Peanut Butter and Honey Oatmeal Bites

Happy hump day! I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Easter weekend. I certainly did! Now it’s back to the home stretch for this semester – it seems like everything is suddenly due and exams aren’t too far off. But soon it will be May and the semester will be over and maybe it will finally feel like summer! Just need the rest of the snow to melt away…

I made these little bites last week, because I’m always looking for little sweet-tooth snacks that are still clean and healthy. Plus, I had all the ingredients, so I could whip them up no problem! And no baking required, so they can be enjoyed almost immediately 🙂 I also liked that they didn’t require the food processor, so I could just mix everything together, roll into balls, and be good to go. They have an awesome peanut butter and honey flavor, and the oats give them a nice chewy texture. Definitely refrigerate them for a bit before digging in; it will help them stick together better so they won’t crumble when you bite into them (speaking from experience – I’m impatient). I got rave reviews about them at Easter, so I hope you like them as much as I do!!

 

• Servings: 20 bites
• Print

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oats (I used quick, but I think any would work)
• 2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed meal
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp mini chocolate chips (I chopped up dark chocolate baking chips)

Directions:

1.) Mix everything together in a large bowl. Roll into small balls with your hands. You may have to keep wetting your hands so the dough doesn’t stick to them!

2.) Refrigerate bites for about an hour to harden them. Store in a container in the fridge and enjoy!

Nutrition Info (Per bite, from My Fitness Pal):

Calories 103

Fat 6 g (2 g saturated)

Fiber 2 g

Carbs 10 g

Sugars 5 g

Protein 3 g

Banana and Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Happy March! Spring is on its way (although we did get 3 inches of snow last night.) But I’m hopeful! Only 2 weeks until I will be down South and away from the snow…I can’t wait!

I also just finished all 12 weeks of the Amanda Adams Bikini Body program (which I raved about here). I loved how the workouts were broken down into 3 phases, 4 weeks each, because you never get bored. I’m now starting back at Phase 1 to go through it for another 12 weeks. Looking forward to seeing even more progress, as well as focusing on my nutrition more this time around. The Facebook support group for the program is the absolute best; it’s so nice to have a support group of fit and fabulous women right at my fingertips!

So now for the best part of this post…COOOOOKIES. Who doesn’t love cookies?? Unfortunately, I try to stay away from them most of the time because 2 cookies often turns into 4 which turns into a dozen which turns into a day full of  stomach aches and regret. Why can’t apples taste like Oreos?

Luckily, there can be such a thing as a healthy, clean cookie. This recipe packs in a healthy dose of fruit, has only 4 ingredients, and each cookie is only 73 calories! They are so yummy, especially warm, and I can’t wait to make another batch. You can also play around with the additional ingredients; try adding nuts, raisins, etc. Enjoy!

• Servings: 10 cookies
• Print

Adapted from: Skinnytaste

Ingredients:

• 2 small ripe bananas, mashed (make sure they’re ripe!)
• 1 cup dry quick oats
• 1 tbsp nut butter
• 2 tbsp chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Chips)

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

2.) Mash the bananas in a small bowl. Add the oats, nut butter, and chocolate chips and mix together well.

3.) Roll the dough into small balls (makes about 10 cookies). Bake for 15 minutes. Enjoy warm!

Nutrition Info (Per cookie, from My Fitness Pal):

Calories 73

Fat 3 g (1 g saturated)

Fiber 2 g

Carbs 12 g

Sugars 4 g

Protein 2 g

Berry Oatmeal Bake

I’ve been trying to switch up my usual breakfast of toast with banana and peanut butter, so when I had a second snow day (this week!) on Tuesday, I decided to make this oatmeal bake I had seen on Instagram. It was super easy and made 6 servings, so breakfast for the week is ready! Each morning I just heated a slice and poured a tablespoon of maple syrup on top…delicious! And there are so many ways you can mix this up; I’m picturing peanut butter and banana, blueberries and strawberries…yum!

• Servings: 6
• Print

Adapted from: Broke and Bougie

Ingredients:

• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup 100% pure maple syrup (the good stuff, not Aunt Jemima’s corn syrupy concoction!)
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup raspberries (I used frozen and just thawed them in the microwave)
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped
• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 banana, cut into slices

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, syrup, cinnamon, baking powder, walnuts, and 1/2 cup raspberries.

2.) In a separate bowl, mix together the egg, milk, and vanilla extract.

3.) Spray a glass baking dish or brownie pan with cooking spray and spread the oat mixture evenly. Pour the egg mixture over the top and shake a little to settle it evenly. Top with remaining raspberries, banana slices, and a little cinnamon and bake for 35-40 minutes. Serve each slice warm with a tablespoon of maple syrup, if desired, and enjoy!

Nutrition Info (Per serving, without syrup on top, from My Fitness Pal):

Calories 351

Fat 16 g (2 g saturated)

Fiber 7 g

Carbs 47 g

Sugars 23 g

Protein 8 g

Paleo Coconut Cream Carrot Cake Bars

My 30 days of paleo is almost coming to an end! So before I finished I wanted to make another paleo treat, since the chocolate and coconut bites I made a couple weeks ago were delicious (but sadly gone). I had pinned this recipe and decided to replicate it over the weekend. I followed the recipe exactly, except that I decided to make them in my Pampered Chef brownie pan rather than a pie pan so I wouldn’t have to cut it (I’m lazy). So basically they are mini bars! They are also seriously delicious; the crust tastes just like carrot cake and the coconut cream layer has sort of an ice-creamy texture. And no baking required! I put all of the bars in a Tupperware and left them in the freezer, so I just take one out when I want a sweet treat! Each bar is relatively high in calories, but this is mostly from the nuts and coconut milk (good source of fat!) They are also pretty filling, so you certainly won’t need more than one! You could also cut the bars in half for a lower-calorie treat. Enjoy!

 

Coconut Cream Carrot Cake Bars

• Servings: 10
• Print

Adapted from: The Diva Dish

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 3/4 cup shredded carrot (squeeze all the liquid/water out with a paper towel)
• 6 pitted Medjool dates
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut

For the filling:

• 1 1/2 cup soaked cashews (soaked in water for about an hour and then drained)
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup canned coconut milk (make sure you mix the milk in the can before measuring out the milk)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup

Directions:

1.) Combine all crust ingredients in a food processor until all ingredients are fine and stick together when pressed down. Grease a pie pan or brownie pan with coconut oil spray, then press crust into pan with fingers until packed down.

2.) Combine all filling ingredients into a food processor. Blend until creamy and there are no lumps. Pour on top of prepared crust.

3.) Place in freezer for a few hours to set. Once it sets, remove the bars from the pan with a spatula (unfortunately they didn’t slide right out, but weren’t too hard to remove!) Put bars in a storage container and keep in the fridge or in the freezer for longer storage.

Nutrition Info (Per bar, from My Fitness Pal):

Calories 392

Fat 30 g (14 g saturated)

Fiber 3 g

Carbs 31 g

Sugars 26 g

Protein 6 g