Long Time No See!

Yes, I know, I have been slacking...

I've put little effort into my blog recently (eek!), but I recently made some homemade protein bars that needed to be shared.

I don't know about you, but I typically go through at least one protein or energy bar per day - possibly even 2 on a long day.  It's my afternoon snack before my evening workout - but those protein bars sure can rack up in cost - at about $2 (or more) a pop it was definitely worth it for me give this Banana-Carob Protein Bar recipe from Fit Sugar that I found a few weeks back.

While I'm not much of a baker, this recipe can not be easier.  I did sub chocolate chips for carob chips and good ole all purpose flour for oat flour.  Those ingredients were in my pantry already - so I figured why not.

Each batch makes 8 bars and took only 10 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to bake.  I recommend giving it a try if you love a good protein bar as much as I do.

Enjoy!

Banana Carob Protein Bars
Originally posted on my healthy living blog, Eating Bird Food

Ingredients:

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup oat flour
1/3 cup protein powder (I used vanilla brown rice protein powder)
1 T chia seeds (optional)
1 t cinnamon
pinch of sea salt

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
3 egg whites
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 T smooth natural peanut butter (or almond butter)
1/2 T honey
5 drops of liquid stevia (or 1 T more of honey)
1 t vanilla

1/4 cup carob chips (or chocolate chips)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. In a bowl combine all dry ingredients: oats, oat flour, protein powder, chia seeds, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In a large bowl combine all wet ingredients: bananas, egg whites, almond milk, peanut butter, honey, liquid stevia, and vanilla.
4. Slowly pour and stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until everything is well mixed, then gently stir in the carob chips.
5. Pour the batter into a greased 8 x 5 in. or 8 x 8 in. baking dish.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes; remove from oven and cool for 15-20 minutes.
7. Cut into 8 squares and enjoy.