Clean Eating Pumpkin Protein bars

So last week was  a very crazy, hectic and stressful week for me. Enter the sugar cravings...ugh. I have to admit I gave in a couple times and then felt horrible afterwards. It happens...time to move on! This week I am ready. I just finished cooking all my foods for this week (turkey burgers, chicken breast, lemon pepper cod, batch of extra lean ground beef, protein pancakes,  sweet potatoes, green veggies....whew). To combat my sugar cravings healthfully and not risk eating crap I made these:

Jamie Eason's Pumpkin Protein Bars

Nutrition Facts:

Nutrition (without walnuts): 1 square = 47 calories, .7 g fat, 8 g carbs, 3.7 g protein
Nutrition (with walnuts): 1 square = 63 calories, 2.3 g fat, 8 g carbs, 4 g protein

Ingredients:

• ½ C Xylitol Brown Sugar Blend (Ideal)
• 1 - 4 oz. jar baby food applesauce
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 ½ tsp. ground ginger
• ½ tsp. ground clove
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 - 15 oz. can of raw pumpkin
• 2 C oat flour
• 2 scoops vanilla whey protein
• ½ cup almond milk
• ½ C chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

1. Spray a 9 X 13 Pyrex dish with non-stick spray.
2. Combine first 11 ingredients and mix well.
3. Add the final 3 ingredients (4, if adding walnuts), and mix until incorporated. Spread batter into the Pyrex dish and bake for 30 min.
4. Makes 24 squares.

The only changes I made were to eliminate the walnuts (my children don't like nuts..go figure?) and instead of the applesauce (didn't have any on hand) I used sugar free vanilla pudding. All I can say is these bars are super YUM and will satisfy almost any sugar craving you have!

Give 'em a try!