Tired of Store-Bought Protein Bars? Design Your Own with YouBars

While protein-packed nutrition bars can be an important part of a healthy diet, trying to decipher the ingredients on your favorite product to make sure you're not undoing the benefits of all your careful food choices can be exhausting.

That's when it's time to turn to YouBars, a California-based family business that lets you design your own nutrition bar from start to finish. Start with a base of almond butter, cashew butter, fat-free organic dates, organic peanut butter, soynut butter, sunflower seed butter, or the company's own YouBar base (a mix of almonds and dates). Then add a protein powder—like rice, soy, or whey; your favorite nuts and seeds (think almonds, hempseeds, peanuts, pecans, or a range of organic nuts, including cashews, flaxseeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and walnuts). Then add some sweetness with organic figs, apples, apricots, raisins, and coconut, or sweetened blueberries, cherries, or cranberries, and with organic agave nectar, brown rice syrup, or clover honey. You can also add chocolate chips, cinnamon, coffee crystals, organic ginger, or organic cacao nibs, and organic granola or oat bran. The end result? A bar that's tailored to your taste and own specific health requests.

If you're not sure where to start, try some of the most popular combos: the Breakfast Bar, made with coffee, cocoa, and cinnamon; the Honey Cashew Bar, with cashew butter, honey, whey protein, nutty rice cereal, and organic honey; or Great Date with Chocolate, a mix of organic dates, whey protein, organic honey, and cocoa. And just in case the bars aren't your style, you can also design your own trail mix, protein shake mix, cereal—or even cookies, so you can choose treats that are low in fat or carbohydrates, gluten-free, or vegan, and indulge your sweet tooth without processed food and preservatives.