Make or Bake

A few months ago the teachers at my son’s preschool asked us to send him with more snacks. Apparently he liked to go around and take food from his friends. The kid can eat! I of course want his snacks to be at least reasonably healthy and preferably homemade. These sugar free smoothie bars fit the bill!

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked carrots
• 1 banana, cut into large chunks
• 1 apple, roughly chopped
• 1 14.5 ounce can of pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice seasoning (optional, recipe follows)
• 2 tbs honey

Pumpkin spice seasoning

• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Blend the carrots, banana, yogurt and apples in the blender until smooth
3. Pour blender contents into a large bowl. Add the pumpkin puree, honey, and salt. Mix well
4. Into the same bowl, add the flours, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon (if using). Gently fold into the wet batter with a rubber spatula or large spoon, being careful not to over mix
5. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Be careful not to over mix
6. Pour into a greased 9×12 pan
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean
8. Let cool completely before cutting

Mix-in and substitution ideas

• Chia seeds (1 tbs added to the wet ingredients)
• Ground flax meal (up to 1/3 cup added to the dry ingredients)
• Replace yogurt with milk (1:1 ratio) for a lighter texture
• Replace pumpkin puree with sweet potato puree
• Vanilla extra (up to 1 tsp) for added fall flavor

Pro tips

• This is a gooey bar recipe – be sure not to over bake the bars. You’ll know it’s starting to over bake if the edges become brown. They will firm up as they cool.
• If the pumpkin spice seasoning is too much for your taste, feel free to replace with 1/2 tsp of cinnamon or omit entirely