In the past few months, this has become my absolute favourite for before a long or hard run – and a favourite of a number of clients also! I mean, Power Cookies will always be a favourite pre-workout snack, but I created these bars because I wanted a VERY easy to digest bar (low fibre / protein / fat, such as no added seeds or nuts or nut butter at all) and I also wanted it to be much higher in carbohydrates. We need to consume at least 1 g carb per kg bodyweight before an intense, hard or long workout and sometimes it can be hard to actually find a way to get enough carbs into us easily. This bar really helps solve that problem. Whereas one Power Cookie offers 18 grams carb, one of these bars offers a whopping 55 grams carb! And it works – I easily ate 2 full bars (total of 110 grams carbohydrate) before running my fastest 100 mile race to date 🙂
Makes 12 bars
IngredientsÂ
- 1 cup mashed banana – about 2 very ripe large bananas
- 1 egg, beaten (or 1 Tbsp chia seeds whisked together with 3 Tbsp unsweetened almond or coconut milk and let sit until gelled)
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ÂĽ cup honey
- ½ cup grass-fed butter, melted (or coconut oil)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cup instant oats
- 2 cups ground rolled oats (oat flour)
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp powdered ginger
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 200 g (1 cup) uncrystalized sweetened ginger (or candied ginger), diced
- 2 Tbsp maple sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Directions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Line a 13×9 baking dish with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat together the mashed banana, egg, maple syrup, honey, butter and vanilla.
- Add the instant oats, ground oats, cinnamon, powdered ginger and salt, and mix well. Fold in the sweetened ginger pieces.
- Pour the batter into the lined baking dish and using another piece of parchment paper to cover the top, press flat. Discard that top piece of parchment paper.
- Sprinkle the maple sugar and cinnamon over the top of the bars and gently pat down into the dough.
- Bake 30 minutes. These bars freeze very well.
Per serving (1 bar): 55 g carbohydrates; 5 g protein; 12 g fat; 72 mg sodium
To deliciously healthy food and stronger faster running… Cheers,
Sarah Cuff, R.H.N.