Name: Vegan Keto Strawberry Cheesecake Protein Bars
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 130 min
Yield: 8 bars
Cuisine: Gluten Free, Keto, Low Carb, Vegan
Ingredients: 1/2 cup coconut manna ((4oz/112g)); 1/2 cup vegan cream cheese ((4oz/112g)); 1 tbsp coconut oil; 2-3 scoops vanilla protein powder ((~60-90g) see Note above); 7 g freeze dried strawberries ((about 1/4 cup))

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I’ve really been trying to cut down on buying protein bars lately. For starters, it’s almost impossible to actually find a vegan keto protein bar (that doesn’t upset my stomach), and once you do, they aren’t particularly cost effective. Most low carb vegan protein bars will set you back at least $2.50 a pop, which really adds up over the course of the week!

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What These Vegan Keto Protein Bars DON’T Contain:

Just as important as what goes into a bar is what doesn’t! The following ingredients can be rough on digestion for many people, and so these homemade protein bars are free of the following:

no sugar alcohols (so no malitol, no erythritol, no xylitol, no sorbitol)
no allulose
no tapioca syrup
no chicory root fiber
no gluten
no soy

a batch of vegan keto strawberry cheesecake protein bars that have just been cut into 8 equal pieces

In addition to being vegan and sugar free, these protein balls are also gluten free and soy free (depending on which vegan cream cheese you use, if any). I like recipes that are accessible to as many people as possible, because it can be such a challenge trying to navigate around food allergies! I’ve listed a few common substitutions below in the notes. The one ingredient that unfortunately cannot be subbed is the coconut. Between the coconut manna and the coconut oil, it just comprises too much of the recipe to replace.

I really hope you like these! I’ve been making them all week in different iterations, trying to get everything just right, so I’ve definitely become a huge fan. If you do make these, I’d love to hear about it in the comments, or on social media!

Troubleshooting Homemade Vegan Keto Protein Bars

If your “dough” is too wet: add additional protein powder, 1 tbsp at a time until you reach the desired consistency. Be sure to track if you are concerned with accurate macro counts.
If your “dough” is too dry: add either a splash of water/nondairy milk or 1-2 tbsp of melted coconut oil and mix.
If the texture of the bars is either too soft or too dense once they are chilled, just let them sit at room temp until the dough is workable again and follow the above steps to make these work for you!

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Notes on making Vegan Keto Strawberry Cheesecake Protein Bars

These can be made with either vegan cream cheese (pretty much any brand), coconut butter/manna, or a combination of the two. I like to do a 50/50 blend for texture, but if you can’t find either the vegan cream cheese or coconut manna where you are, feel free to just use the one you can find.
If you do go with using 100% coconut manna (also called coconut butter or creamed coconut), the taste will be less tangy, and the texture will be a little harder, but they’re still totally delicious! Coconut manna/butter is often found in the nut butter aisle of your grocery store.
The brand of dairy-free cream cheese I use most often is Miyoko’s Kitchen – it’s cashew-based and entirely whole-foods, with no weird industrial or hydrogenated oils.
If you don’t have cream cheese on hand, but do have cashews, you can also make your own cream cheese by blending 1 cup of soaked cashews with 2 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tsp miso paste and enough water to get the desired consistency and then use 1/2 cup of this cashew spread.
The sweetness level of these is entirely dependent on the protein powder you use. I’ve actually made these with unsweetened protein and they still turned out delicious, so they don’t require extra sweetener.
I have used multiple protein powders for this, and they all work well. You may have to adjust the volume used, though. I usually start with two scoops and add the third if the texture looks a little too loose. I’ve never had to add more than three scoops.
To store: refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 5 days.
To calculate net carbs: subtract the grams of fiber, allulose and sugar alcohols (if applicable) from the total grams of carbohydrates in the recipe.
For this recipe, the net carb calculation is: 7.7g total carbs – 3.6g fiber = 4.1g net carbs
While I strive to provide accurate nutrition information, there are variations across brands and types of ingredients. So, if you’re using other brands than those mentioned, your macros may be different. All nutrition info is calculated from the USDA values for each ingredient, unless a brand is specifically mentioned (or no generic listing is available), and are for information purposes only!