{Recipe Redux} Sponsored Recipe Contest - Hidden Honey Bars

{Disclosure: By posting this recipe I am entering a contest sponsored by the National Honey Board and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I received a gift card to expense of my ingredients.}

This week I am really excited to participate in a recipe contest for the National Honey Board featuring one of my favorite ingredients, honey! 

I love honey and use it regularly in my cooking and baking (see my Honey Pumpkin Muffins, Honey Dijon Salmon, & Whole Wheat Cinnamon Apple Cookies) . Why? Well, let me count the ways...

Honey is an all-natural sweetener choice and therefore something you can feel good about using.

It helps keep whole grain baked goods moist and actually increases shelf-life due to being anti-microbial.

It adds a complex sweet flavor (that is different from honey to honey) as opposed to just sweet. 

It's delicious! 

With over 300 varietals of honey, each one tastes different and makes honey tasting and using very fun. Being from Florida, I love orange blossom honey. But really, I'm not picky. 

Our Recipe Redux challenge for this contest was to create a entertaining or holiday recipe using honey as a replacement for another sweetener. In thinking about the type of recipe I wanted to create, here's how my thought process went:

The Problem: My toddler son is SUPER hungry all day long and needs nutritious snacks. He loves these Kashi bars but they are expensive.

The Challenge: Create a Kashi-like bar that has hidden veggies, uses honey as the sweetener and tastes delicious (can double as snack food or healthy dessert at a party). 

The Solution: These incredible Hidden Honey Bars I created. Honey really is the secret ingredient as they are super moist (even after refrigeration) and delightfully sweet (but not too sweet). 

I've put these bars in baggies for an easy on the go snack for my little super-eater. I would also totally serve these at a summer party as a healthy dessert or appetizer option for kids or adults. By adding dried blueberries and/or white chocolate chips or coconut, you've got a great red, white and blue festive party food for the 4th of July. 

And just in case you were wondering, Jackson loved them! Here's the proof. 

So without further ado, here's my newly developed Hidden (due to the 2 veggies hidden in them) Honey Bars. Oh, and check out the killer low-cal nutrition facts at the bottom. Enjoy!!

Hidden Honey Bars

1 cup finely shredded zucchini, drained

1 cup mashed sweet potato *(see bottom for instructions)

2/3 cup honey

2 eggs

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup almonds

1/4 cup flax seed meal

1/3 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 x 13 pan by spraying with non stick cooking spray.
2. In a food processor or blender, combine oats, flour, almonds, and flax seed. Pulse until almonds and oats are broken down into a meal-like consistency. Set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl combine sweet potato, honey, eggs, canola oil, and vanilla extract and mix until well combine. 
4. Add dry ingredients into sweet potato mixture and stir to combine. 
5. Gently fold in zucchini until incorporated throughout, then fold in dried cherries.
6. Evenly spread batter (will be thick) in baking pan and bake for 20 minutes (or until edges begin to golden brown and fork inserted into the center comes out clean). 
7. Let cool and cut into 28-30 squares. 

 Nutrition Facts (per bar): 93 calories, 3 g fat, 0g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 10 mg sodium,16 g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 8g sugar, 2g protein, 38% vitamin A, 2% calcium, 4% vitamin C, 3% iron

 *A note on mashed sweet potatoes: To make my sweet potatoes, I peeled them, cut them in cubes steamed them in bamboo steamers for 35 minutes, and then mashed them with a potato masher. You could also bake whole sweet potatoes and scoop out the cooked flesh. Microwaving would probably work just as well too.  

Comments

[Sarah Graves]

So delicious! My daughter is about the same age as Jackson and she really loves them. My husband too!

[Fresh Food Perspectives]

Maya,
I like you could use cooked quinoa. I wouldn't put it in the food processor though. I also think flax seed meal could replace the almonds too. Let me know how it turns out if you try these things!

[Maya M]

This recipe sounds great...just curious if it would work with quinoa instead of oats, and maybe chia seed or flax seed instead of the almonds...I have a gluten and nut allergy.

[Fresh Food Perspectives]

Chrissy, that sounds delicious! These bars can be a little different every time based on the type of honey you use!

[Chrissy Reyna]

I can't wait to make these! We have lovely wildflower honey here in NC.

[Deanna Segrave-Daly]

Oooh, look forward to making these for my daughter (and me.) I really need a bamboo steamer....