Gluten-free Banana Peanut Chocolate Oat Bars

I tend to do variations on my culinary creations, so if this looks kinda familiar, it's because I'm borrowing and altering from my own recipes. These bars have no added sugar, and I reduced the fat by using powdered peanut butter and some actual chopped peanuts, rather than getting out the jar of Jif. I hid some Xocai healthy dark chocolate power squares within for an added boost. You could use other chocolate squares, but you owe it to yourself to try Xocai!) 

Banana Peanut Chocolate Oat Bars

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups gluten-free oats (I use Trader Joes)
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
1/4 cup plain unsweetened almond milk
2 tablespoons powdered peanut butter (I like a brand called JustGreatStuff and I found it recently at my local supermarket in the health food section. There's another brand out there that's good too, called PB2)
2 tablespoons chopped roasted lightly salted peanuts
9 Xocai Power Squares


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 6" X 9"  baking pan with non-stick parchment paper. Combine all the ingredients except the chocolate and mix well. Pour half of the mixture into the pan. Arrange the 9 chocolate squares so that you'll get one square per serving. Spread the remaining oat mixture over the top.

Bake for 22 - 27 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Let cool and cut into 9 bars. Great for a quick pre-fab breakfast or on-the-go snack!

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Here's the middle layer with the chocolate squares before the top layer was added