Pretty and tasty Milk and Cereal Protein Bars for a low calorie, low fat, high protein breakfast, snack or post-workout treat. This healthy milk n cereal bars recipe uses protein powder and low sugar cereal and a ton of greek yogurt for those layers!
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Okay these cereal protein bars really took me by surprise – a proper cereal base with cheerios-like cereal, and a creamy ‘milk’ layer with greek yogurt and protein powder. A real good blend of texture and flavor there.
No bake so there was that easiness there, and also makes them a good portable recipe too!
Ingredients for Milk and Cereal Protein Bars Recipe:
These milk and cereal protein bars are made with simple healthy ingredients, have no sugar or heavy cream, making them the perfect gluten free, dairy free and sugar free homemade protein bar!
- Cereal – A toasted Os cereal like Cheerios works best here, but you can also use Chex Mex or Lucky Charms and such.
I used Forager Grain Free Os Cereal in the Strawberry flavor. - 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 sugar cookie bars.
I used Quest Vanilla protein powder here. - Coconut Flour
- Almond Milk
The ‘Milk’ layer of these Cereal Bars
These milk n cereal bars use a high protein and sugar free ‘milk’ layer made with Greek yogurt and protein powder.
- Vanilla Protein Powder; I recommend the same here too: Quest.
- Non fat Greek Yogurt
- A bit of Coconut Flour
And for the Chocolate Coating:
- White Chocolate Chips or Chopped Chocolate. I would recommend Lily’s to keep it sugar free.
- Coconut Oil so the chocolate is easier to melt and more smooth when you drizzle.
Tips for Protein Powder Cereal Bars
These protein powder cereal bars are really easy to make, but here’s some tips to get it right.
- Use whey-caesin protein powder since it works well with the ratio of ingredients here. If you use a whey protein powder, you might want to adjust the amount of milk to make it less.
- Mix the dough well to form a smooth mixture.
- Add coconut oil when melting chocolate or it will not be smooth enough to spread on the cereal breakfast bars.
To store Homemade Cereal Protein Bars
High protein cereal bars use Greek yogurt for the milk layers and can only be kept a few hours on the countertop.
Store homemade cereal breakfast bars in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer so they stay fresh and last longer. They keep in the fridge for up to a 1 week.
To freeze, place no bake milk n cereal bars in airtight sealed container, or individually wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in zipper bag; They should keep for 2 or 3 months. Be sure to let them thaw on the counter before eating!
Alternatives for Healthy Milk n Cereal Bars Recipe!
I made this healthy, sugar free and gluten free and low calorie milk n cereal bars recipe with this particular ingredient list, but here’s some options to choose from.
- Cheerios/Os Cereal: Rice chex or other large crunchy cereal
- Unflavored protein powder: Unflavored Collagen, or even Almond flour or Oat flour
- Coconut flour: Try using about 3 Tbsp of Almond Flour
- Cashew Butter: Almond Butter, Hazelnut Butter or Tahini
Options for the Protein Milk:
- Greek Yogurt: Coconut Yogurt
Vegan Cheerios Protein Bars recipe:
Since there’s no milk in this cheerios protein bar recipe, they can easily be made Vegan with the right ingredients.
Use a plant based protein powder to get a Vegan homemade protein bar; ProteinWorld has a Vegan protein blend that would work well here (code HAYLSKITCHEN for a discount).
More High Protein Recipes with Cereal
- Low Fat Peanut Butter Protein Cereal Bars
- Protein 100 Grand Bars
- PB Protein Rice Krispie Treats
- Protein Zucchini Muffins with Cinnamon Crunch Streusel
- Butterfinger Protein Bars
More Homemade Protein Bars to try!
- Protein Sugar Cookie Bars
- Birthday Cake Protein Bars
- Protein Millionaire Shortbread
- Protein Nanaimo Bars
- Peanut Butter Cup Protein Bars
- Chickpea Cookie Dough Protein Bars
Milk and Cereal Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cereal, 32g, Recommendation below
- 3 Tbsp Coconut Flour, 21g
- 2 Tbsp Vanilla Protein Powder, Whey-caesin, 11g
- 2 Tbsp Unflavored Protein Powder, Whey-caesin, 11g, see post for subs
- 2 Tbsp Unsweetened Almond Milk, 30ml
- 1 Tbsp Cashew Butter, 16g
Protein “Milk”:
- ⅔ cup Vanilla Protein Powder, Whey-caesin, 60g
- ¼ cup Non-fat Greek Yogurt, 56g
- 2 Tbsp Coconut Flour, 13g
Chocolate Topping:
- 1 Tbsp White Chocolate Chips, Sugar-free recommended, 14g
- ⅛ tsp Coconut Oil
- Crushed Cereal
Instructions
- Line a 7×5” pan or small loaf pan with parchment paper; Leave an overhang to lift out later.
Base:
- In a bowl combine crushed ceral, coconut flour, unflavored protein powder and vanilla protein powder.
- Add in nut butter and milk (a little at a time) and mix. Mixture will be like a dough.Add more milk if too dry, coconut flour if too wet.
- Transfer to pan and press down.
Protein 'Milk':
- In a bowl, mix vanilla protein powder, yogurt and coconut flour until smooth.Mixture should be thick like a dough.Add milk if too thick, coconut flour if too thin.
- Break into large chunks, spread on top of base and use slightly wet fingers to smoothen.
Chocolate Topping:
- Place chocolate chips and coconut oil in a large microwave safe bowl and microwave about 45 seconds, stirring halfway, until completely melted.
- Spread chocolate on bar and use back of spoon to smoothen.
- Add crushed cereal on top.
- Let harden.
- Lift layers out of pan, place on cutting board and using a warmed sharp knife, slice into 6 bars.
Notes
- Nutrition value is calculated using products recommended below.
- See post for alternate ingredients, tips and storage options.
- Forager Grain Free Os Strawberry Cereal
- Quest Nutrition Multi-purpose Mix Protein Powder
- Quest Nutrition Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder
- Servings: 6 bars | Serving size: 1
- Calories: 123kcal
- Fat: 3.1g | Saturated fat: 1.6g
- Carbohydrates: 11g | Fiber: 3.9g | Sugar: 2.6g
- Protein: 14.2g
Yum! This is a brilliant idea! What kind of cereal did you use?
Thanks so much Kaci! I used the Forager Grain Free O’s Strawberry Cereal. Here’s a link https://amzn.to/3FQ8e5P
Hope you give this a try!