Banana Chocolate Chip Oat Bars

I knew I had to post this recipe when Naomi asked for seconds, and then thirds of these oat bars. Naomi is my pickier eater, the one who won't finish even her chocolate cupcake because she's full or not in the mood to eat any more. Yet this afternoon, and after already eating a bowl of applesauce, she liked the bars so much that she wanted thirds.

I found the original recipe here, but I modified it by cutting it in half and making it gluten-free, dairy-free, and peanut-free. If you can eat wheat, yogurt, or peanut butter, check out the original recipe, but remember when substituting that I halved the recipe to make just an 8"x8" pan of bars.

Banana Chocolate Chip Oat Bars
makes 12 bars

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup and 2 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour mix
• 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
• 3/4 cup gluten-free crispy brown rice cereal. I use Erewhon brand.
  
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup ripe mashed banana (about 2 small bananas or 1 1/2 medium)
  
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. almond milk
  
• 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed meal. I use Bob's Red Mill brand.
  
• 2 Tbsp. sunflower seed butter
  
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/2 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. I recommend Ghirardelli, Trader Joe's, or Enjoy Life brand.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8"x8" Pyrex pan with aluminum foil. Lightly grease the foil with canola oil.

In a medium bowl sift the flour through a sieve. Add the oats, crispy rice cereal, sea salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and stir to combine. Mash the banana with a fork or using a food chopper. In a small bowl add the mashed banana, honey, almond milk, flax seed meal, sunflower seed butter, and vanilla extract. Stir thoroughly; then pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges are brown. Let the bars cool completely, at least 1 hour or more, before cutting them into squares. Once cool they will be much easier to cut and will have nicer edges.