healthy refined-sugar-free birthday cake collagen bar recipe for the gluten-free diet

Birthday cake flavored anything has my heart, and these birthday cake collagen bars are no exception. Perfectly soft & sweet without any refined sugar, preservatives, or artificial sweeteners packaged protein bars have!

A Healthy Homemade Protein Bar

Protein bars are one of my favorite grab-and-go snacks on busy days. Not only are protein bars satisfying and filling, but there are a ton of delicious protein bar options on grocery store shelves these days. With that said, I’ve personally noticed its becoming harder and harder to find protein bar brands made with natural healthy ingredients.

Especially since being diagnosed with IBD three years ago, I’ve become extra sensitive to synthetic flavors and artificial ingredients that are sneaked into a lot of the pre-packaged protein bar options. Because of this, I’ve taken it upon myself to create my ideal refined-sugar-free, gf birthday cake collagen bars.

Why Collagen?

It’s probably no secret to you that some protein sources seem to be easier than others to digest. Protein bars that use protein sources like whey and casein were always really hard on my stomach and never failed to result in bloating, digestive issues, and overall discomfort! These types of protein isolates also seem to always have this weird off-putting aftertaste and sandy texture that I don’t prefer to use. These birthday cake collagen bars don’t have any of those qualities since collagen is a smaller, soluble flavorless protein. It can be easily dissolved and disguised in almost any recipe for this reason!

However, collagen is offered as a small peptide that seems to be very easy to digest. I also love using collagen as the protein source in my birthday cake collagen bars since collagen is known to help strengthen gut lining to reduce “leaky gut” symptoms, improve nail & hair health, and skin elasticity.

A Refined-Sugar-Free Birthday Cake Bar

Birthday cake protein bars have always been one of my go-to flavors, and I feel like almost every major protein bar brand has this flavor as part of their repertoire. SO I needed a birthday cake version in mine too! This birthday cake collagen bar recipe is a variation of my one of my favorite recent recipes: the one and only Coconut Cookie Collagen Bar from earlier this month.

I’ve re-made a batch of those refined-sugar-free coconut cookie collagen bars every week as part of my Sunday meal prep routine since I first created that recipe. Not only where those bars so delicious and nourishing but they were stupidly easy to make. Because of that, I wanted to keep the same base formulation but switch up a few of the ingredients!

Honestly, I would have been totally content eating the Coconut Cookie Collagen Bars for the rest of my life, but my worst fear now is getting bored of it. Preventative measures were taken & I couldn’t be happier with how incredible this Birthday Cake flavor of my Collagen Bar recipe turned out. I don’t know if I could choose a favorite between these two variations now!

What You’ll Need

How to Make Birthday Cake Collagen Bars

Step 1: Pulse the gluten-free old fashioned oats in a food processor for about 10-15 seconds, until they are about the size/texture of instant oats. Add in the rest of the birthday cake collagen bar ingredients (besides the sprinkles) and mix on the highest speed for about 45 seconds, until a thick collagen bar dough forms.

Step 2: Use your hands to evenly transfer and press into a loaf tin lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the keto-friendly rainbow sprinkles over the surface of the dough in the tin, lightly pressing them into the top.

Step 3: Freeze for 30 minutes to quickly chill before slicing into 6 even collagen bars. Enjoy right away or store the leftovers for up to a month in the refrigerator.

how to make healthy refined-sugar-free birthday cake collagen bar recipe for the gluten-free diet

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