I am off to Miami for the BlogHer Food Conference today and I am so excited that my dear friend Robin, from Knead to Cook is going to be guest blogger for today! And boy are we lucky. Check out these Banana Oatmeal Bars, they are gluten-free and vegan too.
Robin lost over 30 pounds after incorporating a healthy, clean lifestyle. She has amazing recipes (and Robin even contributed some delicious recipes to The Greek Yogurt Cookbook!) Robin is also an avid runner and gym enthusiast and a HUGE inspiration to so many people. I just adore her. Ok, now onto this insanely yummy recipe…
Take it away Robin…
This recipe has been morphed from an old recipe that I’ve had for years to now accommodate my daughter’s newly adopted diet of being gluten and dairy free due to allergies. They turned out moist and delicious and were devoured by my whole family in rapid speed! This recipe also has no added refined sugars. This is a snack you can totally feel great about. Plus I added some extra protein to these for building or repairing muscle.
Banana Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 cups of gluten free oats I used Bob’s Red Mill rolled gluten free oats
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 3-4 bananas very ripe is best
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract or paste
- 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup of maple syrup agave or honey (for vegetarian option)
- 1/4 cup of hemp hearts optional for extra protein
- 1/4-1/2 cup of vegan chocolate chips I prefer Enjoy Life – use as many as you prefer. I made half with and half without as my husband is allergic to cocoa.
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray your 8×8 or 9×9 glass pan with baking spray with flour and set aside.
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Into your Vitamix or food processor, add your oats and blend down until a fine powder.
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Then add the flour to a bowl along with your cinnamon, soda, powder and salt. Whisk to combine.
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In your stand mixer, blend your bananas, vanilla, apple sauce and maple syrup.
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Then add your flour mixture and hemp hearts (optional).
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Blend to combine. If using chocolate chips, add them by hand. Then pour into your prepared pan and bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely and slice. Cover in an airtight container until serving.
Thanks again Robin for sharing this recipe while I am in sunny Miami! Please go and follow Robin’s blog, or you can find her on Instagram too! Have a great weekend 🙂
Jeanette | Jeanette's Healthy Living says
May 21, 2014 at 3:38 amThese bars look so nice and moist! Thanks for introducing me to Robin. Great meeting you at BlogHer Food Miami Lauren!
lauren says
May 21, 2014 at 11:40 amDon’t they look amazing Jeanette? It was so nice meeting you in Miami!! Thanks os much for stopping by 🙂
grace at leangirlsclub says
May 21, 2014 at 7:43 pmI’m not a great baker, but I’m going to have to try these. Have never tried hemp hearts before – will have to check my local health food store tonight. What else can you add it to?
lauren.kelly says
June 9, 2014 at 4:18 pmHi Grace! You can also try to add quinoa if you are looking to add protein?
Nicole says
June 9, 2014 at 3:52 pmWow! These look super delicious! The melty chocolate is calling my name!
rohcell says
October 28, 2014 at 11:44 amthis is making me huuunnngrryy…. this looks so good! would love to try baking this but is there any substitute for applesuace? or can it be possible to not put applesauce? thank you
lauren.kelly says
October 28, 2014 at 12:12 pmHi! The applesauce is a substitute for eggs so I bet you can use a flax egg to keep it vegan?
Julie says
November 23, 2014 at 2:29 amThese sound amazing! Thought they would be perfect for the little ones lunch! Wondering if I could substitute flax meal for the hemp?
lauren.kelly says
November 23, 2014 at 3:06 amI bet you could substitute flax Julie! Let me know how they turn out!
Leslie says
December 30, 2014 at 2:02 amThe recipe instructions mention adding flour, but I don’t see any in the list of ingredients. I would love to make these, but want to make sure the recipe is complete.
Thanks!
lauren.kelly says
December 30, 2014 at 2:48 amHi Leslie! I believe she is referring to the oats that were ground into flour. I hope you like them!
kalina says
January 18, 2015 at 3:12 amI don’t know if it’s because I used frozen bananas or what, but mine took 35 minutes to cook and I’m still not sure it’s fully cooked – it seems a little mushy in the middle… but the toothpick came out clean
lauren.kelly says
January 18, 2015 at 3:31 amHi Kalina! I don’t usually use frozen bananas, I usually let them defrost before I bake with them, were they frozen when you baked it?
MarylandGal says
August 10, 2015 at 3:58 pmI have made these many many times and i LOVE them! Last week i cooked them over 20 minutes, which i rarely have to do, and they were still very wet . I think that happens when u put in too much applesauce? I overdid the applesauce a bit last week. Just curious- Have you ever tried making these cakier? I saw a recipe for healthy banana bread, and it looks so much cakier and less wet. The only difference it seemed was that they used two eggs and less of everything else. I like that yours are vegan. I have tried adding a little extra baking soda and powder but still always moist and brownie-ish rather than cakey.
Heres that other recipe btw : http://www.yammiesglutenfreedom.com/2013/02/secretly-healthy-banana-bread-with.html?m=1
lauren.kelly says
August 10, 2015 at 8:11 pmAwesome! I am so glad you liked them, Robin over at Knead to Cook has awesome recipes! Thank you for stopping by!
Laurie says
April 22, 2016 at 2:28 pmcould I sud artichoke hearts for the hemp hearts? I couldn’t find hemp.
lauren.kelly says
April 22, 2016 at 2:41 pmHi Lauria! You can omit the hemp hearts if you can’t find them!