Cranberry Pumpkin Seed Cereal Bars
Serves: 6
Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a great weekend! I know many of you are experiencing some warmer temperatures again, so you have been able to get outside and run! It has warmed up here some, but it is still very cloudy! I am O.K with that because it doesn’t make me feel guilty about staying inside and relaxing! When it’s nice out I feel like I have to take advantage of it! Do you feel the same way?
As most of you know, New Jersey received some snow on Wednesday (about 3-4 inches). Luckily it melted quickly and didn’t do any damage! However, I have this sick love for Christmas and that snow just put me in the mood immediately! I wanted to run out to the store and buy a tree and start decorating! Luckily for the boyfriend they aren’t selling trees here yet (If anyone around here knows of a place, tell me ASAP please!) so he was spared from having to go out in a blizzard to buy a tree! But that didn’t stop me from going all red and green on you! I decided why not create a recipe that used those Christmas colors! These bars put a huge smile on my face when they came out of the oven and I saw how gorgeous and Christmas-like they looked! And that smile got 100 times bigger after I bit into one! ?
Fit Ingredients
- 1 3/4c (28g) Kamut Puffs (can sub any puffed cereal)
- 1/4c (25g) kamut flakes (can sub oats or quinoa flakes)
- 1/3c (25g) vanilla protein powder (use your favorite)
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1-2 tbs stevia, optional (depending on how sweet your protein is you may or may not need this)
- 1/2c (128g) liquid egg whites
- 1 1/2c (163g) whole cranberries (i used frozen)
- 1/4c + 2tbs (48g) pumpkin seeds
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- 11×7 inch baking pan
- parchment paper
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Direction
1. Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Line your baking pan with parchment paper.
3. In a bowl mix together your kamut puffs, kamut flakes, protein powder, baking powder and stevia (if using).
4. Add your egg whites to the bowl. Mix well.
5. Stir in your cranberries and pumpkin seeds.
6. Spread evenly in your baking pan.
7. Bake for ~40 minutes or until set.
8. Allow to cool before slicing.
These cereal bars are so versatile! You can sub in any fruit or seed you’d like! You can use dried cranberries in place of the fresh if you do not like the tart flavor of fresh cranberries, however this will impact the nutrition information.
So how did they turn out? Delicious! I did not use any stevia since I used a vanilla casein protein powder by ON that is already sweet. But the vanilla flavor combined with the tart cranberry and the crunch from the pumpkin seeds was delicious! Plus, they were great as a snack to take on the go! I ate 2 before my workout one day and they were the perfect combination of protein and carbs! They also freeze well too! I ate half and wrapped the other half individually in plastic wrap and then put them inside a ziploc bag for days when I need a quick snack to go! Especially with the craziness of the holiday’s upon us, it is great to have clean treats ready for days when we are short on time!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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Nutrition: (per 1 out of 6 bars)**
Calories: 118.0, Protein: 9.8g, Carbs: 10.9g, Fat: 3.9g (1g Saturated), Sodium: 72mg, Fiber: 3g (Net Carbs: 7.9g)
**These bars are fairly large in size, so feel free to cut them into 8 bars! I just like bigger snacks, as you know!;)
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