No-Bake Cocoa Hazelnut Protein Bars

The bar exists because the alternative is buying them. Whey does the protein work, hazelnut butter does the flavour and texture work, and the chicory root fibre binds the whole thing without an oven — press, chill, cut.

Two notes on the ingredients, both deliberate. The muesli goes in crushed, not whole: broken clusters keep the crunch but still bind, where whole clusters make the bar crumble at the cut. And the binder is chicory root fibre powder rather than VitaFiber — which is the same thing in spirit. The original recipe used VitaFiber powder, which is no longer sold; chicory root inulin is the closest match, being a dry powder that behaves identically in the bowl, the most widely stocked fibre supplement in both the US and the EU, and — unlike IMO syrup — an uncontested fibre in both. That last part matters here: we subtract fibre to get net carbs, so a contested figure would quietly understate the carbs for anyone eating low-carb.

Because it is a powder rather than a syrup, the liquid comes from the maple syrup and the almond milk. Add the milk a splash at a time — the dough should be stiff enough to hold a thumbprint, not pourable. If you swap in a fibre syrup instead, cut the almond milk to about a third or the bars will be runny.

One deliberate limit: the chicory is dosed so a bar lands around 5 g of fibre, well inside comfort. Inulin is superb fibre, but much above 10 g in a single sitting is a well-known cause of bloating, and a bar you regret eating is not a bar you keep making — so there is no reason to push it just because the binder could carry more. The maple syrup picks up whatever bind the chicory gives back.

For a plant-based version, swap the whey for the same weight of plant protein powder. Expect a slightly drier dough — add another splash of almond milk.

These land as a breakfast as happily as a snack, which is why they carry the morning tag: one bar and a coffee is a real 30 g of protein before you have made a decision about anything.