This Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Collagen Protein Bar recipe is both Paleo and Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) compliant. These protein bars are creamy, full of fall flavor, and are truly a healthy addition to your holiday breakfast or snack routine. Grab the recipe below.

After my Berry Collagen Protein Bars were so popular, I felt inspired to switch up the flavor profile a bit for the holiday season. Our baby's due date is right around Christmas (coming up SO FAST), which has me in prep mode.

Since I've heard protein bars are a breastfeeding mom's BFF, I figure I might as well come up with some variety so I'm not making the exact same recipe each week!

I put out a call on Instagram as to which variation I should make, and it was pretty much a tie between four different flavors. So I did what every sane pregnant woman would do… I vowed to make them all.

I'll end up sharing four new festive flavors before Christmas. Here are the flavors you can expect: White Chocolate Peppermint, Gingerbread, Apple Pie, and Pumpkin Snickerdoodle.

Let's start with the Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Protein Bar.

You might be wondering why a soon-to-be mom wouldn't want to just buy her protein bars. Why go through the hassle of making them? First of all, AIP protein bars are hard to come by.

It’s pretty much impossible to find a store bought protein bar that is dairy, nut, and grain free.

Even going the homemade route, I quickly realized how few recipes were A. dairy free, B. nut free, and C. oat free. It seemed every recipe I saw on Pinterest included one or more of those three ingredients. And so the drive was born to create something of my own that was free of all three (and tasted delicious to boot).

Let's look at the ingredients in these Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Protein Bars.

In this recipe, the combination of collagen protein, coconut butter, coconut cream, pumpkin and cinnamon makes a seriously delicious fall protein bar. Just like my first collagen protein bar recipe, these are so delicious, I swear they could pass as dessert.

The Protein Component: Collagen

Although I was once an avid plant-based protein kinda girl, the protein powder I swear by these days is a form of protein called collagen hydrolysate, aka collagen peptides.

Collagen is one of the most structural substances in your body, responsible for healthy tissue repair, joint flexibility, bone and skin renewal, and reducing inflammation. If one of your goals is to help put your autoimmune disease into remission, collagen is your golden ticket.

I used the Collagen Protein from Perfect Supplements for this recipe, but I've also tested it with Great Lakes and Vital Proteins. All work wonderfully, but the Perfect Supplements option is at a really great price! I also love their mission statement.

The Creamy Component: Coconut

Confession: I’m not a fan of coconut butter. It’s dry, crumbly, and not easy to snack on since it solidifies at room temp. It is however key to the success of this recipe, and once all the ingredients come together, the coconut butter is a non-issue for me. These bars are anything but dry or crumbly, and they’re a perfect snack.

Coconut butter on it’s own has plenty of merit as well. It’s said that the fat from coconut butter can’t be stored as body fat since it’s so readily available for energy. This means that despite these bars being higher in fat, you don’t need to worry about your waist line when eating them. In fact, you can expect any of the following benefits from indulging in these coconut butter based bars:

1. High in healthy medium chain triglycerides
2. High in fiber
3. Improved blood sugar control
4. Reduced sugar cravings

Pretty insane, right? Let’s move on.

The Fall Components: Pumpkin and Cinnamon (Snickerdoodle)

I’ve made these bars in so many combinations at this point: fresh berries, dried berries, no berries, with peppermint, and with gingerbread spices. These might just be my favorite.

Growing up I was a big fan of both pumpkin pies and snickerdoodles. Me, my mom, and my grandma always had to have pumpkin pie on the Thanksgiving dessert table, while my dad requested snickerdoodles through the entire holiday season calendar year. Needless to say, both feel very nostalgic to me.

The pumpkin flavor comes from pumpkin puree, and the snickerdoodle flavor comes in through the maple syrup and cinnamon.

The Dessert Component: Dark and White Chocolate Icing

Full disclosure, I used 80% dark chocolate for dipping the bottoms of these protein bars, in place of the dark chocolate icing. If you tolerate chocolate without issue, I highly recommend using melted chocolate in place of the dark chocolate icing recipe listed below to make them really feel like a treat. Regardless of the chocolate option you choose (real dark chocolate or coconut oil ‘chocolate icing’), you won’t be disappointed.

The ‘white chocolate drizzle' shown in these photographs was created using the exact recipe below. It's so easy – don't skip this step!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Protein Bar

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• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 0 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 8 bars 1x

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Ingredients

Bars:

• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp coconut flour
• 3/4 cup Perfect Supplements Collagen Protein (click here for 10% this collagen when you use code GRASSFED10)
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp coconut butter
• 2 Tbsp pumpkin puree
• 2.5 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (swap with vanilla powder for AIP)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon or Primal Palate Pumpkin Pie Spice blend (note: spice blend is not AIP)

Dark Chocolate Icing (optional):

• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp cacao powder, or carob powder for AIP
• 1/2 Tbsp pure maple syrup

White Chocolate Drizzle:

• 1.5 Tbsp coconut butter
• .5 Tbsp coconut oil
• Sprinkle of cinnamon or Primal Palate Pumpkin Pie Spice blend (note: spice blend is not AIP)

RELATED:  Cinnamon Raisin Nut Free Paleo Granola Cereal

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Instructions

For the Bars

1. Mix all ingredients together by hand in a bowl. It may take a bit of stirring before the dough comes together.
2. Form into 8 equal bars. I used this inexpensive silicon mold to make my bars all the same size, but you can also use a greased glass baking sheet, or you can shape the bars by hand.
3. Place the formed bars in refrigerator for 30 minutes to set. Once they're set, remove the bars from the silicon mold or the baking dish. At this point, you can choose if you'd like to make the chocolate icing and drizzle, (recipes below ) or leave plain.

For the Dark Chocolate Icing

1. Melt the coconut oil and stir in cacao powder (or carob powder for AIP) and maple syrup.
2. Dip bottom half of each bar in the chocolate icing.
3. Use a piping bag or a ziploc with a small hole cut in the tip to drizzle chocolate on top of the bars.
4. Place bars on waxed paper in the refrigerator to set.

NOTE: You can also melt half a bar of dark chocolate instead of making the Dark Chocolate Icing if you're not following AIP.

For the White Chocolate Drizzle

1. Mix together the melted coconut butter and melted coconut oil.
2. Place bars on wire cooling rack. Use a piping bag or a ziploc with a small hole cut in the corner to drizzle on top of the bars. Place in the fridge to set.

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Notes

1. The bars have the best texture at room temperature, but you can also store in the fridge for a longer shelf-life.
2. Nutrition information is for the bars without the chocolate icing and drizzle. If you're including the icing, you'll add 85 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 2 grams of carbs.
3. This recipe contains affiliate links.

Nutrition

• Calories: 177
• Sugar: 6g
• Sodium: 194mg
• Fat: 10g
• Saturated Fat: 9g
• Carbohydrates: 11g
• Fiber: 4g
• Protein: 11g

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Other gluten free, AIP recipes you might like:

AIP Berry Collagen Protein Bar

AIP Matcha Latte Protein Bites

AIP Pumpkin Spice Granola