No Meat Athlete Inspired Breakfast Bars

I landed on the No Meat Athlete website the other day and noticed the side bar with their most popular posts. Number one post is The Perfect Smoothie Formula and number two is The Ultimate Energy Bar Formula. Interesting, I have never seen a recipe called a formula, so I clicked to check it out. I actually love this idea of a formula rather than a recipe because it gives you so many different options. Almost every recipe I pick up, my instinct is to analyze what ingredients I can change out or add to the recipe. I guess it’s from years of kitchen experiments after following recipes to the letter when I first started cooking and baking.

I loved customizing this recipe using their formula with all of the great options. I did make a change from one of the base ingredients in the formula by using 1.5 cups of cooked millet instead of 1.5 cups of oats. I didn’t have any gluten free oats on hand and wanted to use up some cooked millet.

Check out these beauties, which would be lovely with some tea. I am planning to enjoy a breakfast bar tomorrow morning with a green smoothie to give me energy all morning until lunch time! Can’t wait.

When making bars, I always prefer to wrap them up individually and toss in the fridge or freezer. That way, I don’t need to eat before they get stale. These bars are vegan, gluten free, and dairy free. They are quite filling with their fiber rich secret ingredient of beans, hehe.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups cooked adzuki beans

1/4 cup ground flaxseed mixed with 1/4 cup water

1/4 cup agave syrup

1/4 cup mashed ripe banana (about a half banana)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

(First set of ingredients will be combined in food processor until smooth then add remaining ingredients and pulse)

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1.5 cups cooked millet (I used millet instead of oats from the base formula)

1/2 cup buckwheat

1/2 cup gluten free all purpose baking flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

1/4 cup water (if needed)

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life mini chips – allergen free)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Grease bottom and sides of 9 x 13 inch baking pan with coconut oil.

3. In a food processor, add beans, ground flaxseed and water, agave syrup, banana, cinnamon, and sea salt. Run food processor until ingredients are blended and smooth.

4. Add the millet, buckwheat, and flour then pulse until just mixed in. You don’t want to puree the batter from this point on.

5. Add 1/4 cup water if batter seems a bit too thick.

6. Fold in mini chocolate chips.

7. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.

8. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a knife inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 minutes. Check after 20 minutes.

9. Let cool completely in pan.

10. Cut into 8 or 12 bars.

11. Enjoy!!

These are great to individually wrap and throw in the freezer.

For the original formula along with suggested formula options, check out No Meat Athletes website. I know I’ll be back for more great tips!