Another weekend. Â Over too soon.
It was a fun one! Â My friend Kat was in town from South Korea.
She moved there a few years ago to teach, which I think is incredibly cool. Â It’s good to see old friends so happy and fulfilled. Â We used to be concert buddies, so naturally we caught up over a show.
Michelle Malone was playing the Sunday night 99X Unplugged in the Park show. Â Unplugged in the Park is a summer-long free music series put on by a local radio station. Â They pull in some great musicians at these!
The weekend was also punctuated with…
a baking WIN!!!
 
I’m not gonna lie – my ego needed this one after last week’s baking fail(s).
During my weekend trip to the Farmer’s Market I found coconut flour on the cheap. Â $1.36
Normally I hoard the stuff because… well, do you know how much it costs at Whole Foods? Â Hint: more than $1.36.
Click here for some of the benefits of coconut flour (and for an awesome coconut chocolate chip cookie recipe).
I was so excited to use it with reckless abandon in Coconut Chocolate Banana Bars!  Low in sugar and high in fiber, these tasty little chocolate bars can be eaten as breakfast OR dessert.
To bake them, I used my square pan, but you could also bake them in cookie-like form on a baking sheet.
The texture coconut flour gives baked goods is so silky it’s downright luxurious. Â I also love the notes of sweetness from the banana with the rich cocoa.
Tip: use a good cocoa powder in dishes like this – the difference in taste/quality is worth the splurge!
Recipe at the end! Â First a bit ‘o fitness.
Here’s the weekly recap.  I’m happy with last week because I worked out every day!  Usually there’s one day that I simply cannot motivate (unintended “rest” days).
Whatever happened, it worked well because I landed a new PR in Saturday’s hill-filled 5K. 🙂
Workout Recap (8/15-8/21)
- Monday – Kickboxing
- Tuesday – 4 mile run, P90X Ab Ripper X, 84 push-ups
- Wednesday – Biceps/Back, 84 push-ups, 6 Minute Plank Sequence
- Thursday – 4 mile run, P90X Ab Ripper X, 84 push-ups
- Friday – Triceps/Chest, Plank Sequence, 84 push-ups
- Saturday – 5K, + 1 mile run, 84 push-upsÂ
- Sunday – 4 mile run x2, 100Â push-ups
Coconut Chocolate Banana Squares
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 10-12 mins
Keywords: bake snack dessert vegetarian low-sodium nut-free low-sugar sugar-free banana coconut flour cocoa greek yogurt healthy cookie
Ingredients (9 squares)
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 T Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1/4 C unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/4 C NuNaturals’ More Fiber Stevia Baking Blend
- 1 C whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/3 C coconut flour
- 2 T cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place muffin cups in muffin tins
Whisk together NuNaturals, applesauce, and egg until creamy and light yellow
Add mashed bananas, yogurt, and vanilla, and whisk to combine
Add flours, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, and stir until smooth.
Spoon the batter into tins
Bake for 10-12 minutes
Approximate Nutritionals: 108 calories, 1.9g fat, 21.3g carbohydrates, 6.1g fiber, 3.9g sugar, 3.8g protein.
***
I’m already excited to eat one of these for afternoon snack.
How was your weekend? Â Anything exciting?
Do you have a favorite flour to use?
Way to go on working out every day. Congrats on busting past 84 pushups, all the way to 100! I bet Michelle Malone puts on a good concert, like to see her someday.
I can never get over how much cheaper things are at the farmers market. Especially grains and flours and stuff. I got a container of chia seeds for $4 which I’m sure would have been at least $10 at WF.
Oh…so happy you had a friend come to visit! We are having our first visators coming a week from tomorrow! SO excited! Girl, you use so many different flours…your kitchen must have a million containers! 🙂 I’m just jealous because I don’t have all those options… 🙂 xoxo from Trinidad
I haven’t tried coconut flour, but sounds delicious. Was this from the Dekalb Farmers Market or one in town? Occasionally I’ll make pilgramage there to get fresh fish (impossible to find in these parts). Apparently, I’ve been overlooking a lot of other goodness.
I’m totally impressed by the 5k and then a double workout the next day. Look at you speedy, racking up those awards!
It was Dekalb. They have everything there SUPER cheap. Check out the wine section too! 😉
I love the sound of these treats. They look like a great energy bar pre exercise or even afterwards. It pays off to prevail through the bad baking days because you always will get back on track and create something delicious.
I love these cocoa banana squares! I’ve been loving coconut flour too! I finally remembered to order peanut flour so hopefully that will arrive asap cause it’s my fav!!
I love spelt flour! 🙂 I’ve never used coconut flour, but I’d love to check it out.
I finally bought a bag of coconut flour (you’re right – it’s not cheap!) but have yet to try it out. But I have been craving chocolate all week so these look perfect.
100 pushups! You are a rock star. I can do like 20, haha. I’ve been hearing more and more about coconut flour, but I don’t have a whole foods or a farmer’s market where I live! Can you order it online?
You can do more! Just do it every day and keep building. 🙂
I’m sure you can order it online… maybe through iherb.com?
I am ashamed to admit this … but I didn’t even know coconut flour existed! I must try it now because those cookies look amazing and I love coconut anything!
Just scored some free coconut flour from Swanson’s and this will be the perfect application! 🙂
note to self: buy coconut flour but not from whole foods!
Wow these look so good! Is the texture similar to fudge? That may be a silly question, but I’ve never used coconut flour either! You’re cooking is so diverse! I’m glad I have people like you to expand my food knowledge!
Sort of… it’s that smooth, but less moist. It’s one of the weirdest flours to bake with. You have to be careful (and patient), but when you get it right it pays off!
Those look scrumptious!! The flavor combination looks amazing!
Congrats on the 5k PR!!! You and Mark W. have totally motivated me to start doing push-ups! Maybe I’ll be able to do 100 one day! I did about 6 sets of 10 today to start. P.S. Awesome recipe!!
Bit o’fitness? Girl, I lost three pounds just reading your workout schedule! These banana squares sound lovely! You know, I’m not sure we’ve got coconut flour here. You think it be ‘on the cheap’ in the Caribbean. I must investigate! Buzzed
LOL! That cracked me up.
You guys should have coconut flour in excess over there!
Hey, hey! Congrats on your PR and your 100 push ups!!! You’re a rock star 😀 Those bars sound fantastic. I don’t have a hope of being able to make those here but I will def add them to my “to make” list for home. I’ll have two whole weeks off to kill with baking adventures. 🙂 So excited!
Oh sweet heavens! You certainly got my attention with this one, Laura!
These bars look sooo good! How do you come up with this stuff?! I’ve been wanting to experiment with coconut flour and oil more…I’m thinking I should start with this!
Thanks! Let me know if you try it. 🙂 You can sub coconut stuff into most recipes… just be really careful with the flour and start with just subbing parts (maybe 25%) because it really changes the texture and moisture level.
Those look yummy, and you didn’t share ;( Great seeing you! Next time my part of the world. 🙂
Yummy yummy looking squares. A definite win. 🙂
These squares have everything! And the best breakfasts are those dishes that can double as dessert! So excited you found coconut flour cheap! It’s sooooooooooooo expensive (all of the ‘specialty’ flours are!), but it feels so nice in your hands, no?
Oh YUM. I love coconut flour…so so much. I’m currently in an insane coconut phase in general, so I might just have to try these. 🙂
These look yummy!
Question: If I can’t find coconut flour, what do you think I could use instead?
Thanks! You could sub virtually any flour, but the texture won’t be quite as silky. Let me know what you try!
Thank you! Will do. 🙂 I’ll go hunting for coconut first.