No-Bake Peanut Butter Protein Pretzel Bars

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #StartWithJifPowder #CollectiveBias

As part of my New Year, New Me agenda, I've been making more homemade smoothies and protein bars from scratch. I usually have them for breakfast, or for my post-workout and afternoon snack.  So it was so timely that I recently got approached to try out the new  Jif Peanut Powder - a new peanut product from Jif that contains less calories and sugar. Unlike the traditional peanut butter, Jif Peanut Powder contains 85% less fat and is the perfect way to add delicious peanut taste to smoothies, baking, breakfast and more!

Jif Peanut Powder comes in two flavors:

• Regular Jif Peanut Powder - which is made from just one ingredient - fresh roasted peanuts - and has no added sugar or salt like competitors!
• Jif Chocolate Peanut Powder - contains semisweet chocolate and a dash of sugar, making it perfect for consumers looking for something a bit sweeter!

Both has the same amount of nourishing protein as traditional peanut butter and are great for cleanses and diets!

I wanted to try the Regular Jif Peanut Powder for this delicious No Bake Peanut Butter Protein Pretzel Bars recipe I borrowed from a friend. I tweaked the recipe a good bit and I couldn't be any more satisfied for how they turned out! These bars are easy, fast, and they're no-bake! Best of all, they're protein-packed and are perfect for snacking in between meals! They turned out so yummy I'm going to make another batch after I run out of this first one. 🙂

Here's a personal confession:  for almost all of last year, I've dreaded the weight scale. But when I finally saw how much weight I've gained in the last eight months, I vowed to make 2016 a better year for myself in terms of health and fitness. No, it's not one of those lame New Year's resolutions. I've since learned that to make real changes, I will have to start by setting concrete mini-goals for myself and consciously work every single day to accomplish each of those goals. I know that I will and I can achieve my bigger goals.

One of the things I know I needed to make changes on is my eating habits. As a busy mom, wife and business owner, it's so easy to set aside the importance of eating on schedule.  For example, I would totally skip lunch because I'd get so caught up with some home project or task on my blog or my Etsy shop, etcetera. As a result, I would get so hungry and then wait to eat a late dinner later because I ate a really late lunch. I know the vicious cycle had to end. So, to help myself, I've started a daily food journal so I can really schedule when I eat and plan for what I eat daily. So far, it's been helping with my attitude on how I approach my eating, when I eat and most importantly, the kinds of foods I eat.

I've also set my mind on cooking at home more (less dining out) and avoiding high calorie foods that will not help me achieve my goals.

And I'm so excited to try the new recipes for smoothies and breakfast foods using Jif Peanut Powder!

Please, please check out my No-Bake Peanut Butter Protein Pretzel Bars recipe below and I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I did! 🙂

[ultimate-recipe id="15425" template="default"]

You can grab Jif Peanut Powder at your local Walmart. I found mine in the Grocery section on aisle 9 right where the Coffee, Bulk Size, Asian Foods and Condiments are. It was so easy to find as it sits on a shelf in that aisle aptly labeled "Peanut Butter".  So convenient!

I'd love to know what recipes you've tried or came up with using Jif Peanut Powder!