Amazing Protein Magic Bars with 7 layers of sugar free treats including protein shake as condensed milk! These healthy protein magic cookie bars are topped with sugar free chocolate chips, coconut, pecans, pretzels and chocolate cereal too. No condensed milk and a keto option too!

Okay I think I went a bit overboard on this recipe here with the toppings, but hey 7 layer bars are meant to be loaded with all the goods!

When I came across the concept of the magic cookie bars aka seven layer bars aka hello dolly bars, I knew I had to make my own high protein version of them too!

Why are they called Seven Layer Bars?

The classic seven layer protein bars are called so because they have 2 in the base (graham crackers + binder), condensed milk and 4 toppings (usually pecans, coconut, chocolate chips and butterscotch chips).

This seven layer protein bar recipe uses cleaner alternatives for these to make a healthy and optionally even keto magic cookie bars.

Ingredients for Healthy Protein Magic Bars Recipe:

These protein magic cookie bars are made with simple healthy ingredients, have no sugar or milk, making them the perfect homemade gluten free, dairy free and sugar free protein bar!

Base for Homemade Hello Dolly Bars

This copycat recipe uses protein powder in the base for a high protein hello dolly bars recipe!

Oat Flour – You can make your own by blending rolled oats in a high speed blender
Unflavored Protein Powder to replace some of the flour (and carbs) in the recipe for a slightly lower carb high protein. I recommend the Multi-purpose mix protein powder from Quest Nutrition.
Vanilla Protein Powder – key for the high protein birthday cake bars.
I used Quest Vanilla protein powder here.
Plain or Honey Graham Crackers or Biscuits for the slight crunch (use gluten free if you need)
Coconut Flour
Almond Milk
Santa’s Magic Almond Butter from American Dream! This is American Dream Nut Butter’s fall flavor: Santa’s Magic Almond Butter. ADNB also has a lot of other almond butters that would go perfect here. Code HAYLSKITCHEN gets you a discount here!

The Protein Shake Condensed Milk

These protein 7 layer bars without condensed milk use a thick protein shake as a binder for the top layers.

Vanilla Protein Powder for high protein magic cookie bar, and also replace the sweetener.
I recommend ProteinWorld Fudge Sundae or Vanilla for this recipe to keep it sugar free; Use the code HAYLSKITCHEN for a discount.
Another option would be Quest.
Almond Milk

And all the layers for the high protein 7 layer Magic Bars:

Hard Pretzel Sticks
Sugar free Chocolate Chips to make this a magic protein bar with no added sugar. I use the ones from Lak a nto here (HAYLSKITCHEN for a discount here too). Another option is Lily’s Chocolate Chips.
Butterscotch Chips! I’d recommend the sugar free ones from Lily’s Sweets.
Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
Chocolate Cereal
A few Chopped Pecans

These protein powder magic bars are really easy to make, but here’s some tips to get it right.

Use whey-caesin protein powder for unflavored and whey for vanilla since it works well with the ratio of ingredients here.
If you use a whey protein powder, you might want to reduce the amount of milk to make it less.

Mix the dough well to form a smooth mixture, but don’t over-mix since the protein powder might make the texture tough.
It should be like a dough.

Taste dough for sweetness; Add powdered sweetener if needed

Make sure the protein condensed milk layer is thick but spreadable. Add milk little at a time so it doesn’t get too runny.

To store Homemade Magic Bars

To store homemade protein Magic bars, place in an airtight container and keep on the counter for up to 3 days or the fridge for up to a 1 week.

To freeze, place Magic protein cookie bars in airtight sealed container, or individually wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in zipper bag; Homemade magic cookie bars should keep for 2 or 3 months. Be sure to let the protein 7 layer bars thaw on the counter before eating!

Alternatives for Healthy Magic Bars!

I made these sugar free and gluten free and low fat healthy magic bars with this particular ingredient list, but here’s some other clean options to choose from.

Graham Crackers: Any cracker, or biscuit
Unflavored protein powder: Oat flour or Almond Flour

American Dream AB: Regular Almond Butter, Peanut Butter, Hazelnut Butter or even Tahini
Almond Milk: Regular milk or other non dairy milk

Options for Toppings:

Pecans: Other chopped nuts like walnuts or almonds.
Shredded Coconut: Coconut Flakes
Chocolate Cereal: More chocolate chips, or other neutral flavored cereal

For a keto magic bar recipe, use almond flour instead of oat flour, and low carb toppings for the pretzel and cereal like Magic Spoon or Catalina Crunch. The other ingredients and brands listed above should give you a keto friendly recipe as is.

Vegan Magic Bars recipe without Condensed Milk

Since there’s no condensed milk in this hello dolly bars recipe, they can easily be made Vegan with the right ingredients.

Use a plant based protein powder to get a Vegan magic cookie bar; ProteinWorld has a Vegan protein blend as well.

You also want to make sure you use dairy free chocolate chips to make these protein hello dolly bars bars.

More Homemade Protein Bar Recipe to try!