Banana Bread Breakfast Bars

Book update:  I started “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn which is supposed to be a huge hit, but even set in good, ol’ Missouri it isn’t doing anything for me.  I’m only on page 20 though and I’m sick with a cold, so maybe I’m just irritable because of the sinus headache.  I should have known – I get a cold EVERY year for the past three years right before auditions.  This year we are doing “Oklahoma.”

This week in Positive Psychology we are talking about subjective well-being.  Here is where a lot of my disagreements with the field probably shine through.  Not everyone can be an optimist – and not everyone should be.  I don’t want the FBI agent protecting some kid to believe “everything will turn out just fine.”  I want them to go through every bloody scenario that could possibly happen and try to plan for it.  One of the 14 Fundamentals to being happy per Dr. Michael Fordyce is lowering your expectations.  True… it might make you happier.  But, would that help our society as a whole?

Recipe: We LOVED these breakfast bars.  Cheap, easy to make and taste great.  I had all the stuff I needed for them in my pantry.  Most the breakfast bars I see have peanut butter in them.  I think peanut butter went up in price and we have been using gobs of it to make our own Trail Mix Granola Bars.  These breakfast bars, however, are baked so they stay together very well at room temperature.  I thought the brown sugar topping got a little soft after a couple days, but they were still VERY tasty right out of the oven and tasty several days later.  I’m excited to make these again using pureed pumpkin from a can with a little more cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, ginger and cloves.

Fast and easy snack or breakfast.

For followers, I have updated the Pumpkin Cake Pops tutorial and made some notes to the Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes recipe.

Banana Bread Breakfast Bars
yield 8 bars

1 ripe banana mashed (or 1/3 cup puree banana or puree pumpkin)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tb. honey
1 egg white
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. brown sugar + 1 tsp. brown sugar, divided
2 cups rolled oats
2 Tb. ground flaxseed (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 8×8 or 9×9 pan, or line a pan with nonstick foil.
2.  In a big bowl, mix:  mashed banana, applesauce, honey, egg white, cinnamon, vanilla, salt and 1 Tb. brown sugar.
3.  Add the oats and flaxseed.  Mix to combine.
4.  Press the mixture into the pan.  Sprinkle that 1 tsp. of brown sugar on top.  Truthfully, I just sprinkled some brown sugar on top to cover the bars with a light coat.  Use as much or as little as you like.
5.  Bake it for 30 minutes.
6.  Cool your bars and then cut.  Wrap in saran wrap or store in a sealed container.

Recipe from The Svelte Gourmet