Those looking for a super quick & easy, nutritious (but oh so delicious) sweet snack, listen up!! These amazing no-bake oat fudge bars are here to meet your needs… because who doesn’t love a nutrient packed fudge bar dessert option. And these bars are full of heart healthy mono and polyunsaturated fat; the latter of which also contains Omega-3 fatty acids. As a little refresher, omega-3s are an essential fatty acid that our bodies cannot make on their own, but one that is necessary to maintain our health.
Aside from facilitating many functions that our body must perform to maintain life, fats are necessary in your diet to keep skin, hair, & nails healthy and promote satiety after meals. For these reasons (and so many more!), it is necessary to include a sensible amount of unsaturated fats in our daily diet.
Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients that contribute to these bars heart healthy fat intake. First up: flax seed. While recent research suggests that flax seeds can be added to baked foods without sacrificing significant amounts of the omega-3 fatty acid that accounts for over half of their total fat content (widely known as ALA), it is ideal not to heat products containing flax seed to high temperatures. This is because the omega-3 fats found in this seed are highly unstable and form toxic by-products when they are heated to high temperatures. In general, flax seed containing products should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer, used relatively quickly (because they go rancid quite fast), and never heated (because they are unstable). In this recipe, I chose to use the ground form of flax seed because it can be fully digested, with all of its glorious nutrients being absorbed. Whole flaxseed, on the other hand, passes through your intestine undigested, which means you won’t get all the benefits.
Highlights of making this recipe:
- This recipe contains less than 10 easy to find ingredients, some of which you may already have in your pantry.
- These bars take under 20 minutes of prep time in the kitchen and there is no baking or oven mitts required, making this quite a kid friendly, no-fuss recipe.
- As the recipe does not contain raw eggs, the bowls are safe to scrape clean after creating your fudge bars (this is my favourite part for sure, no shame).
- These sweet treats will stay good in airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 weeks, or in the freezer for a couple months.
In addition to adding a little extra nutrition to the mix, I included almond butter and dark chocolate in these decadent bars to make your taste buds sing. These two ingredients merry to make a fudge-like texture… without all the added sugar and other questionable ingredients often found in fudge-like products. Complete with quality protein, an ample amount of healthy fat, as well as fibre-rich complex carbs, these bars provide a nutritious and seriously delicious sweet snack option to add to your intake.
Macros per Bar
Calories: 400
Protein: 16 g
Fat: 20 g
Carbohydrates: 37 g
Sugar: 20 g
Fibre: 7 g
No-Bake Oatmeal Fudge Bars
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 1/2 cup vanilla extract
- 2 cup gluten free oats quick cooking
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed *
- 1 cup Vanilla Whey Protein (~3 scoops)
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp Stevia
- 1 cup dark chocolate melting wafers
- 1/2 cup almond butter
Instructions
- Line an 8 × 8- inch pan with a large piece of parchment or wax paper (approximately double the size of the pan). Set aside.
- Stir together the honey, 1/4 cup almond butter, and vanilla until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine the oats, flax, protein, salt, and stevia. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients. Stir to fully combine (mixture should quite dry/crumbly at this stage).
- Transfer about 3/4 of the mixture to the pan (leaving behind the driest/crumbliest part). Press down very well, using the extra parchment paper to press it evenly into the bottom of the pan.
- In a separate bowl, carefully melt the chocolate and 1/2 cup almond butter. Stir until smooth.
- Pour the chocolate mixture evenly on top of the oatmeal layer in the pan.
- Sprinkle the remaining oat crumbles on top of the chocolate layer. Gently press down using the parchment paper.
- Freeze until firm enough to cut 3 x 3 (~1 hour).
- Store in an airtight container in the freezer or fridge.
Notes
- Combine: 1/2 cup sugar free syrup and 1/3 cup vanilla extract.
- Add: 2 cups quick cooking oats, 1/2 cup of 100% wheat bran, 1 cup (~3 scoops) vanilla whey protein, 1/4 tsp sea salt, and 1/2 tsp stevia to mixture. Stir to fully combine.
- Transfer: 3/4 of mixture to parchment lined pan.
- Melt: 1 cup of dark chocolate and spread evenly over oat mixture.
- Sprinkle remaining oat mixture on top and freeze until firm enough to cut 3 x 3.
- 261 cals, 11 g protein, 10 g fat, 33 carbs, 11 g sugar, 5 g fibre
