Spiced Pumpkin Protein Bars

I have the biggest sweet tooth when it comes to pumpkin. I try to avoid processed foods (canned, boxed, packaged...) So I prefer to make my baked goods from scratch. For the bars below, I roasted a small sugar pumpkin and pureed it. I also used the Vitamix to make my own oat flour from rolled oats (Buying oat flour is fine, I just didn't have any around). I used Xylitol because it is a natural sweetener derived from plants (instead of chemically altered sugar molecules). You can use any kind of protein powder. The more natural (less added ingredients), the better it will be for you. 

These bars are a perfect post workout snack (double up on them for 18g of protein) and add 10-16 almonds (to get your necessary fats).

Spiced Pumpkin Protein Bars: Makes 12 Bars (24 g carbohydrates, 9 g protein, 2 g fat. Only 140 calories per bar and 1 gram of sugar)

Ingredients:

1. ½ cup xylitol 
2. 2 tsp. ground cinnamon 
3. 1 ½ tsp. ground ginger 
4. ½ tsp. ground clove 
5. 1 tsp. baking powder 
6. 1 tsp. baking soda 
7. ½ tsp. salt 
8. 2 cups oat flour 
9. 2 scoops vanilla or chocolate whey protein
10. ½ cup almond milk
11. 2 tsp. vanilla extract 
12. 4 large egg whites 
13. 20 oz pumpkin puree (canned or freshly made)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350. 
• Coat a 9x13 Pyrex dish with coconut oil (or other oil)
• In a large bowl combine the first 8 ingredients and mix well. In a separate bowl mix in the remaining ingredients. Fold the wet mixture into the larger bowl. 
• Pour into the Pyrex and bake for about 30-40 minutes (until knife comes out clean)
• Enjoy and store any additional bars in the fridge or freezer (there are no preservatives so it will go bad fast)

Detailed Nutrition: