No Bake Nutty Banana Protein Bars

Ingredients:

• ½ cup pitted Medjool dates, packed
• ½ cup mashed very ripe banana, almost completely black
• 1 tsp natural vanilla
• 2 tsp honey
• ½ cup pecans
• ½ cup cashews
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 3 tbsp ground flax seed
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup chocolate protein powder
• ½ cup Semi Sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Line an 8×8 inch pan with parchment paper cut to fit and set aside.
2. Blend dates, banana, vanilla and honey in a food processor for about 2 minutes until smooth. Add pecans, cashews, 1 cup of the oats, flax seed, cinnamon and salt and blend for another minute or two, or until fairly smooth.
3. Scrape down the sides and add in protein powder. Process for another minute until the mixture is well combined. It will be very thick with sticky consistency so use a very sturdy spoon to stir in chocolate chips.
4. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. With wet hands, flatten in pan until evenly spread in pan.
5. Place pan in freezer for at least 3 hours to harden then remove from freezer and slice into 8-10 bars. Store bars in freezer–they are best eaten directly from the freezer.