Healthy Honey Bars Recipe with Hidden Zucchini

Looking for a homemade snack bar that's yummy and healthy? Try this simple Hidden Honey Snack Bar recipe made with whole grains, honey, and hidden veggies. They are perfect for kiddos and big people too.

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• Uses For This Crowd Pleaser Recipe
• Top Tips
• Variations
• Recipe

I love honey and use it regularly in my cooking and baking. Try my Honey Pumpkin Muffins​ and Honey Drizzled Roasted Garlic Hummus for more great recipes with honey.

Uses For This Crowd Pleaser Recipe

As a mom of two hungry toddlers, I am always looking for healthy, affordable and portable snacks. We are on the go every day so I have to have snacks that I feel good about and can give to the boys while they're in their carseats. So let me set the stage for how this recipe came to be...

The Problem: My toddler son is SUPER hungry all day long and needs nutritious snacks. He loves these Kashi bars, I like that they have hidden veggies, but they are expensive.

The Challenge: Create a Kashi-like bar that has hidden veggies, uses honey as the sweetener and tastes delicious.

The Solution: This incredible Hidden Honey Snack Bar recipe I created. Honey really is the secret ingredient as they are super moist zucchini bars (even after refrigeration) and a delightfully sweet treat (but not too sweet).

INGREDIENTS

These healthy bars are made with wholesome ingredients that are easy to find at your local grocery store:

• Finely shredded zucchini (pressed through a fine sieve and drained to reduce excess water)
• Mashed sweet potato
• Honey- Honey is an all-natural sweetener choice and therefore something you can feel good about using. It helps keep whole grain baked goods moist and actually increases shelf-life due to being anti-microbial. It also adds a complex sweet flavor (that is different from honey to honey) as opposed to just sweet. It's delicious!  With over 300 varietals of honey, each one tastes different and makes honey tasting and using very fun. Being from Florida, I love orange blossom honey. But really, I'm not picky.
• Eggs
• Canola oil
• Vanilla extract 
• Old fashioned oats
• Whole wheat flour 
• Almonds
• Flax seed meal
• Dried cherries
• Mini chocolate chips (optional)

Find exact quantities in the recipe card below.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 x 13 pan by spraying with non stick cooking spray.
2. In a food processor or blender, combine oats, flour, almonds, and flax seed. Pulse until almonds and oats are broken down into a meal-like consistency. Set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl combine sweet potato, honey, eggs, canola oil, and vanilla extract and mix until well combine.
4. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients mixture and stir to combine.
5. Gently fold in zucchini until incorporated throughout, then fold in dried cherries and chocolate chips.
6. Evenly spread batter (will be thick) in prepared pan and bake in 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes (or until edges begin to golden brown and fork inserted into the center comes out clean).
7. Let cool and cut into 28-30 squares.

Storage

After these delicious bars cool to room temperature, I put them in baggies or plastic wrap for an easy on the go snack for my little super-eaters. I store them in the fridge in an airtight container. You can even freeze them for later. 

Top Tips

To help you through the recipe, just in case you are at all intimidated to make your own bars, here are some shots to guide you:

Grated Zucchini

First, make sure you grate your zucchini on the finer grate of a box grater. Then put it in a fine sieve and gently press it to get out some liquid. If the zucchini is too wet, it impact your bars.

Pulsing the Flour

Second, here is what the flour looks like before and after pulsing in the food processor.

Mashing the Sweet Potatoes

Lastly, here's what the mashing of the sweet potatoes look like. Try to get a smooth, chunk free consistency, but don't be worried about it being perfect.

Variations

Have fun with the add ins and use your favorite dried fruit or nuts to change things up. Mini chocolate chips are obviously an excellent choice too to make them Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars.

Give this Hidden Honey Snack Bar recipe a try for your little ones or just YOU! I gobble these things up myself as they are great for big people too.

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Recipe

If you enjoyed this zucchini bars recipe, try these other easy entertaining make-ahead apps: 

• Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Nuts (and no sugar): This delicious recipe is made with ripe bananas, whole wheat pastry flour, ground flax seed, and other wholesome ingredients.
• Crunchy Frozen Yogurt Snack Bites: This recipe makes a great snack or delicious dessert. They're made with almond butter, yogurt, and are a fun snack any time of year.
• Sausage & Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini: If you have any extra zucchini, use it to make one of our family's favorite recipes. It might just become your favorite way to eat quinoa!

To eating our veggies and loving them too,