cool in the refrigerator.  Cut into squares.  You also can roll the mix into balls if you prefer and then cool them.

6. A fun little “extra” is to sprinkle chocolate chips across the top of the bars right after you press them into the pan. Turn oven on to “Broil” setting. Put pan in oven for 30 seconds-45 seconds. Remove and spread melted chocolate chips across top of bars. Refrigerate and it tastes like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup!

Tips:

We use the Shaklee Instant Protein Soy Mix. You can use any of the Shaklee protein powders for this recipe and it will come out pretty close to the same. The Instant Soy Mix Protein is flavorless and is a substitute for flour in other recipes. We keep this on hand at all times to replace flour in recipes like pancakes, cookies, and sauces–it’s a great way to cut back on the flour and carbs!

I also have used in this recipe: Shaklee Energizing Soy Vanilla, Shaklee Energizing Soy Chocolate, and both flavors of the Shaklee Cinch for weight loss: Cinch Chocolate and Cinch Vanilla. I love using Shaklee Cinch shake mix because its powered by Leucine to help preserve muscle while you loose weight.

If you choose to use Shaklee Instant Protein, your entire dish or protein bars will have 120 g of Protein that offers all of the amino acids, especially the 9 essential amino acids that your body does not produce on it’s own.

** If using peanut butter, try to avoid PB with added sugar or preservatives.  Get Natural or Organic PB.  The really smooth kind works well. If it is hard, you need to heat the agave on the stove first (1 minute), remove from heat and immediately add the PB. Mix in until melted.