Gluten-Free Recipe of the Week #6: Banana Bread Protein Bars

If you’ve read my Monthly Meal Plan posts, you know I like to experiment with new recipes. Sometimes these experiments work out really well…and sometimes they don’t. Whenever I modify a recipe, I take lots of notes so that I can recreate it in the future if it turns out well.

For my reference and yours, I’ve decided to post my recipe experiments on this blog. I plan to post at least one recipe per week. I will include a link to the original recipe as well as allergen/special diet information, notes about my changes and lessons learned, pictures from various stages of cooking, and my overall impression of the dish. Most recipes will be main dishes, but I may also include desserts or snacks as well.  

Leave a comment below if you think there’s a recipe I might like to try for a future post!

This week’s recipe is Oh She Glows’
Banana Bread Protein Bars

*Please click HERE for a printable copy of this recipe*

Information for Top 8 Allergens

• Contains:
  • TREE NUTS (substitutions available)
  • PEANUTS (substitutions available)
• Free From:
  • Dairy
  • Egg
  • Gluten (as long as you use GF oats/oat flour)
  • Fish
  • Crustacean Shellfish
  • Soy (check labels)

Notes

• I found this recipe because I noticed these sad things in my kitchen and knew immediate action needed to be taken:

• I did not plan to make this recipe this week, but I happened to have all the ingredients (with a few substitutions—see below). Depending on how you stock your pantry, you may need to purchase additional ingredients:

Dry Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

• I highly recommend following the original recipe’s advice about lining the baking pan with parchment paper. I used coconut oil spray to help the parchment paper stick to the pan. Use whatever spray (olive, canola, coconut oil) you happen to have on hand.

• I also recommend following the advice to use parchment paper to press the batter into the pan. Wax paper also works for this step. It was quick and mess-free!

Substitutions

• I didn’t have a few of the ingredients, but I was easily able to substitute:
  • ½ cup GF oat flour in place of buckwheat groats
  • ¼ cup agave nectar in place of coconut nectar syrup/brown rice syrup
• You could use sunflower/pumpkin seeds (nut-free) or almonds/pecans in place of walnuts
• You could use sun butter (nut-free) or almond butter in place of the peanut butter
• The comments section in the original recipe post has some additional substitutions for added protein

Additional Meal Components

Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea!

Verdict

Winner!!! These bars are so yummy, and they keep well on the counter (no fridge space needed!). They are soft (like the texture of a fudgy brownie), so they are very satisfying to eat. These bars were excellent for breakfast (especially hectic mornings!), quick pre- or post-workout snacks, or even dessert. The recipe was fast and easy, no special appliances were needed, and I had all the ingredients already. I whipped this up during nap time, but it would be a great recipe to make with kids. My three year-old son absolutely loved these bars, and our family ate the whole batch in less than 48 hours!