CLEAN SNACK: HOMEMADE OAT BARS

Woohoo first healthy and clean snack recipe on the blog. And oh my this is gooood! So I think we all know the hardest struggle of a diet is cutting out the sweets and skipping the snacks, right? If there is one thing I’ve learnt now it is that healthy snacks can be delicious too!! The key is to make them yourself, to be sure they are clean and don’t have extra’s you don’t need! Two weeks ago I made delicious clean brownies (if you like I can do an post about them too) and now it’s time for some oatbars! These bars are perfect when you need a snack that is not too sweet, but gives you the right amount of energy in between meals. And the perfect thing is that there are only three ingredients needed to start with: oats, nuts and bananas! You can add whatever you like! I included dates for sweetness and shredded coconut because coconut and bananas are just the best combination ever! Enough talking, because you just have to try them by making them yourself too!

I used:
✚  90 grams of oats
✚  70 grams of dates
✚  50 grams of healthy unsalted nuts (walnuts & almonds)
✚  2 mid-sized bananas
✚  10 grams of shredded coconut (optional!)
✚  baking pan

I did:
✚  Preheat the oven on 180° degrees.
✚  Mix the oats, rough-chopped nuts and dates in a bowl.
✚  Mash the bananas until there are no large chunks left and it’s a smooth substance.
✚  Mix the mashed bananas into the bowl with the oats, nuts and dates and stir thoroughly until it’s a nice and thick mixture (like on the spoon in photos above).
✚ Pour the mixture in a cake pan covered with baking paper and use a spoon to spread it evenly using a lot of pressure to make it all stick together. If you don’t do this, they might fall apart when you cut them.
✚ Now it’s time to sprinkle them (or not sprinkle them) with whatever you like. I used shredded coconut and some wallnuts, but that’s all up to you!
✚ Place the cake pan in the preheated oven and leave it there for around 30 minutes (ready when the corners get crispy and the top golden brown).
✚ Let it cool down 10-15 minutes before you cut them into bars. Let them cool again – I know it’s hard and you just want to eat them all – but you just have to wait so they can get cold and crunchy.
✚ Ready, set.. eat!!

I really hope you like them just as much as I do! The hint of sweetness from the dates and the crunchy-ness from the nuts, yumm! But you can substitute some of the ingredients to your own likings. As long as you leave the oats and the bananas in! I would really love to know it if you made these yourself! Curious about your creations!