Lemon Meringue Protein Bar - By Elissa Jewell



Lemon Meringue Protein Bar

 Most protein bars retail for between 4 and 6 dollars and contain a multitude of ingredients that sound like inedible, "sciencese" ingredients. Some of these ingredients include sugar alcohols - a largely indigestible and manufactured form of carbohydrate. These will be listed as malitol, sorbitol or anything ending in "tol" on the nutritional info which, if eaten in large quantities, will give you pretty painful repercussions including
stomach upsets.

At first glance the overall nutritional info of some bars may be quite good - after all - low calories/carbs, high fibre and high protein foods are the staple of any fat loss diet. The problem lies in the fact that these bars are processed beyond belief and contain many ingredients that you can hardly pronounce. In my opinion, it would stand to reason that if you can't pronounce the ingredients, then it's likely that your body doesn't know how to digest them! The best way to save money, stick to your diet and still enjoy the taste and convenience of protein bars is to make them yourself. A standard protein bar has over 20 ingredients, the below recipe has five. (And it's pretty easy to pronounce "egg!")

This recipe is a little fiddly and time consuming, but it is well worth the effort! The flavour of the bar is exactly like a lemon meringue pie and provides 32g of protein for a smaller bar and 40g for a larger bar. Because of it's low carb and fat content, it's a perfect snack for anyone on a fat loss diet but would also serve well as a post-workout bar if eaten alongside a source of quick-digesting carbohydrates.

Ingredients:

 Base:1/2 cup of rolled oats
1/2 cup of wheat bran
1/2 serving of vanilla protein powder

Lemon filling:4 egg whites - beaten until stiff
2 egg yolks
3 servings of vanilla protein powder
The rind of 1 lemon
The juice of 1/2 a lemon

Meringue topping:2 egg whites - beaten until stiff
1/2 serving of vanilla protein powder

Method:
Begin by preheating the oven to 160 degrees Celcius and making the base.
Simply add the oats and bran to a bowl and cover with about 1/2 a cup of water. Cook on high for two minutes or until oats are soft. Leave to cool before mixing in the protein powder.

Spread the filling mixture out onto the bottom of a square baking dish and ensure that the filling is even and also coats the sides. Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until crispy and golden, and begin making the filling.

To make the filling beat the egg whites until stiff and then gradually add the protein powder, lemon juice and lemon rind. Add the whole egg and egg yolk last to create a deep yellow colour. Pour this filling into the pre-cooked base and cook for a further 5-10 minutes
or until the top of the filling has gone golden.

Make the meringue topping by slowly adding the protein powder to the egg whites to keep them as light and fluffy as possible. Once the filling has browned, spread the meringue topping over the filling and bake for a further 5 minutes or until golden.

Leave the lemon meringue to cool before cutting into 6 or 4 evenly sized bars - depending on your macronutrient and calorie needs.

Nutritional info: (For each bar, if making 4 bars)Calories: 247
Fat: 5.0g
Protein: 40.0g 
Carbs: 8.9g
Fibre: 3.4g

Nutritional info: (For each bar, if making 6 bars)Calories: 197
Fat: 4.0g
Protein: 32.0g
Carbs: 7.2g
Fibre: 2.7g

By Elissa Jewell