Strawberry Yoghurt Protein Bars
These Strawberry Yoghurt Protein Bars taste like one of my all-time favourite chocolates called “Yogurette” but are infinitely better for you.
Packed full of protein, fresh strawberries and 0% fat Greek yoghurt, encased in an irresistible dark chocolate shell, they are exactly the snack I want after a sweaty workout!
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Why You Will Love This
Amazing way of getting your protein
I’m not sure about you, but I’m not particularly fond of the protein bars you can buy. They all taste oddly stodgy to me (although the protein wafers I recently found were pretty good!) and are not really what I crave after a workout that has me hot, exhausted, and craving something that just feels both cooling and healthy.
That’s where these Strawberry Yoghurt Protein Bars come into play. They have only 7 ingredients (more about them below) take 10 minutes to make plus some cooling time and taste like really fresh and healthy strawberry yoghurt with a crisp dark chocolate coating.
Each of them comes with about 5g protein and just 40 calories.
Why Do I Add Protein?
You mean apart from the well known physical benefits of protein for the body like helping you to build muscle, keeping your bones strong and increasing satiation, meaning you stay fuller for longer and with that can maintain your weight easier?
Lesser known is, that it also effects the brain by helping it to effectively transport information through neuropathways using the amino acods found in Protein.
This even has been shown to help protect from age related dementia.If you’d like to read more about how and why I use protein, I wrote a blog post about it.
Know exactly what’s in them
Making your protein bars at home means you know exactly what goes into them. No preservatives, no fillers. Just protein powder, yoghurt, fruit and chocolate.
The Perfect Ice Cream Bar
Did you ever want an ice cream bar that’s also good for you? This is the one.
All the benefits of yoghurt with its calcium and probiotics .
Plus the much needed protein to build muscle, keep your bones healthy and reduce cravings
And of course the fibre and antioxidants of fresh strawberries, which we are using in two different forms here, these bars are a nutritional powerhouse.
Oh and dare I say it? Dark chocolate (within reason) is also pretty beneficial in its own right, containing lots of minerals and even reducing inflammation. But mainly: It makes me really happy to eat it.
Super Easy to Make
My Strawberry Yoghurt Protein Bars comes together within minutes. You don’t need any special equipment, though a blender like a Nutribullet is helpful for getting strawberry puree. But mashing them with a fork works fine too.
The rest is just a quick stir, transfer into a freezer proof flat container, wait a bit, cut into pieces and quickly coat with melted dark chocolate. A tiny bit more patience while they freeze again and you have your post workout (or anytime really) snacks ready for the week.
The Ingredients
- Lets start with the obvious one: Protein Powder. I used MyProtein Strawberry here and loved it. But a good quality vanilla flavoured one will do just fine.
- The strawberry flavour comes from both fresh and freeze dried strawberries. While you could use just fresh, I found that the tiny nuggets of freeze dried strawberries give these bars their striking resemblance to Yogurette, with their intense bursts of flavour in your mouth.
- I found mine in snack packets from Holland & Barrett and (yes, you may call me a bit weird, but we gotta work with what we find) took 5 minutes to separate the strawberry from the peaches.
- If you find them on their own, even better. Or just use the combo. I’m fairly sure the added peach will be delicious too. If you try it, let me know your thoughts!
- One note on freeze dried fruit: They are like sponges soaking up any humidity in the air quickly. So chop them last minute before adding and keep the ones for decorating in an airtight container. Otherwise you’ll have a sticky clump instead of nicely defined crunchy pieces. Have a wild guess how I found out…
- Fat free Greek yoghurt adds the classic Yogurette flavour base of course. You could use full fat, but personally I feel the protein powder adds so much creaminess, it’s just not necessary.
- A tiny bit of honey and lemon juice round out the flavour and of course dark chocolate to coat them. I used a 70% dark chocolate here. I tried both Lindt and the Madagascar 70% from Lidl and loved them equally.
The Process
Mix
First clean and roughly chop your fresh strawberries. Either mash them with a fork or puree them for a few seconds in a blender like Nutribullet*.
Finely chop your freeze dried strawberries. Put a few aside for decorating later if you like.
In a medium bowl, mix all your ingredients except the dark chocolate until creamy and well combined.
Freeze
Line a freezer proof container* with a flat base with parchment paper, so you can easily take out and cut the whole thing later. Don’t skip the parchment paper, or you’ll have to scrape out the filling and eat it like ice cream. I mean…not that this would be the worst thing in the world. You can absolutely skip the chocolate covering and do that.
