It's So Good You Could Eat It For Breakfast, Cookie. (and it's gluten-free!)

Preheat oven to 325.

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas
1/4 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. oil
1 t. GF vanilla
1 T. raw honey
3 T. brown sugar
2 T. ground flax seed mixed in 6 T. water OR 2 eggs
_____________________________________________In a mixer, combine all is mixed well.

In a separate bowl combine

1 1/2 c. GF rolled oats
1 c. coconut flakes
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. all-spice
1/4 c. almond flour or other GF flour
1/2 c. almonds, chopped
1 c. dried fruit, I used apricots, chopped
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds, chopped
1/4 t. baking soda

Stir to combine and then add to the wet mixture.  Mix until it is all incorporated.  Drop by the Tablespoon full onto a cookie sheet. I sprinkled pink and blue sprinkles on top just for fun :)  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove and cool on a wire rack.  Store in refrigerator.

These cookies are healthy enough to eat for breakfast, but still sweet enough you feel like you are getting a treat! So bake some up and serve cookies for breakfast!  Your kids will thank you.

Cranberry-Oatmeal Bars

Yield: 24 servings (serving size: 1 square)

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 4.5  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 1  cup  quick-cooking oats
• 1/2  cup  packed brown sugar
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 6  tablespoons  butter, melted
• 3  tablespoons  orange juice
• Cooking spray
• Filling:
• 1 1/3  cups  dried cranberries (about 6 ounces)
• 3/4  cup  sour cream (I substituted with greek yogurt)
• 1/2  cup  granulated sugar
• 2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1/2  teaspoon  grated orange rind
• 1  large egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. To prepare crust, weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through cinnamon) in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Drizzle butter and juice over flour mixture, stirring until moistened (mixture will be crumbly). Reserve 1/2 cup oat mixture. Press remaining oat mixture into the bottom of an 11 x 7–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. To prepare filling, combine cranberries, sour cream, granulated sugar, and remaining ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well. Spread cranberry mixture over prepared crust; sprinkle reserved oat mixture evenly over filling. Bake at 325° for 40 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Cherry-Oatmeal Bars: Substitute dried cherries for the dried cranberries and lemon rind for the orange rind in filling.

CALORIES 135 (31% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 2.6g, mono 0.8g, poly 0.2g); PROTEIN 1.7g; CARB 21.5g; FIBER 1.3g; CHOL 13mg; IRON 0.7mg; SODIUM 68mg; CALC 27mg

Maple-Date-Oatmeal Bars: Substitute chopped pitted dates for the dried cranberries. Omit granulated sugar from filling, and add 2 tablespoons maple syrup and 2 tablespoons brown sugar.

CALORIES 124 (33% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 2.6g, mono 0.8g, poly 0.2g); PROTEIN 1.7g; CARB 19.8g; FIBER 1.1g; CHOL 13mg; IRON 0.7mg; SODIUM 68mg; CALC 26mg

Nutritional Information

Calories:

133 (31% from fat)

Fat:

4.6g (sat 2.6g,mono 0.8g,poly 0.2g)

Protein:

1.5g

Carbohydrate:

21.9g

Fiber:

0.9g

Cholesterol:

13mg

Iron:

0.6mg

Sodium:

67mg

Calcium:

20mg

Recipe By: Cooking Light Magazine

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Energy Bars

Recipe courtesy Dana Angelo White

Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

1 hr 0 min

Cook Time:

5 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

14 bars

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup or molasses
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups crisp brown rice cereal
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (I didn't have this so I used ground flax seed, worked great!)
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/2 cup chopped dried figs
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Spray a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine honey, peanut butter, maple syrup, canola oil, brown sugar, cinnamon. Stir and cook until mixture just begins to bubble, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

In a large bowl, combine oats, rice cereal, wheat germ, peanuts, apricots, figs and salt.

Pour peanut butter mixture over oatmeal mixture and stir gently with a spatula until well combined. Transfer to baking dish, cover with parchment paper and press firmly into dish. Allow to cool completely (will cool faster in the refrigerator). Cut into squares or bars.

Nutrition analysis per serving:

Calories: 240

Total fat: 10g

Saturated fat: 1.5g

Carbohydrate: 30g

Protein: 6g

Sodium: 70mg

posted by: Tracy Lytle