KITCHEN TEST (TRY MY VERSION): Perez Hilton's Vegan, Gluten-Free Oat-Banana-Applesauce Squares

Tiffany's Healthy Squares. Make them tonight!

I'm always up for a new healthy dessert recipe. I like eating whole foods and, when it's time for dessert, I prefer to go to a local bakery or to bake my own. I don't like preservatives, added corn syrup, food coloring; many of the the things that go into packaged desserts.

I saw this recipe floating around facebook (an eggless, flourless, vegan, no added sugar recipe). It immediately interested me, but I wanted to make a couple of changes. I have a sensitivity to almonds, so I used cashew milk instead of almond (I am sure that you could use soy or rice milk, if you have a nut-free diet). I love raisins, but not in baked goods, so I omitted the raisins, and when I saw it looking so bland, I threw in 1 T chocolate chips (these are, however, not vegan but you can get vegan carob chips and use those). 

The original recipe, by Perez Hilton.

This recipe is, in a word, fantastic. The squares are sweet, but not too sweet, and have a nice gooey texture to them. I put the recipe into the app MyFitnessPal and divided it by 9, finding that the recipe has only 153 healthy calories a square. My 14 year old son even enjoyed it. I've shared my version of the recipe with you, below. Try it, and let me know what you think.

Here's everything you'll need.

Tiffany's (Take on Perez Hilton's) Healthy Squares
3 mashed bananas (ripe)
1/3 cup unsweetened, organic apple sauce (one single cup of apple sauce is just slightly over 1/3 c)
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup cashew milk
1 T chocolate chips
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 t cinnamon

Mix well.

Spray 8" x 8" pan with nonstick spray and spread mixture evenly. Bake at 350* for 15 - 20 minutes. Cut into 9 slices. Enjoy.