I use a medium sized Pyrex dish about 15x 7in, in which the Strawberry protein filling came up about 0.7in. But honestly, no need for exact science in this. Use what you have and cut them later.
Pour your Strawberry-protein cream into the prepared dish and freeze for at least 3h or until very solid. You’ll need it extremely cold to be able to coat it with chocolate.
When it’s frozen, take it out onto a chopping board and cut into bars with a sharp hot, but dry knife. I dipped mine into hot water in between cuts, then dried it with a towel, to avoid water crystals on the bars.
Put back into your container and freeze while you melt the chocolate.
Coat In Chocolate
Break or chop your dark chocolate and add to a microwave safe bowl. If you enjoy a slightly softer coating, you could add a teaspoon of coconut oil, but I love my bars really crisp, so I left it out.
Melt in quick 30 second bursts in the microwave, stirring in between or over a water bath on the stove, being careful that the bowl with the chocolate doesn’t touch the water. Stir until melted and creamy.
Transfer to a deep plate with flat bottom, so your bars can lie flat in the chocolate.
Line a half sheet pan* or tray that fits into your freezer with parchment paper.
Take your Strawberry Yoghurt Protein Bars out of the freezer and, using 2 forks, quickly turn each one in the hot chocolate until fully coated, let the excess drip off and transfer to the prepared parchment lined tray.
If you want to decorate them with the freeze dried strawberry pieces, you gotta be quick and do it immediately after taking each bar out of the chcolate bath, as the chocolate will harden extremely fast. You want the pieces to stick to the just soft enough chocolate before it’s all crisp.
Freeze
Put back into the freezer for an hour or so, before trying one. I found they taste best, if you give them a few minutes at room temperature to soften the inside just a little.
Enjoy your homemade healthy Strawberry Yoghurt Protein Bars.
Meal Prep
Strawberry Yoghurt Protein Bars keep well in the freezer in a lidded container for up to 3 months. Not that there is any hope they will last that long. But you might want to make double, so they last a few weeks.
FAQ
You can, but the pieces won’t be as intensely fruity. Freeze dried strawberries have a very concentrated strawberry flavor which comes out in these tiny flavor bursts that are just amazing.
Looking for More Snacks?
Apricot Almond White Chocolate Bark
Chocolate Ginger Crunch Protein Balls
Pistachio Muffins with Apricots and Protein
Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please rate, share, and comment. It helps me a lot.
Strawberry Yoghurt Protein Bars
Equipment
- 1 Bullet Blender for smooth strawberries. Or a fork to mash roughly.
- 1 half sheet pan or freezer proof tray
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh strawberries to make about ½ cup pureed
- 3/4 cup protein powder I used MyProtein Whey Strawberry, but a good vanilla flavoured one will work fine too.
- 1 cup 0% fat Greek yoghurt
- 0.7 oz 20g freeze dried strawberries finely chopped
- 7 oz chocolate 70% cocoa content (or whatever kind you enjoy)
- 3 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
Prepare:
- Line a freezer-proof container with parchment paper, ensuring the base is covered. This will allow for easy removal and cutting of the bars later.
- Clean and roughly chop the fresh strawberries. Mash them with a fork or puree them in a blender until smooth.
- Finely chop the freeze-dried strawberries. Set aside a small portion for decorating if desired.
Mix Ingredients:
- In a medium bowl, combine the pureed fresh strawberries, protein powder, Greek yogurt, finely chopped freeze-dried strawberries, honey, and lemon juice. Mix until creamy and well combined.
- Pour the strawberry-protein mixture into the prepared container. Spread it evenly and freeze for at least 3 hours or until very solid.
Coat with Chocolate:
- Once frozen, remove the mixture from the container onto a chopping board. Use a sharp, hot, and dry knife to cut it into bars. Dip the knife into hot water between cuts and dry it with a towel to prevent water crystals on the bars. Return the bars to the container and freeze while preparing the chocolate coating.
- Break or chop the dark chocolate and place it in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring in between, until melted and creamy. Alternatively, melt the chocolate over a water bath on the stove, ensuring the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
These protein bars were so much better than the store-bought versions! I used 85% dark chocolate and they turned out amazing!
Thank you, I must try the 85% chocolate myself. Was using 70% in my version.
Great protein bar recipe, I love it as a snack and my daughter loves it as well. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks a lot. Kids enjoying them is the best thing. 🙂
Such a delicious recipe! We’re a big Greek yoghurt family so was the perfect snack for us. Definitely making it again!
Thank you, so glad you liked it. 🙂