Vegan Energy Bars

This is a recipe from Runner's World that I pilfed. Ok, so it was free, but I finally decided to try it out today. After Wednesday and Thursday, and knowing I have to cook all Saturday morning, it felt weird not to cook today. So I whipped up a batch of these, and threw them in the oven.

Yes, the are vegan. Which in Jamie-terms means that you can eat the raw batter (no eggs.) Not that raw eggs in a batter has stopped me from brownie dough or cookie dough, but I guess I do think about it. Now, no guilt at all! Plus, no butter, and you could probably substitute some, or all, of the sugar with a substitute. I was tempted to try maple syrup, but I need it for some Thanksgiving Part Deux Recipes.

Plus, they are energy bars, so eat one, and go for a beautiful crisp-fall-day-run. That's my intention! Go Run in the Fresh Air!

As for this recipe, I used pumpkin pie spice instead of nutmeg because I don't like nutmeg. Also, I didn't have baking soda, but they came out fine. And I used pecans instead of walnuts because I made pecan pie and had some left over.

What you’ll need:
2 very overripe bananas
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup unbleached sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cup rolled oats
¾ cup unbleached flour (up to ½ cup of which can be whole wheat flour)
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¾ cup toasted chopped walnuts
¾ cup dried cranberries
(Use your choice of nuts and dried fruit as substitutes)

How to make it:
1. Preheat oven to 350, grease 8x9’’ baking pan
2. In a mixing bowl, mash bananas. Mix with sugar, oil and vanilla extract until smooth.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour and oats.
4. Add banana mixture to oat mixture, mix until just combined.
5. Fold in walnuts and cranberries, careful not to overmix.
6. Pour mixture into baking pan, and spread evenly. Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

2nd Image and Recipe C/O: http://www.runnersworld.com/recipes/make-your-own-energy-bars