Sarah B’s Breakfast (Cookie) Bars

Breakfast_bars_1

I am guessing that Sarah B from My New Roots hardly needs any introduction? She is one of the most inspiring voices on the plant-based recipe scene, always with a smile and a smoothie on hand. Her way of reinventing traditional dishes into healthier versions of themselves is downright amazing. And if that wasn’t enough, she is one of the nicest and most positive persons we have met.

Her long awaited cookbook has the same concept as the blog, but is printed on beautiful paper and with the recipes divided into seasons (five of them!). There are plenty of inspiration for all flavours here and we have lots of dog-eared recipes yet to try. If you enjoy our type of cooking, you are going to love this book. It’s a gem.

Breakfast_bars_2

I am not sure why we chose to feature this exact recipe, a more colourful one would probably be more representative for the book. I guess we were intrigued by the thought of eating giant shaped cookies for breakfast. The fact that they are vegan and had a can of white beans in them, probably also sparked our curiosity.

Sarah writes that its time to ditch the plastic packaged breakfast bars as they are filled with too much stuff that doesn’t do us any favours. Her bars (or cookies) are loaded with whole-food fiber, protein, healthy fats, real fruit, and as we mentioned above, even beans.

We have already made these quite a few times. They taste really delicious with a hint of orange. Even though they seemed a little crumbly to us at first, they held together very well when baked. We find them perfect to make for a pantry cleaning, as almost any kind of nuts, seeds and dried fruit can be added. We also made one version where we subbed the maple syrup with a ripe banana and two dates. Baby Isac loves them too, and since they are filled with so much good stuff, we love making them for him.

Breakfast_bars_3

Breakfast_bars_4

Fully Loaded Breakfast Bars (Recipe from My New Roots: Inspired Plant-Based Recipes for Every Season)
Makes 10 large bars (although we make our bars slightly smaller than Sarah and get 12 bars from one batch.)

1 tablespoon chia seeds
3 1⁄4 cups / 325 g gluten-free rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1⁄2 cups / 250 g cooked white beans, such as navy, white kidney, or Great Northern (about one 15-ounce / 250 g can)
1⁄4 cup / 60 ml coconut oil, melted
1⁄4 cup / 60 ml pure maple syrup or raw honey
Grated zest of 1 organic orange
1⁄4 cup / 60 ml unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⁄3 cup / 60 g chopped unsulphured dried apricots
1⁄4 cup / 30 g  raisins
1⁄4 cup / 35 g pumpkin seeds
2 cups / 60 g organic, non-GMO cornflakes (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
Combine the chia seeds with 3 tablespoons water in a small bowl, and set aside for 15 minutes to gel.
Pulse 1 1⁄4 cups / 125 g of the oats in a food processor until they resemble a very rough flour. Transfer the flour to a large mixing bowl and whisk in the remaining 2 cups / 200 g oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
Pulse the beans with the coconut oil in the food processor until the mixture is creamy. Add the maple syrup, orange zest, chia gel, applesauce, and vanilla extract, and pulse until smooth.
Pour the bean puree over the oats mixture and stir until everything starts to come together. Add the apricots, raisins, pumpkin seeds, and cornflakes and stir to combine—you may need to use your hands at this point.
Shape the dough into 10 equal balls, and then flatten each one into a patty shape. Transfer them to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the bars are golden. Let cool completely before enjoying. The bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

*************

farehealthy-poster_1200

PS! We are coming to London last weekend of September for two different events. We will be talking at the Food Blogger Connect conference at Chiswick House on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th September. We are also excited to be talking and cooking at the Fare Healthy festival at Borough Market on Sunday 27th September. Check out their websites for tickets and more info.

