I got 5 pounds of oats from Tropical Traditions and I’m working my way through it pretty damn quickly.
Aside from my daily – sometimes double – dose of oatmeal, I have been baking quite a bit too.
Since I had bananas with more brown than yellow sitting on the counter, I knew time was ticking until they would be freezer bound. But I already have plenty of frozen nanners! Must. Use. ASAP.
I was winging it as I went with this recipe, but it came out great, so I will share.
Peanut Banana Oatmeal Bars (v, gf)
Ingredients:
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup peanut flour
- 1 1/2 cup oats
- 2 cups boiling water
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- add-ins of choice (carob chips, raisins, dried cranberries, cinnamon, almonds, etc.) [I used cacao nibs and shredded coconut]
Directions:
Add bananas, oats and peanut flour to a mixing bowl and mash up a bit.
Add boiling water and continue mashing until mixture is thick and uniform.
Add chia seeds and whatever other add-ins you want. Seriously, go crazy! There’s no such thing as too much dried fruit, right?
If you want to eat the batter as is, I won’t judge you. That’s the benefit of vegan baking right? No risk of being poisoned with salmonella from ingesting raw eggs. Oh, and that whole no cholesterol thing/heart health…
If you are anything like me, you’ve been hoarding your discontinued Trader Joe’s peanut flour, saving it for only the most special occasions.
Well Gollum, this is the time to let go of your precious. Peanut flour makes these treats crazy healthy (and by that I mean containing fewer calories and fat than normal peanut butter bars).
Pre-heat the oven to 350.
Pour the batter into a square baking pan with non-stick spray.
Bake for 20 minutes.
And…voila!
I had two squares for breakfast last Thursday, and then headed off to work.
They held me over for hours (although to be honest, work was so freakin’ busy I couldn’t even find a spare moment to eat my second breakfast; oh, and I also didn’t exercise before work either). But still, I wasn’t chewing my arm off when my lunch break rolled around, so that must mean something.
They are definitely “healthy” tasting – meaning not as sugary as a dessert brownie (but that’s because I didn’t use any sweetener). So if you’re into a sweeter bar, I’d suggest adding maple syrup, agave nectar, turbinado sugar, stevia, or whatever you prefer. Or maybe just toss in some chocolate chips and/or dried fruit as add-ins. Personally, I was fine with just the bananas to sweeten them up.
Work wasn’t so great. Like I alluded to above, I was very very busy. Head spinning, no time to breathe, crazy swamped with my poor unstable patients. At least they were all nice people. But my assignment load was too much, and I was still not feeling entirely healthy (I knew I should’ve called in sick!), and my neck and back were acting up (again), and…well, the list goes on and on…
Self-fulfilling prophecy. I went into the shift with the wrong mindset and I think I just let the day play out as such. Or maybe it was just a genuinely sh!tty day. These things happen. It’s normal. It’s allowed.
At one point I actually teared up, but (thank goodness) I held it together. I didn’t leave the unit until 8 pm. Normally such a delayed departure from the hospital doesn’t matter, but I had plans with my girlfriends. So that sucked. But in a way, it’s good that I was meeting up with them.
Rather than wallow in self-pity for the rest of the night, they cheered me right up and it was like the entire shift was erased as soon as I saw them.
We got WF take-away, went back to my apartment, and stayed up late doing our nail and having pillow fights talking about girly things. Funk over.
Do you find that when things don’t go your way, the rest of the day starts to steam roll in the same direction? Or do you actively try to reverse the negativity? I’m usually better at steering my day back on coarse, but this time I was overwhelmed. Self-fulfilling prophecies annoy me. I refuse to rig my future and set myself up to be disappointed.
I’m sorry you had a bad day at work, but I’m glad you cheered up! It’s definitely easy to harp on negativity and allow it to carry throughout the rest of your day, but lately I’ve been really trying to reverse the negativity with positive thoughts and a new outlook. It sounds easier said than done, but focusing on the good things of the day ususally gets me back on track 🙂 Your oat bars look delicious by the way!
