I am constantly thinking about after school snacks. Our nightly routine has been about the same for 3 years. Kids get home from school, eat a snack, off to swim, dinner. That “off to swim” is the part of the evening I think the most about. I know how important that after school snack is to their performance in swim.
I’m not crazy swim mom, or at least I don’t think I am, but I want them to do well at practice and I know how their nutrition can affect them in the pool. To have enough energy to do 15 minutes of calisthenics and 1.5 hours of swimming, you need calories, and plenty of healthy calories. Chips and candy bars don’t do the trick. They will give you calories, but they are certainly not what champions are made of.
Let’s be honest. Kids only want what tastes good. If it tastes like cardboard, they are not going to eat it. It also has to look good, that’s what we all want in food. I won’t eat a food if it doesn’t look good, so I don’t expect my kids to either. These bars look AND taste great – all important things for kids and adults.
What’s in these bars exactly? Allow me to give you the run down. I love the mix of ground oats and almond flour. Both give fiber and the almond flour adds a punch of protein. You can make your own almond flour, I’ve done that before, it works. And you can either grind up your oats or leave them whole, the recipe works both ways.
These also have coconut oil, maple syrup, and good old fashioned peanut butter and jelly. I’ve used store bought peanut butter and fresh ground peanut butter in these and they both work beautifully, which means you can use smooth or chunky – your choice.
I add some fresh peanuts to the top to drive home what type of bars these are. You could also make these bars with almond butter and slivered almonds on the top, or pistachio butter and pistachios on the top. The possibilities are great with this one and if you have an allergy, switch it up.
Don’t leave that egg out. You need it to bind all that goodness together.
As you can see, these are pretty sturdy bars. I especially like them after they’ve been chilling in the fridge for a while. Yum!
Enjoy!Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Total time: 35 mins
Serves: 9 bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup raspberry or strawberry jam
- 1/4 cup chopped shelled peanuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In a mini food processor or high powered blender, pulse the oats until they are ground – they don’t have to be ground fine
- Add the oats, almond flour, egg, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, peanut butter and salt to a mixing bowl and stir together
- Line a 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper and pour the batter into dish
- Drop the jam on the batter by tablespoons and gently spread
- Sprinkle the peanuts on the top
- Bake for 25 minutes
- Let cool completely before cutting
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days