No Bake Chocolate Steel Cut Oat Bars
Servings: 12 bars
Calories: 280kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cups almonds
- 12 dates, pitted
- 1 1/2 cups steel-cut oats
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup protein powder
- 1 tbsp chia seeds (or flax seeds)
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp cinammon
- 1 tsp salt
- chocolate chips for topping
Instructions
- Soak the almonds and dates in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes. This helps soften them to make them easier for blending later on
- Once the almonds and dates have been soaking for 10 minutes, drain, while reserving 1/2 cup of the water for blending
- Place the date, almond, water mixture in a high-powdered blender (like a Vitamix) and add the steel-cut oats. Blend on high until paste forms and no large chunks of almond remain. If you don’t have a Vitamix, it might just take a couple of times of stopping the blending and mixing to reach the right consistency
- In a large bowl, combine the oat almond date paste, cocoa powder, protein powder, cinnamon, maple syrup, salt, and chia seeds. Stir until well combined. It should be the consistency of firm cookie dough
- Line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment so that it has a “lip” hanging off on either side. This makes the bars easier to get out of the pan, and makes clean-up easier!
- Empty your mixture into the lined baking pan and press down until it is level
- Top with chocolate chips. Make sure to press them down into the bars
- Chill for 2 hours or overnight. Once chilled, Cut into 12 equal bars. Store in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks in an airtight container