Pumpkin Protein Bars

Clean eating has totally transformed my life and, obviously, my eating habits.  I guess that's why it's a little hard for me this fall to NOT be baking and eating all the time.  Though I do allow myself a little indulgence every once in a while, I wanted to find a healthier alternative to a full sugar, full fat quasi indulgence.  Even eating unhealthy just a little bit makes me feel gross, sluggish, and guilty.

One of my favorite ingredients to use this time of year is pumpkin.  Pie.  Bread.  Cake.  Brownies.  Cookies.  You name it...pumpkin is amazing to bake with.  One recipe that has become a personal and family/friend favorite is my pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting.  The cake itself is so moist and flavorful and the cream cheese frosting isn't just a frosting.  It's a cream cheese buttercream frosting.  It's killer.

I'm probably not going to make it just for fun anymore.  A friend gets it every year on her birthday, and I may make it if requested for a special dinner, but it will NOT be made all willy nilly for fun to just have around the house for the roommates as a treat.  I've made my food choices based on education, and you'll make yours, but let me break it down for you so you're a little more educated about what I used to feed you.

The amount of sugar that I obliviously put into that recipe is staggering.  Aside from the natural sugars in the other ingredients, that entire recipe asks for an additional 5 1/2 cups of straight up sugar added.  I know that's for the WHOLE recipe, but break that down into 12 servings and that is still TOO much sugar for one person....just shy of 1/2 cup per person.  Would you ever just pour yourself a bowl of sugar and eat it?  Didn't think so.  So why would you, unknowingly eat that much.

The carbs and fat were through the roof, too.  Though I made the recipe healthier by substituting apple sauce for the oil, there's still plenty of fat from the buttercream and far too many carbs from all of the flour.

White flour.  White sugar.  You can't feign ignorance about how unhealthy it is to use either of those ingredients.  You've heard it before, you'll hear it from me, and you'll hear it from others.  Avoid them as much as possible.  Alternatives might cost a little bit more, but trust me, you'd rather pay a little more at the grocery store than wind up paying for your diabetes doctor visits and medications.  Trust me...I work at a diabetes clinic.

So, to help me eat cleaner and to help support my indulgences being healthier indulgences, I have a great alternative.  I'm not just saying this to make you want to try my recipe, but I actually like the taste and texture of this recipe compared to my old cake recipe.  And I didn't even miss the buttery and fatty cream cheese butter cream.

These protein bars are wicked awesome and you definitely won't feel bad about eating a double serving.  Heck, you could eat half the pan and still not even come close to the amount of calories, sugar, fat, and carbs in my naughtier recipe.

Some of the ingredients probably aren't on your shelves, but you can find something fairly close to them even at your Wal-Mart.  You don't have to go to some crazy expensive organic store.  Give this recipe a shot.  You won't be dissatisfied.

Pumpkin Protein Bars

Ingredients
1/2 cup Xylitol Brown Sugar Blend
1/2 cup no sugar added apple sauce
2 t. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground clove
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 t. vanilla extract
4 egg whites
1-15 oz can raw pumpkin puree (do NOT get pumpkin pie mix)
2 c. oat flour
2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder
1/2 c. almond milk
Optional: 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 9 x 13 glass baking pan with non-stick spray.
3. Combine the first 11 ingredients and mix well.
4. Add the final ingredients and mix until incorporated.  Spread batter into baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until, when tested with a toothpick, the toothpick comes out clean.

This recipe, when made exactly just like this, will make 24 bars.

Nutrition (without walnuts): 1 square = 47 calories, .7 g fat, 8 g carbs, 3.7 g protein

Nutrition (with walnuts): 1 square = 63 calories, 2.3 g fat, 8 g carbs, 4 g protein

*If you can't find a Xylitol brown sugar blend, try to find something else besides straight up brown sugar.
*I refuse to buy oat flour at the grocery store.  It's sooo expensive and you can make it at home in no time at all.  Using either steel cut or whole oats, you can make your own oat flour in a blender or food processor!   
*Since there are no preservatives in this recipe, keep the bars in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Bake, eat clean, & enjoy!