Homemade Granola Bars - Bananas are the only sweetener!

My latest and most passionate adventure is removing processed foods from my home and body, and it's not easy.  Thank goodness for pinterest!  In my house it's important to have some easy, grab and go snacks around.  They keep us from getting too hungry and making a bad decision.  I love granola bars, but they are loaded with sugar and salt and they don't align with my desire to eliminate processed foods.  Even a lot of the homemade ones are complicated, with too much refined sugar.

Luckily, I ran across this recipe on Oh She Glows.  I love it and have also modified it to make a second flavor.  I think it's such a great base recipe and the sky is the limit in terms of changing it up.  My FAVORITE thing about it is that the sugar and binder is just bananas.  Here is the recipe:

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

4 Tbsp powdered peanut butter (I use this one)

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup chococate chips

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup pepitas

1/2 cup sliced almonds (I've used slivered if that's what I have.  I just chop them a little)

1/4 cup hulled hemp seeds

1/4 tsp salt 

1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. Line a 13x9x2 baking pan with parchment paper (so you can pull them right out of the pan)
3. Mash those bananas!  I tried a manual potato masher but a fork works better.
4. Mix in the vanilla and peanut powder.
5. Pulse the oats a few times in the food processor or blender, but leave some texture.
6. Mix the oats in with the bananas.
7. Now throw everything else in and mix until combined.
8. Dump it in the baking dish and press it down until it's all even and (sort of) smooth.
9. Bake for 23-27 minutes, until firm and slightly golden brown.
10. Let cool for 5 minutes and then lift out and place on a cooling rack to finish.  I don't have a cooling rack so I use the rack from my roasting pan.
11. Slice the bars once they have cooled completely.  I get 16 bars by cutting down the middle both ways, making 4 sections.  Then I cut each section in half and then half again (the longest sides are on the top & bottom), making 4 bars from each section.

I keep these in the fridge because they go fast, but they freeze well too.  Let me know what you think!