Healthy Copycat Clif Kid® ZBar
Servings: 10 bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried figs or dates
- 2 cups rolled oats divided
- 1 tbsp softened butter or coconut oil
- 1 tsp blackstrap molasses
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup applesauce
- ¼ - 1/3 cup grassfed collagen or vanilla protein powder of choice. Optional if you don’t have access.
- 1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Pinch of sea salt
- Optional 3-4 tbsp mini chocolate chips for the inside of the bars
- Dark chocolate chips to melt for the drizzle on the top
Instructions
- Start by softening the dried figs in hot water from the tap. Put the figs in a bowl, and fill the bowl with hot water from the tap until the figs are covered in water. Let this soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. You’ll want the figs to have a good 10 minutes of soaking before adding them to the blender.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. I use an 8x8 silicone baking pan for this recipe so that the bars pop out easily. If you have a regular 8x8 baking pan, you’ll want to line it with unbleached parchment paper so the bars don’t stick.
- Put 1 ½ cups of the rolled oats into your blender and blend into oat flour.
- Add the other ½ cup of oats, butter, molasses, vanilla, applesauce, collagen, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt to the blender. Then, strain the water from the figs, and add the soaked figs to the blender.
- Blend the ZBar mixture until everything is combined. You will have to scrape the sides down a bit, You will still see some bits of oat in the mixture – this is how ZBars look! You could blend it until fully smooth if you wish, though.
- Spread the ZBar mixture into your silicone baking pan. I like to use a spatula dipped in water so that the mixture doesn’t stick to the spatula.
- Bake the ZBars at 350 degrees for 25 minutes until the sides are golden brown. Let the bars cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning them out to cool completely. Let the bars cool completely before cutting into bars.
- To make the chocolate drizzle, melt about ¼ cup of chocolate chips in a small sauce pan, and use a small tipped piping bag or Zip Top Bag with the corner snipped to apply the drizzle. The chocolate will need 15 minutes to harden back up. You could speed the process by putting the bars in the refrigerator.
- To store your ZBars, place them in an airtight container in the pantry for up to a week, or freeze them for up to 3 months.
Notes
- You can make other ZBar flavors too! To make the Blueberry Muffin flavor, swap the mini chocolate chips for dried blueberries. To make the Brownie flavor, add cocoa powder and/or chocolate protein powder to the mixture. For the Iced Oatmeal Cookie flavor, take out the chocolate chips and add more cinnamon. You can do a traditional powdered sugar/milk icing for the glaze, OR use melted coconut butter for a healthier option.