Mirror Friendly Apple Oat Bars

If there is a fruit I love baking with it has to be apples, and living in Canada I get to be spoiled especially during apple peak season in fall.

I am fortunate enough to have some friends who own a farm and I was up one weekend and picked a whole lot of apples. His apples are amazing. He has a ton of variety and they are all natural – no pesticides sprayed here! I love having organic apples picked fresh right off the tree. They taste so much better than the ones you get in the supermarket which are picked prior to reaching their peak.

With all the apples I had on hand I decided to do some baking…

Enter the Mirror Friendly Apple Oat Bars…

One of my absolute favourite apple recipes is apple oat bars. These bars are full of healthy goodness, containing ingredients such as oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, apples, and nut butter (I also added protein powder). Since they contain some good healthy fats, carbohydrates and protein, they help satisfy your hunger and make the perfect grab and go snack or breakfast option (reduce your portion size if you plan on using them as a snack).

The following ingredients were used to make 16 oat bars:

– 3 large apples, skin on, cored and diced into small 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) cubes

– 3/4 cup rolled oats (70g)

– 3/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut (70g)

– 3/4 cup sunflower seeds (100g)

– 3/4 cup pumpkin seeds (100g)

– 1 scoop whey protein powder (30g)

– 1/2 cup nut or seed butter (110g) (Note: I typically use sunflower butter, but you can use cashew butter, peanut butter, almond butter, etc.)

Step by step instructions in preparing the oat bars:

1) Preheat oven to 135 degrees celsius (275 fahrenheit)

2) Spread apples on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for about 1 hour 30 minutes or until apples have achieved the consistency of raisins. Let cool.

3) In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and protein powder. Set aside. Add nut/seed butter to oat mixture and work thoroughly together with hands until well combined and mixture holds its shape when squeezed. Mix in dried apples.

4) Line a 20 x 28 cm (8 X 11 inch) baking dish with parchment paper and fill with apple mixture pressing firmly to compact.

5) Refrigerate for 1 hour, remove from baking dish and slice into 16 pieces (or so depending on your preferred bar size). Wrap each piece with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Note: You can also add in some variation. For example, you can add 2 tablespoons cinnamon and orange zest, or 3/4 cup (130g) dark chocolate chips, or a 1/3 cup (50g) of sesame, flax or hemp seeds for extra crunch and essential fatty acids.

Bon appetit!

The nutritional values for 1 Mirror Friendly Apple Oat bar is as follows:

Calories: 97 kcal

Protein: 4.6g

Carbohydrates: 10.5g

 of which sugar: 4.5g 

 of which fibre: 3g

Fats: 4g (Note: no trans fats in here)

Let me know if you make them. I promise you that you won’t be disappointed in the results if you do. I personally recommend you make a double batch because they’ll be gone in no time. I typically freeze some of mine to extend their “shelf life”.

To fitness with love,

Tanya