Peanut Butter, Banana, & Cranberry Bars

 

I must confess, I’ve been attempting to bake something delicious with buckwheat flour for a while now without any success. My buckwheat pancakes turned out gooey no matter how long I cooked them, my cookies had a strange off-flavor, and all previous attempts at a buckwheat bar failed to hold up once out of the pan. I was about to throw in the towel and declare all the “successful” buckwheat flour bloggers out there liars. But I couldn’t stand the idea of having so many consecutive failed recipes, so I gave it one more shot. I knew what what one ingredient above all others could guarantee a delicious treat: peanut butter! Peanut butter is my go-to when beefing up a recipe (which reminds me how delicious peanut butter is on a burger…seriously). Thus the peanut butter, banana, and cranberry bar was created! This recipe is even featured on Reader’s Digest website on a slideshow for low sugar energy bars (kind of a big deal).

 

Buckwheat flour is a great gluten-free flour option for people who can’t eat wheat. Interestingly enough, buckwheat is neither a form of wheat nor a grain; it’s a seed.  The flour is commonly used in pancakes and muffins as a substitute for white flour. But you can eat the whole kernel, called groats, just like oatmeal. Toasted groats are called kasha and used in soups and stews. My favorite buckwheat form is as soba noodles; they taste great cold with a little sesame oil!

 

So, if you’re looking for a bar that’s full of good-for-you ingredients like oats, chia seeds, bananas, cranberries, and high-protein Greek yogurt, but don’t won’t all the sugar of a regular granola bar, then go make up a batch of these tasty treats.

 

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{Peanut Butter, Banana, & Cranberry Bars}

These soft bars are filled with energizing ingredients. They are gluten-free, oil-free, and refined sugar free. Grab one after a long workout, with some scrambled eggs for breakfast, or as a hearty between meal snack!

 

Servings: 12 bars

 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup buckwheat flour

2 tbsp chia seeds

1 cup dried cranberries

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp unrefined salt

2 medium overripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

1 egg

1/4 cup raw honey

1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

 

 

Directions

In a large bowl combine oats, buckwheat flour, chia seeds, cranberries, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together mashed bananas, egg, honey, yogurt, peanut butter, and vanilla until combined. Mix wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. Spread into a greased 9×9 pan (batter will be thick), and bake for 25 min at 350F, or until bars are fully set in the middle. Let cool completely, and cut into 12 squares.

 

 

Nutrition info per bar:  230 cal, 8 g fat, 36 g carb, 7 g protein, 5 g fiber; 4 g (1 tsp) added sugar per bar

 

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