I love a good hummingbird cake or these hummingbird muffins, so I wanted to import the warm, welcoming flavor if this Jamaican cult classic into something healthy that I can enjoy guilt free for breakfast all week long.
Enter – these hummingbird bars.
They may not be the most beautiful piece of food on this blog, but they are good. Really good. A bunch of simmered fruit, dried fruit, nuts, oats, coconut and warm spices all come together to create chewy, moist bars that have no processed sugars, but a whole bunch of flavor.
Let’s get started…
When it comes to the ingredients in these bars, a bunch of them are flexible. This recipe is a great one to use when you have a bunch of stuff to use up in your pantry.
To get started, you will need apples, pineapple and some orange juice. While you can absolute swap the orange juice out for any other fruit juice you love or need to use up, I would not swap the apples or pineapple out.
You will also need bananas (they can be anywhere between super fresh and overly ripe), but if you prefer apple sauce, pumpkin puree, mashed sweet potato or cooked carrots could work instead.
For the dried fruit and nuts, feel free to use whatever you want as long as the amounts stay the same.
For the oats and AP flour, they can be swapped for gluten-free alternatives or whole wheat without any issue.
If you don’t like coconut, you can leave it out, but add 1/2 cup to the amount of oats you add into the batter.
The neutral oil can be anything from canola to olive and have fun with the spices!
Once you have your ingredients gathered, bring 2 cups of peeled and chopped apples, a cup of chopped pineapple and 1/3 cup of orange juice to a simmer. Let everything simmer slowly until it breaks down into a nice jammy consistency.
Once the fruit has broken down nicely, combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl until all of the dry ingredients are completely incorporated and the spices are evenly distributed throughout.
Spread the mixture evenly into a lightly greased and parchment lined 8″x8″ baking dish and press down to compact the batter a bit.
Bake at 350 degrees for 38-40 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the bars feel set to a light touch.
Now they are going to smell absolutely amazing when they are finished baking, but they will fall apart if you attempt to remove them from the baking dish or slice them while still warm. So, let them rest in the baking dish on a cooling rack or cutting board until they are completely cooled.
This is probably the hardest part of the entire recipe!
As you can see, I sprinkled a little extra coconut shreds and copped nuts over the top of the batter before I baked them. While this is optional, the extra bit of texture is something I love and bet you will too.
The bars are so fabulous. You know they are healthy, because you just made them yourself, but they taste like a real treat. It’s crazy how sweet they are with no sugar (not even honey or maple syrup!) added into the batter. Simmered apples and pineapple have so much. natural sweetness and simmering them in some orange juice brings out their very best.
If you are looking for healthy bars that are perfect for breakfast, post work out carbs, an afternoon snack or even a late night dessert then you should definitely give these hummingbird bars a try…
Hummingbird Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups of apples. peeled and chopped
- 1 cup of pineapple, chopped
- 1/3 cup of orange juice
- 1 cup of banana, mashed
- 1/2 cup of dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, cherries, apricots)
- 1 cup of nuts, chopped
- 3/4 cup of old fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup of coconut shreds
- 2 tablespoons of a neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°
- Place an 8” wide sheet of parchment paper into a greased 8”x8” baking dish leaving a little excess hanging over both sides to help remove the bars later on. Set the dish aside for now
- Add 2 cups of peeled and chopped apples, 1 cup of chopped pineapple and 1/3 cup of orange juice into a saucepan and place over medium heat
- Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 7-8 minutes or until everything is soft with a jam like consistency
- In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of mashed banana, 1/2 cup of dried fruit, 1 cup of chopped nuts, 3/4 cup of old fashioned oats, 3/4 cup of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of coconut shreds, 2 tablespoons of a neutral oil, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg and mix until everything is well combined
- Add the simmered fruit mixture and mix until it is fully incorporated
- Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish
- Bake in a 350° oven for 38-40 minutes or until deeply golden brown
- Let the bars cool completely before transferring out of the dish and slicing into bars
