Banana Bread Bites

Are you a "bar" fan? It seems everywhere you go, someone is selling their latest compressed energy concoctions - from big name corporations to small grassroots startups. Two things they all seem to have in common, though, are the formula and the price. Whether the bars are enveloped in flashy foil or hand wrapped in cling wrap, they're all basically variations on pureed dates and nuts. For such simple ingredients, though, the price is astronomical. These suckers can be anywhere from $2 - $5 each - I mean really?

For kicks I costed out this whole batch of bites that I made: just under $3.50 total, for twelve pieces. Twelve! For under 30 cents each! Now those are "snack" size, not "meal replacement" size, but even if you bumped the serving size up and used 9 as your baseline (a filling meal swap FYI), that's still only 39 cents a square. With the economy these days, we can't afford to be paying 3-4x more (wholesale) - and this way you can make your own mixtures however you want, whenever you want - without ever wondering if cross contamination has happened at the plant or whether preservatives were added to a lower-quality ingredient.

I'm participating in Ricki's Wellness Weekend - check out her blog and all the other entries!

Banana Bread Bites
Makes 12
90 g dehydrated bananas
80 g dried dates, soaked in water 10 minutes and drained
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch sea salt
45 g walnuts
65 g almonds

1. Place the bananas, dates, cinnamon and salt in a food processor and grind to a paste.
2. Add the nuts and process until a doughy ball-like mixture forms.
3. Scrape onto a sheet of plastic wrap, cover with another sheet of plastic wrap and roll to a 1/2" - 3/4" thickness.
4. Remove top layer of plastic wrap and cut the dough into 12 pieces.
5. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and keep in the fridge up to 1 week.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 101.1
Total Fat: 5.4 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 0.5 mg
Total Carbs: 13.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.2 g
Protein: 2.2 g