Chocolate cherry breakfast bars

Gluten free, low in fat, can be made dairy free, are easy to prepare, both kiddies and adults alike eat them up, and they’re the perfect solution to all of those overripe bananas taking up prime ice cream real estate in the freezer. Is there nothing these soft and chewy breakfast bars can’t do? 

This recipe is adapted from the blog chocolate & zucchini, which adapted it from Nikki’s Healthy Cookies, adapted on Heidi’s 101 Cookbooks, so I’m not 100% sure what the recipe looked like to begin with, but I’ve done it up with variations including dark chocolate chunks with toasted almond, milk chocolate and pecan, and this version, with sour cherries and chocolate chips. Mix up a batch yourself as a litmus test then make adaptations of your own. Think of these as the Cold Stone Creamery of the breakfast bar world. The possibilities are endless. Let me know how it goes.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY BREAKFAST BARS

Ingredients:

4 medium very ripe bananas (defrosted from freezer so that they get all mushy, is ideal)

½ tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup smooth peanut butter

2 cups regular rolled oats (not steel cut or likewise long cooking)

1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

2/3 cup ground almonds

¼ tsp salt

½ cup chocolate chips

¼ cup dried sour cherries

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a medium sized baking dish with vegetable oil.

To a bowl add bananas and mash thoroughly. Add vanilla and peanut butter and stir to combine. Add rolled oats, ground almonds, salt, chocolate and cherries. Stir well, then pour into prepared baking dish and evenly smooth top. Bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes. Let cool then cut into handy bars.