peanut butter

5 from 4 votes

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Healthy Breakfast Bars (Vegan)

A combination of oats and sweet potato that is a yummy, vegan, and healthy way to start the day. 

Course Breakfast

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup spelt puffs
• 1/4 cup ground chia seeds
• 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 cup sweet potato puree
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup nut butter
• 1/4 cup melted chocolate optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper.

2. In a medium sized pot on low heat add the nut butter and maple syrup to soften and melt. 

3. Once the nut butter has become a little runny and thin, add the sweet potato puree and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

4. Stir in all the remaining ingredients (except chocolate) and using a wooden spoon combine until ingredients are roughly evenly distributed. It will be a very dry and sticky texture.

5. Pour the mixture into a prepared pan and press down evenly to cover the whole pan with about 3/4" thick mixture. Use a masher if you can't get the surface to be even. 

6. Bake for 15 minutes then remove from oven and cool before slicing. 

7. If desired, drizzle melted chocolate on top for an extra treat! 

What is a morning person??

Breakfast is apparently the most important meal of the day, yet I find it SO tricky to actually sit down and have a nourishing breakfast during the week. I don’t know what you’re like in the mornings, but even if the sun is shining directly into my eyes I have the hardest time waking up. I’ve tried allllll sorts of methods.

I’ve tried setting my alarm on my phone and put it halfway across the room so I have to physically get up and out of bed to turn it off.

I’ve tried laying out my yoga mat and clothes the night before so I can hop onto my mat first thing.

I’ve tried so many things but nothing seems to get me out the door on time! Does anyone out there have any tips and tricks for me?

The secret to a healthy start

The worst part about being a slow-mover in the morning is that is means compromising a healthy breakfast. More often than not I end up eating a banana at my desk or having a sad mug of porridge heated up in the microwave. This is no way to live!

Luckily I have found that if I prepare my breakfast in advance (ie overnight oats or bars) then I am guaranteed to have a healthy breakfast every day! Except for when I forget it in the fridge/on the counter which happens now and again….but hey at least I’m making an effort here.

These breakfast bars are like a crossover between a granola bar, a bowl of oatmeal, and what the Irish/Brits refer to as a flapjack. (attention Americans: flapjack does not mean pancake over here. Actually pancake doesn’t even mean pancake over here, it means crepe))

A base of oats, seeds, and spelt puffs comes together with a cup of sweet potato and just a bit of maple syrup. These bars just need a few minutes in the oven to firm together but they remain chewy and don’t harden – reminiscent of those Chewy bars everyone seemed to have in their middle school lunch boxes. How good were those bad boys.

A flexible breakfast bar

The key to this recipe is the oats and the sweet potato that makes it all stick together. Sweet potato is a great food to start the day with as it’s high in B Vitamins which are linked to increased energy levels, and Vitamin A which is linked to healthy skin and eyes!

In terms of the additives, I’ve included spelt puffs, pumpkin seeds, and ground chia seeds because that’s what I had on hand. However, if you’re more of an almonds and millet man, or a pistachios and cranberries kind of gal, throw those in instead. This recipe is highly customizable and is hard to make unhealthy if you stick to the sweet potato base.