Better 4 U Banana Nut Bars

There just ain’t enough time in the day. Amiright? So being able to whip up a healthy snack you can munch on all week long is fab. And these dairy free, gluten free banana nut bars really fit the bill. 

So, I don’t know about y’all but every morning I wake up with 57 things in my head that I want to try and get done that day. I’m lucky if I get to a handful of them.

And those beautiful little babies of mine are giant time suckers. I joke that two-thirds of my day is spent making them food, feeding them food, or cleaning up their food. Honestly, that might not be a joke but in fact pretty accurate. 

Thank goddddd for nap time. For the mamas that have littles that refuse a nap my heart goes out to you. I like to play a little game of “how much can I get done during nap time”. It’s fun. Depending on the day it’s usually a little exercise, maybe a little cleaning, and a lot of meal prep. 

And I work 10 hour shifts Tuesday through Thursday so on Sundays and Mondays I really try and get most of my cooking done for the week. I chop up veggies for dinner, wash all my fruit, prep smoothie bags, make 3 of the same exact salads for my lunches, and often make some sort of snack to eat all week long.

So as I have mentioned in an earlier post I like to make a lot of my own food. A perfect example of this is granola bars. Store bought granola bars can have a lot of extra crap; sugar, preservatives, etc. And when you make your own you can customize them to be what you want. Maybe you are gluten free, dairy free, vegan, nut free, whatever free, these Banana Nut Bars can be customized to fit your diet. These banana nut bars are delicious, healthy, easy, and best of all can be eaten with one hand. 

Because that’s how most your meals are eaten when you’re a busy Mom.

 

Better 4 U Banana Nut Bars:

Ingredients: 

• 2 ripe bananas mashed
• 1 cup rolled oats (gluten free for GF)
• ½ cup pre rinsed quinoa 
• ⅓ cup raisins (or any dried fruit)
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• ¼ cup almonds
• ¼ cup chopped pecans
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ cup nut butter 
• 2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
• ½ tsp vanilla extract 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 deg. Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper and cooking spray. 

Mix together mashed bananas, oats, quinoa, raisins, chia seeds, almonds, pecans, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. 

In a microwave safe dish add nut butter (I use peanut butter) and microwave 20-30 seconds until runny. Stir in maple syrup and vanilla. Add peanut butter mixture to dry mixture and stir until combined. 

Press mixture into the baking dish. I like to press a couple raisins, almonds, and pecans onto the top (because it looks pretty).

Bake for 25 minutes until edges begin to turn golden brown. Remove and let cool in the pan. Remove and cut into 9 squares. These can keep covered on the counter for a few days but I like to wrap tightly and store in the fridge. Enjoy throughout the week!

-Monica