Double Banana Bars

I don’t know about your kids, but my kids come home telling me of the different treats their friends get in their lunches. Lately, my one daughter has been asking for Bear Paws. My solution, homemade banana bars cut into even cuter shapes. My kids love anything with shapes, so even if they notice the lower sugar content of these bars, they won’t care because they are so cute! We are currently going  a 2 week Olaf sandwich streak, so it is a real thing. If you are an adult, you can always just cut them into bars, like my first picture.

These noist and slightly chewy bars are gluten-free, peanut-free, soy-free, dairy-free and wheat-free. So, they are great for school lunches.

MAKES ONE 9×9 pan

INGREDIENTS
Bars
– 1 flax egg (2 tablespoons ground flax seed, 3 tablespoons water)
– 3/4 cup brown rice flour
– 1/4 cup buckwheat flour
– 2 tablespoon organic cane sugar
– 1 tablespoon organic coconut sugar
– 1/4 cup dried banana chips
– 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
– 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
– 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
– pinch of salt
– 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
– 2/3 cup mashed bananas (around 2 large)
– 1/3 cup sunflower butter
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper.  Make sure that the parchment paper goes up the sides too so that you can easily remove the bars.
2. Prepare your flax egg by mixing the water and flax.  Set aside.
3. Grind the banana chips until it forms a powder.
4. Mix all of your dry ingredients together in one bowl.
5. Mix together your wet ingredients in another bowl (flax egg, dates, sunflower butter, vanilla, rice syrup, melted coconut oil).
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.  It will be thick.
7. Scoop mixture into prepared pan and spread using wet hands. I sometimes use a baby rolling pin to get it very even. Bake at 350 for 19-22 minutes, until the bars are set and toothpick comes out clean.
8. Let bars sit in pan for 10 minutes to cool.  Then remove to cooling rack and let cool completely.