Clean Eating #48: Blueberry Almond Oats Protein Muffins, Bars or Cookies

Blueberry Almond Oats Protein Bars

These have a lot of ingredients, but they freeze well and they are honestly DELICIOUS.  Even Squatch, my picky boy, gobbled them up.  It would make a great lunchbox snack or a great bar to grab and go.  You can vary the ingredients to your taste.  Let me know how your experiments turn out!



I actually started with our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe for this one.  I ended up adding several things, and by the time it was all said and done had a VERY yummy cake like textured cookie, rather than a typical 'bar'.  However, they were so delicious, I think I'll still call this one a keeper!  They are very portable as muffins, and I did bake some in mini loaf tins, with a very shallow amount of batter and those turned out more "bar like" but wouldn't hold up the way a typical protein bar would.  My hubby took these to work with him this week and loved them.

Ingredients:



1 cup melted coconut oil
2 cups agave nectar
5 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups of whole wheat flour
2 cups blended oatmeal
1 cup plain old fashioned oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup wheat germ *optional
1 cup protein powder (I used French Vanilla)
1 cup chopped, blanched almonds
1/2 cup chopped blueberries (I used frozen berries, thawed and drained first)
1/2 cup chia seeds *optional




My mini loaf pan "protein bar"
Directions

Blend together wet ingredients, add dry ingredients and mix well.

Bake at 350 for... well depending on the form you use:

I actually preferred these in cookie form (rolled 1 inch balls and baked for about 8 minutes)

My hubby liked the 'bar' form because it was easy to grab and go (mini loaf pan for about 9-10 minutes)

The mini muffins... not so much.  I much preferred the loaf or cookie form. The muffins were too.. hard.



The kids ate them all, regardless, even the pan I burned.



What I'd do differently next time:

MORE BERRIES...  I would at LEAST double the berries.  Actually, since we're going on a little road trip today, I plan on making another batch to take with us... since all of my rotten children gobbled these all up in one day.  I might also try adding more protein powder.  I loved the nuttiness of the almonds and all the different crunchy textures, so I might add some more of this and that, too.  I'll let you know!



I'll also not bother with any muffins, and just make cookies and bars!



I will also try more varieties:

Cranberries and Almonds

Bananas and walnuts

strawberries and our berry protein powder

Raisins & leave more of the oats unblended



Any other ideas?