Actively reverse? I am NOT that in control 🙂
But the bars look super healthy & yummy.
i have some SUPER ripe bananas that need usin’ up plus i LOVE peanut flour so i’m definitely bookmarking this recipe!!
i totally feel ya on the self-fulfilling prophecy thing – i’ve begun realizing more and more that EVERYTHING is about perspective, and one i start tunneling into negativity, everything just becomes worse/more negative. the most important thing for me is recognizing that negativity and telling myself that i am in control of whether or not i view things as positive/negative!
This recipe looks great. Secret: I have never baked before in my life. Ever. But I shall overcome my fear and give this recipe a go. I always worry about making my own baked goods because they never keep me going but these look like they’ll have some staying power due to the protein. Thanks so much for posting these: I am not the best of cooks but hopefully I’ll manage not to screw it up!
So sorry you had a bad day: I do find that the morning sets the tone for the rest of my day too, and it takes a lot of mental strength to turn things around. But when you’ve got all the pressure and craziness going on around you that you do, I don’t think many people would be able to maintain a positive attitude no matter what. Hope today is a better one!
xxx
That’s actually something that I struggle with. When I have a bad day at work, it’s very hard for me to turn it around at home. I think the Whole Foods hot bar might help though. Must try that next time!
Ive been following you for months now (stalker, i know, hehe!) but have never commented – just to say, i love your blog and everything you eat, and create always looks so delicious!
x
The oatmeal bars look wonderful, great snack for a busy day. Sorry your work has been crazy, same story with my nurse mom too here – what’s going on in hospitals lately? Yes, when stress throws me into a funk, it’s hard to snap out of it.
This is such an awesome post, becuase it is so honest and forthright and introspective and considered. i agree that sometimes you can wake up and have a bad day because you think yourself into it, but i also agree that it is possible to turn it around completely! 😀 which is the better option <3 but like you said, some days are just like that – and it's allowed, and it happens. but how lovely that you were able to leave work behind you and hang out with your girlfriends…what a lovely and healing way to end a crazy tough day! i'm sorry work was so stressful, and hope the week ahead brings more positive, calm workdays! xyx
this spot-on described my saturday work…i was in a funk, not in the mood to work, and the day just plain blew. friday was like that, too, so i think it just carried over to saturday, puting me in that funk, and it snowballed. (both days ->tears.) was so nice to get outta there! but i sat on the couch and went to bed early instead of gf time. that wouldve been so nice! but time alone sometimes is alright, just to re-center and adjust my attitude. thanks for the reminder to change my thinking 🙂 we all could likely do that once in awhile when work gets so outta control.
I LOVE peanut flour! I’ve been putting it on everything lately – especially cereal, And these bars look perfect – I’ve been looking for a bar without sugar to make. Just fyi – the people who made TJ’s peanut flour are still in business and still make peanut flour! It’s called Protein Plus Peanut Flour and you can order it from a bunch of different places: http://proteinplusflour.com/
I attempted this recipe and it came out all gooey, even after I left it in the oven for 10 more minutes… I’m gonna take a stab and guess that peanut flour is not the same as almond meal 🙂
Haha, still tastes good though, even if not the same texture!! So thanks 😀
definitely not the same as almond meal. weird that it was that different though! peanut flour is super absorbent. ive never baked with almond meal before. is it like flax meal?
I made this over the weekend. Since I don’t have any peanut flour, I subbed 1/2 chickpea flour and 1/2 brown rice flour. It turned out really well! It wasn’t soggy at all. I love this recipe and will be making it again!
yeah!! glad you liked it 🙂
I love these bars, I’ve made them a bunch of times now and I can’t get enough. I’ve also used quinoa flakes instead of oats and they’re brilliant!
Are there any substitutions I can use for peanut flour?
its hard to say since it will completely alter the recipe…you could try thinning out peanut butter with soy or almond milk and increasing the oats but youll have to make a judgement call about getting the right texture. you could also try coconut flour, but this will also change the bars significantly. i cant promise any of these will work.
ps you can buy peanut flour online.