1.5.12

Monkey Bars


Thanks to my wonderful friends, family and your lovely comments, I ended up having a great twentieth birthday! Let me recap the highlight of the night for you...

A group of friends and I went to this mexican restaurant for dinner. My best friend Melissa decked me out in obnoxiously glittery necklaces saying "happy birthday" and a birthday goblet. When the servers of the place noticed this, one of them came over and said "It's your birthday? I make you something." 
About 20 minutes later, out came this huge plate of deep-fried something covered in whipped cream with a trail of servers following. They put a sombrero on my head, sang me happy birthday and tried to spoon feed me whipped cream and couldn't understand why I wouldn't just eat it. I'm pretty sure I was bright red the entire time. 


Lesson learned? Birthdays are really just excuses for your friends to embarrass the hell out of you :)


Anyway, the day after my birthday I had a huge sugar crash, so I decided I had to bake some other treat to have around. I called them monkey bars because of the super yummy banana and coconut combo- monkeys eat those things, right?

These really don't have too much sugar in them and with oats and whole wheat flour I decided I could justify eating one for breakfast! Although they are so delicious, it's really hard to eat just one.  I pawned a couple off on my friends and they absolutely loved them. 

Friend tested, friend approved. 



Monkey Bars

makes 9 bars

1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp agave 
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas
1 1/2 tsp energ-G egg replacer mixed with 2 tbsp water or 1/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Topping:

1 tbsp agave
2 tbsp oats
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut

1. Preheat your oven to 350ยบ and lightly oil an 8x8" pan.
2. Mash the bananas in a large bowl. Whisk in the oil, brown sugar, agave, vanilla and egg-replacer. Stir until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Fold in the coconut and chocolate chips and pour the batter into your prepared pan.


4. Make the topping by placing all of the ingredients in a small bowl and crumbing them together with your fingers. Sprinkle evenly over the batter and bake the bars for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool at least 15 minutes before cutting, then dig in and enjoy!


Chewy, crumbly, chocolate-y, with a hint of toasted coconut. Does it get any better?

14 comments:

  1. I like to keep my birthday under the radar to fend of my friends embarrassing me :) Definitely sounds like you all had a lot of fun though! Love those monkey bars--they look delish!

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    1. Thanks! And good move on keeping it on the down-low... but I decided a little embarrassment is worth the fun!

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  2. Anonymous1.5.12

    These look delish. I love banana bread, but I'm looking for a slightly healthier recipe. Bananas, oats, coconut and chocolate? Yes, please! Thanks for a great idea.

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    1. You're welcome! These are definitely slightly healthier than a traditional banana bread recipe :)

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  3. These look yummy! They conjure up visions of tropical mornings in a beach hut. A must try! Love the sombrero photo!

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  4. The sombrero is so YOU! I hope they let you keep it....Great-sounding coconut bars. You made up this recipe from scratch, right? Muy bueno! Y feliz cumpleanos!!!!

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    1. Yep, all from scratch! Gracias!

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  5. You are right, nothing is better than this. I love monkey bars, they are so YUM!

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    1. Thanks! They combine almost all of my favorite flavors.

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  6. They look delicious!

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  7. The bars look gorgeous and delicious! and belated birthday wishes:)

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  8. Dying to make these, but my roommate has officially moved out and I would definitely eat an entire batch on my own :) Love the "monkey" flavour combination though - might try to replicate in cupcakes for a birthday!

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    1. Oh what a great idea! These would be amazing in cupcake form. With some coconut cream frosting?
      Yum. Let me know if you try that out :)

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