Facilitators: Laura Hernandez, RD & Anne Epp, RD
Bariatric Apple Pie Protein Bars
Laura and Anne, our new dietitian, made some no-bake bariatric Apple Pie Protein Bars. The recipe is below. Everyone got to try them, and discussed ways that the recipe can be modified for individual tastes. One 1” square of the bars contained 38 calories, 1.9 gm of fat, 2.4 gms of protein, and 3.3 gm of carbohydrates. These are not intended as a “meal substitute” but rather as a way to share something patients can make during the upcoming holidays that is high quality food and nutritious, rather than a highly processed food.
Laura shared a number of new sweeteners out on the market you may want to try for baking in the upcoming holidays: Swerve Sugar Replacement (tastes, bakes and measures like sugar); Monkfruit sweetener (also a 1 to 1 sugar replacement); and Allulose – a naturally occurring low-calorie sugar with 90% fewer calories and shows no impact to glucose or insulin levels.
Ingredients:
2 cups gluten free oat flour
½ cup coconut flour
½ cup vanilla protein powder
6 packets of Splenda
1 T cinnamon
1 tsp all-spice
1 tsp nutmeg
¼ cup almond or peanut butter
½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
3 T half and half
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp low calorie agave nectar
Directions:
- Line large baking dish with greased paper and set aside
- In large mixing bowl, combine flour, protein powder, Splenda, and spices and mix well
- In microwave safe bowl, combine the nut butter and liquid sweetener and and heat until melted. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and mix well. Add applesauce and mix until combined- the batter should be crumbly
- Add the half and half until a thick batter is formed
- Transfer to lined baking dish and press firmly. Refrigerate for at least 30 min.