Whenever my heart feels heavy, lost, or confused I tend to turn to the kitchen to distract myself. Seeking comfort in food isn’t as bad as those ridiculous diet magazines make it out to be. Food can bring us all together and make us pause to enjoy the simple pleasures in life. Sometimes, a big pot of chili and garlic bread, creamy avocado pasta, or warm walnut banana bread is just the thing we need in that moment. Other days, it’s a big kale salad or a juicy basket of strawberries and coconut cream. Monday night, I made pasta with homemade spaghetti sauce while we watched the news. I felt like a zombie as I cooked, but I knew we needed something to settle our bellies.
It’s been an emotional week to say the least. I find myself extra sensitive about everything, trying to make sense of all the loss in this world. I haven’t made any sense of it yet and there’s no feeling of progress made in my mind. Despite this heavy heart, I can’t help but be inspired by all the good out there. The selfless people helping in a time of need. The bravery and generosity going on is a beautiful thing to see. Sometimes I don’t always see the good, but it’s there. Love always prevails.
These banana bread bars were my solution to another comfort food craving yesterday. Think of them as soft, doughy granola bars filled with crunchy walnuts, omega-3 lovin’ chia seeds, and a sprinkling of dark chocolate chips. The wet batter is made up of spotty bananas, a generous scoop of protein-packed peanut butter, a splash of vanilla, and just a hint of sweetener to round it all out. I’ve been enjoying them around the clock, so it’s safe to say they work nicely as breakfast, snack, or even dessert. Your call.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Banana Bread Protein Bars
Yield
10 Bars
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
These banana bread bars were my solution to another comfort food craving yesterday. Think of them as soft, doughy granola bars filled with crunchy walnuts, omega-3 lovin’ chia seeds, and a sprinkling of dark chocolate chips. The wet batter is made up of spotty bananas, a generous scoop of protein-packed peanut butter, a splash of vanilla, and just a hint of sweetener to round it all out. I’ve been enjoying them around the clock, so it’s safe to say they work nicely as breakfast, snack, or even dessert. Your call.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2/3 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 1/2 cup raw buckwheat groats, ground into flour
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 3 tbsp chia seeds
- 3 tbsp mini dark chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life brand)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt
Wet Ingredients
- 3/4 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 small-medium)
- 1/2 cup natural smooth peanut butter
- 1/4 cup coconut nectar syrup (or brown rice syrup)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8-inch square pan with 2 pieces of parchment paper, one going each way. Tip – to get the parchment to stick to the pan, give the base a spray with olive oil and do this for the next paper too.
- Add raw buckwheat groats into a high-speed blender and blend on high until a fine flour forms. Whisk all dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
- Mash bananas until smooth and measure out 3/4 cups. Stir together the banana and all the wet ingredients in a bowl.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir well until combined. The dough should be very sticky!
- Scoop batter into prepared pan. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the batter and press it down to spread out the batter evenly. You can also remove the paper and wet your hands lightly and spread it out that way. Make sure it’s as even as possible.
- Bake at 350°F for 22-26 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the bread is firm to touch. Cool in the pan completely (I left it for 1 hour) before removing and slicing into bars.
Tip:
Raw buckwheat groats are not the same as kasha or toasted buckwheat. Raw groats have a milder flavour than toasted. You can find raw groats online, in some health food stores, or the bulk bins of Whole Foods. I buy mine in bulk from Upaya Naturals online. You might be able to substitute the ground buckwheat for oat flour, but I have not tried this myself. If anyone tries it, please leave a comment and report back.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Yum! Do you think they would turn out okay if I added some Vanilla Garden of Life protein powder?
Also, could you have a tutorial on cooking seitan for your next entry on transitioning to veganism. I’ve been vegan for years now, but I struggle with seitan even though I’ve been told it is super easy.
Thanks!
Made these yesterday. Turned out great. I used golden flax meal instead of buckwheat, agave instead of coconut nectar and almond instead of peanut butter. I made the changed because that is what I had on hand. I think the flax meal made the bars a little dry so next time I am going to use more bananas. Thanks for the recipe.
Didn’t have any buckwheat groats on hand so tried the recipe with the almond flour I needed to use up. Wasn’t expecting great results but turned out DELICIOUS! :)
Hi Angela–Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and feelings at the end of what was a really difficult week. Your words express what so many of us are experiencing. We all just have different ways of dealing with it. I, for one, think creating a recipe for yummy vegan banana bars is a pretty great coping mechanism. :)
I made these on Sunday and they turned out AWESOME! I ended up grinding up some gluten free oat flour in place of the groats (because I didn’t have any) and it didn’t seem to be an issue at all. Will definitely be making these again :D
I just wanted to let you know that I made these on Sunday and OMG they were delish!! Thank you so much, now I have a portable healthy breakfast!!
Love always prevails, isn’t that the truth? These banana bread bars look like such nutritious, tasty treats.
Made them tonight.
One word: delicious!!!!
I used pure maple syrop as a sweetener and spelt flour instead ground buckwheat.
These are going right on my new faves list!!!
This is a great receipe, have been on a 28 day challenge and was getting tired of the protein balls receipe that I had and it is like the “law of attraction” I found your one, so thanks for this can’t wait to get these made.
These are AMAZING!! I used oat flour (just threw the oats in my vitamix for a few minutes), agave nectar, and because I didn’t have natural peanut butter I used unsweetened Kraft PB and they were SO GOOD. Will definitely be making these again- great for breakfast, snack, dessert….
These were so easy to make and my kids loved them!
This looks like such a great recipe! And adding the Chia seed seems like such a great idea. I have heard so many good things about chia seed. I am definitely going to give this one a try! thanks!
Loved these bars! I used oat flour instead of the buckwheat, and I used maple syrup for the sweetener. They even meet the approval of my 7 year old :)
Tried this recipe last night…only 4 bars are left!!!
I baked these yesterday and they are absolutely amazing!
I used sultanas instead of chocolate chips and honey instead of the syrup, and they held together fantastically!
Thank you for such a delicious recipe!
I made these tonight and they are fabulous! It was easy to throw together too. I used oat flour and maple syrup as that is what I had on hand. Thanks for the great recipe!
This is the second recipe I’ve seen for banana bread protein bars! Such a great idea! I’ve been making my peanut butter choc protein balls for ages, so this is probably I sign I should mix things up a little ;) These look perfect for a morning snack.
I’ve been eating yucky protein bars lately so I’m super excited to try this recipe out. Will let you know what I think :)
Hello!
I made these last night and they were wonderful! Is there a place on your site to find the nutritional information for all your recipes?
I have a sensitivity to bananas – go figure. Anyway, what about using apple sauce in place of the bananas. These look so yummy!
Thanks = )