65 Comments

  • Claudia
    Awesome recipe! I add dark chocolate chunks to mine too 🙂
  • Anna
    I like the whole idea of these, the ingredients and the general taste, but they are WAY too salty. I feel like I ruined my whole batch by adding the full teaspoon of salt (was nervous about it while adding it too. :( Will have to make them again with 1/4 salt.
  • I am so excited to make (and eat) these breakfast cookie bars, David & Luise! I may be too late to the party but congratulations on your cute little angel boy! Babies are so adorable, indeed. And the recipe looks fantastic and colorful that I think you made the right choice of including it, in its original form, in the book. You mentioned in the ingredients list to include chia seed. What do you think about substituting it for psyllium (as a fiber source), or flax seeds for Omega 3-consumption? Would you also recommend using poppy seeds or sesame seeds in the recipe?
  • Louise
    Hi! Looks delish. Can I replace the applesauce for something else?
  • Rochelle s
    I hate the very light ephemeral type face. it is a sophisticated typeface but that won't make the food taste any better, but it does make it that much harder to read. That is the last thing anyone needs when following a recipe-eye strain.
  • joanne
    can i replace the beans with lentils (cooked), or will that have too much moisture compared to pinto/white beans?
  • Milla
    do the cookies still taste as good and have the same texture when you use a ripe banana and a date as a sweetener? They look amazing but I don't have any maple syrup or honey on my hands. Let me know, thank you.
  • Magnificent recipe!
  • AJ
    Has anyone run these through a nutrition calculator? If so, can you post the results. They work great as a post workout snack! Thank you!
    • AJ
      Here is what I worked out on paper for 10 servings: Calories (273), Protein (7), Carbs (39), Sugar (12), and Fat (10).
  • Knitworks
    Do you use old fashioned large flake oats or quick oats. Are the chia seeds ground or whole?
  • Andrew heard
    I made these earlier this morning. Followed the recipe as per directions. I didn't use the 'optional' corn flakes, and I subbed dates for the apricots. Delishiousness. Moist and yummy. Thanks for another winner. The only drawback for me was the time and cleanup involved was quite extensive.
  • meg hock
    Do you know how many grams of protein are in each cookie? Thanks!
  • i made these last night (11 bars) absolutely yum! i used 1/2 oats and 1/2 quinoa! very filling. I will definately make them again, with a little variation!
  • Megan
    Could you substitute the oats for something else? My belly does not love oats, so would be interested to hear if anyone's made these cookies with an oat substitute??
  • Iryna and Illya
    We just made these cookies, my 16 year old son and I. Illya has psoriasis, so we are trying to modify his diet to exclude gluten, dairy, sugar and a number of other things. Your web-site has been a real find for us as we have made many of your wonderful dishes without these ingredients. It was very hard in the beginning of our journey to find and learn to make foods, different from those I grew up with. Big thank you for your inspiring tasty work that enabled me to believe that I can still raise a healthy child that eats a variety of healthy foods.
  • Chelsea
    Made these yesterday and they turned out great. A forgiving recipe, I think. They were nicely chewey (I did add bran flakes), so I'm not sure why someone above had issues with them being dry... I even cooked them until they were a bit browned. I used canned great northerns and subbed dates in for apricots, dried blueberries for raisins, and chopped walnuts for the pumpkin seeds. They smelled a bit funny in the oven, I think from the orange/bean mix, so I was a bit nervous at first, but this is a great recipe. (They're my pre-/during/or post-labor energy source!)
  • Sara
    These breakfast cookies were awesome. I made a batch last week and they're very much gone already (I did share some with my mum...). The hint of orange is wonderful and I found that the best way to enjoy these was dipping them in yoghurt. Instead of the cornflakes I added little less than a cup of some fruit müsli that I had in the cupboard. Will make again!
  • Tamzin
    These look amazing! Hoping on making them tomorrow! Would porridge oats work ok or not?? Thanks
  • These look INCREDIBLE! Sarah B is quite the plant-based babe - loving her new cookbook, these are on my list to try! Thanks for sharing xo
  • ariane
    I must say that I have tried three recipes from sarah's blog and I have been disappointed by all, this one included. The texture of the bars is not very pleasant,a little dry and somewhat cakey, and there is something off in the flavour. Maybe they are just too healthy for my taste.
  • Lady Montagu
    I already baked the cookies, and they are lovely. Slightly sweet, aromatic and very filling! They only came out a little dry – does anyone have an idea how to prevent that in the future? Maybe adding a little more applesauce? Or could my oven be too powerful and I should go for a shorter baking time? Merci!
  • Mmmm These look lovely :) Wish I was coming to London in Sept. to attend the festival, great idea!
  • These cookies are looking so delicious! They are very healthy and different and I bet they taste fantastic. I'm definitely going to try this recipe.
  • Wow, such gorgeous and bright photos! I love any excuse to have a cookie for breakfast! Beautiful work, all <3
  • These look so good. I usually make a big batch of protein cookies for the morning rush. but these look ideal. healthy and pretty simple.Can't wait to give the white beans a go. Thanks for sharing.
  • Leonie
    I made these tonight while almost paying attention to a global webex for work on my kitchen bench. They ARE delicious :o) Not overly sweet and that's perfect for me. Mashed an avocado with a splash of orange juice blended through instead of the apple sauce. No cornflakes but did add 1 dessertspoon of LSA to the mix at the end to help with the consistency I was looking for.

Leave a comment