My most charming trait (and one that my husband lovingly adores) is my habit of eating in the car. This habit stems from growing up in a busy family with multiple kids and going multiple places. Everyone does it, don’t they? But… I am married to a man that doesn’t think everyone does it and definitely doesn’t appreciate a crumb-filled car. So we have worked out a system. I eat only food that he can not trace back to me. This system works well but I always need easily transferable, non-messy foods that won’t give me away. Foods perfect for late mornings, work lunches and errand running so not one can detect my eating frenzy. This has led me to the beautiful breakfast bar.
Unlike granola bars or nutty fruit bars, these protein bars are truly crumb-free (and can be nut- free). They might be the most awesome travel bar treat for kids of all ages. Best part is that they are completely easy to make. They even happened by accident, as I just dumped a few things into the blender, popped them in the oven and hoped for the best. “The best” were delicious bars that were better than I had imagined!
The name ‘Cinnamon Protein Breakfast Bars’ came only after serious deliberation. They had me quite puzzled upon first taste… I tasted cinnamon strongly but there was also an eggy consistency that sparked an undeniable flavor of german pancakes. Eggy and sweet.  Call these what you will; they are a fantastic on-the-go breakfast and taste great with applesauce or jam spread over their crackled tops.
These bars are nice and thick, hold together well and are packed with three sources of protein. Hurray, eggs, almond milk and garbanzo beans!
Do garbanzo beans make you want to run away screaming? These bars turned out sweeter than I had planned and the beans are perfectly hidden by the sweet milk, dates and cinnamon. Really! You can’t beat these sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free and protein-rich bars. Try them!
Cinnamon Protein Breakfast Bars
1 can rinsed and drained, Garbanzo Beans
3/4 cup Almond Milk or Coconut Milk
1 3/4 teaspoons Cinnamon, divided
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 cup Gluten Free Oats
8 Large Medjool Dates, pitted (try the link shown or get from Costco!)
1/2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla or Almond Extract
3 Large Eggs
Soak dates in hot water for 10 minutes. In a high powdered blender, blend up all the ingredients (reserving 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon for dusting over top) until smooth (or slightly chunky for more textured bars if you prefer) .
Pour into a lightly greased or parchment lined 9 by 9 glass baking dish. Sprinkle more cinnamon on top of the bars. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or the tops have crackled and edges have become golden.
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Christina Bauer says
I LOVE THESE! Made them Sunday for this week’s breakfasts and holy WOW. So tasty, easy to make and downright healthy! I love this :)
Annie says
Yay! So happy you enjoyed these!
Nicole @ Foodie Loves Fitness says
Haha, I am totally a car eater too! I actually was just thinking about it yesterday, because I vacuumed my car just last weekend, and when I got out of my car last night, there were granola bar crumbs all in my seat. Whoopsies! It’s impossible to not make a mess with the Nature Valley bars I always keep in my car. Though they’re yummy, I definitely should switch to something less messy!
miranda says
These are so yummy, and what a great texture. Personally, I wouldnt have minded if it was a tad sweeter, but if you add berries or a banana or even some brown sugar sprinkled on top it’s quite perfect.
Annie says
Hi Miranda, Glad you liked them. Yes, they could certainly be sweeter. I chose not to make them any more sweet to comply with our sugar-free challenge and because many people like to keep their sugar intake down in the mornings. I have tried these with fresh fruit on top as dessert and it was tasty! My favorite was banana! :) You could also increase the dates by 1 or 2 if you’d like. I’m glad you shared your feedback. Thank you for posting!
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
What a great idea! These are perfect for a grab and go kind of breakfast.
Emily says
Oh I have got to try these! Glad I found this recipe, just what I’m looking for.
Annie says
Hope you enjoy these, Emily!
Sam @ PancakeWarriors says
Well hello gorgeous!! This is FANTASTIC – you know the way to my heart!! Cinnamon everything please! And this girl loves a good homemade protein bars. Thanks for sharing, pinning!
Annie says
Thanks, Sam!! Thanks for pinning! :)
Mandie | Mandie's Kitchen says
These look SO good! I love cinnamon breakfast bar recipes! I’ve tried quite a few healthy dessert/breakfast recipes made with garbanzo beans, and I totally love them!
I have a question about your sidebar. Did you make your Tastespotting badge? Or can you get one from the Tastespotting website? I can’t find a “badges” section on Tastespotting.
Anyway, I love browsing through all your sugar free recipes here! If there is one thing that I’ve super conscious of, it’s my sugar intake. I’m not diabetic or anything, but I deem sugar as something to be watched out for. I try to keep my sugar intake under 25 grams a day…..All the sugary dessert recipes I make for my blog are mainly eaten by my family and friends – I just limit myself to a few tastes! =D
Annie says
Hi Mandi, We did make our own Tastespotting badge. We just found a font that we liked and stuck it in a basic square template.
Thanks for looking through our site! Sugar is sooo sneaky so it’s great you try to manage it. It’s hard to get away from it entirely, but we hope our sugar-free recipes will help balance it out! :) Thanks for the comment!
Jane Wolfe says
Have you tried freezing these? They look great and I’m always looking for something to grab as a snack in “emergencies”. I don’t think I could eat a whole batch before it went south.
Annie says
Hi Jane, we haven’t tried freezing these yet, but will try soon. They do last up to about 3 days in an airtight container at room temp or 4 or 5 days in the fridge.
Annie says
UPDATE: We had frozen a few of these bars a couple days ago when this questions as asked and recently tried them after thawing. They tasted just the same! They would probably freeze well for up to 2 or 3 weeks.
Kelli H (made in sonoma) says
These look delicious! I haven’t really added beans back into my diet since Whole30 because they tend to give me a stomach ache but I might have to give these a try anyway.
Annie says
Oh I’m sorry to hear black beans make you feel so crummy but glad you were able to decipher that through Whole30. I’m not if you like these or not, but you could also use chickpeas in place of the garbanzo beans and perhaps that wouldn’t bother you so much? If you make them, I hope you like them and they don’t upset your stomach!