Cinnamon Ginger Oat Bars

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

Ingredients 

• 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
• ¼ 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

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line a 13×9 baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the mashed banana, egg, maple syrup, honey, butter and vanilla.
3. Add the instant oats, ground oats, cinnamon, powdered ginger and salt, and mix well. Fold in the sweetened ginger pieces.
4. 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.
5. Sprinkle the maple sugar and cinnamon over the top of the bars and gently pat down into the dough.
6. 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.