Healthy Gingerbread Bars made with whole grains, natural sugar, and filled with heart-healthy walnuts! The perfect snack with all the seasonal flavor you love around the holidays. Gluten-free, high protein, and absolutely delicious!
Thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring this tasty recipe.
I was helping my mom look for one of her favorite cookbooks recently and while rummaging through my parents storage boxes in their basement, I stumbled across a little handwritten recipe book that my mom started when I was little.
It was such a treat to find as I have a ton of great memories of my mom making something new for me to try and then writing the “winners” down in the book with little notes about my reactions. So many childhood favorite grace the pages of that tattered blue and white recipe book. All my mom’s own creations that she made with love for my family as I was growing up.
Things like…
Crispy Corn Flake Baked Chicken Fingers
Turkey and Vegetable Stew
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Chocolate Pudding Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
White Clam Sauce Pasta
Creamy Mushroom Chicken and Rice
Honey Nut Granola
and SO MANY MORE!!
As I was turning through the pages, a great idea to came to my mind! I thought it would be fun (for you and me!) to slowly go through the book and share the recipes on the blog. With a few “Healthy Helper” twists of course!
First up? My mom’s Healthy Gingerbread Bars with Walnuts! My ALL TIME favorite fall snack when I was little. But really, I’d ask my mom to make these ANY time of year because they are just that good.
I always LOVED baking with my mom as a kid and, just like I do now, we always stocked our kitchen with the best of the best Bob’s Red Mill ingredients. My mom was the one who started my love of using high quality, healthy ingredients to make snacks and treats, so it only makes sense that I’ve stuck with Bob’s products to this very day.
Although I made a few changes to my mom’s original recipe, the things that have remained the same are the use of FIVE amazing Bob’s Red Mill products:
(All of which are staples in my pantry!)
Full of whole grain goodness, tons of crunchy walnuts, and just the right amount of sweetness to make all the spices super flavorful, these bars make the perfect snack or even quick n’ easy breakfast for your whole family! They’d definitely make a fun Christmas morning breakfast since they TASTE like dessert.
Healthy Gingerbread Bars with Walnuts
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 30 bars 1x
- Category: Sweet Snacks
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp earth balance butter or unsalted margarine
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Date Sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 cup black strap molasses
- 1 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill buckwheat flour
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oat flour
- 3/4 tsp Bob’s Red Mill baking powder
- 3/4 tsp Bob’s Red Mill baking soda
- 1/4 cup dry skim milk powder
- 3/4 tsp powdered ginger
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12 1/2 X 8 in baking pan with non stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, beat margarine at medium speed until creamy. Add sugar and beat at high speed until light, 1-2 minutes. Add egg whites and continue to mix. Add molasses and beat until no lumps remain. In a separate bowl, sift together flours, dry skim milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Add sifted ingredients into margarine mixture and stir together thoroughly. Fold in nuts. The dough will be sticky.
- Place dough in the center of the prepped pan. Using a spatula, spread dough evenly in pan, and bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool at least 5 minutes. Cut into 30 bars (or however many you’d like!).
I love these bars warm…fresh out of the oven with a light smear of buttery spread. Mmmmmm. Brings be right back to after school snacks as a kid or Saturday baking extravaganzas with my mom. Isn’t it amazing how food can hold such dear memories?
I hope you’ll give these Gingerbread Bars a try….even if it’s for no other reason than the fact that we are entering the season for all things gingerbread flavored! “Gingerbread season” doesn’t last very long, so we all need to soak up all the gingerbread goodies we can while it’s still seasonably appropriate. Starting with these Healthy Gingerbread Bars, of course!
Tell me a food or recipe that brings back good memories for you!
Do you like gingerbread flavored baked goods?

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You seem to have such a balanced outlook; good for you! 🙂 To be honest I’m not sure I can say quite the same regarding if things had more calories… I mean, I do enjoy them, but if they were really HIGH in calories I would probably avoid eating as much of them as I do.
And those bars look AMAZING!! 🙂 I LOVE everything gingerbready 😉
<3
n
I really enjoyed hearing your response to the question about comparing healthy foods to junk/”unhealthy” foods, as I can relate to much of what you mentioned.
For instance, I love putting carrots+pineapple+cinnamon/nutmeg+raisins in my oatmeal–a flavor which a lot of bloggers immediately seem to label as “carrot cake.” Being that the ingredients are so similar, I can see why the comparison is made. However, to be honest, though said oatmeal is delicious, it doesn’t really taste like true carrot cake.
And frankly, that’s okay because (duh) it’s not carrot cake–it’s just darn good oatmeal 🙂
i love your Q and A! great questions and great answers! your recipe looks great! i must check out the blogger bake sale 🙂
Great answers to all of the questions, I love how mature you are!
You get some pretty interesting questions! I liked the one about making a healthy version of something, and then saying that it tastes exactly like ice cream or a slice of cake. The only reason it does is because they probably haven’t had the real thing in so long that they can’t remember how it tastes. I used to do that a lot, especially when it came to baking. I’d managed to convince myself that the “treats” I made using applesauce in place of oil and not adding sugar were delicious, when really… they weren’t lol. Theres just no substitution for the real thing, and I don’t think I could ever go back.
that last question is a good one! I guess the thing is, are they good calories or bad calories. Does the apple still have the same nutritional benefits. For example, frosting is lower in calories per tbsp. than peanut butter, but we eat the peanut butter because it’s better for us. I also agree that it’s weird when people try to compare things to unhealthy treats… I would never compare a healthy chocolate muffin to a hostess chocolate cake, but I still prefer my muffin because I think it tastes better and doesn’t make me feel sick!
Awesome answers girl!!! You are such a good, healthy role model. 😀
Happy Friday!!!
Loved your answer girl! They were really thoughtful and just another reason why I am loving your blog, you have such a healthy attitude about things, and not in an overly “must only eat perfectly low calorie clean foods” way that I think some people get caught up in often. It is sort of sad when I see perfectly healthy people trying to eat less and exercise more, even when they are already healthy the way they are. And those gingerbread bars look so good! I love how certain foods can bring up memories 🙂
“I just enjoy the healthy foods for what they are….not what they’re trying to be a substitute for.”
AMEN to that sister! I find it uncomfortable to see healthy substitutes of regular foods…maybe it reminds me of my eating disorder, Idk haha. I guess that’s why I have a STRONG aversion towards Hungry Girl :
Great post btw!
♥
Thanks Paola!!!
[…] for all the great feedback and discussion on my last post! Everyone had an awesome take on that last Q and A question! I loved reading everyone’s […]
[…] an oldie but goodie recipe that has been in my family for years! I featured it on the blog back in the early days and I’m happy to be reviving it to share again on College Lifestyles and with all of you. […]
Thanks for sharing at the What’s for dinner party. Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving.
Thanks Helen!! Enjoy!!
Hi, these looks so yummy! I love love all things gingerbread. I was wondering what I could replace the milk powder with? I’m not sure how my vegan vanilla protein powder would work. Never used it in baking. It has a lot of fermented ingredients in it and not sure it should be heated. It has various organic and sprouted pea proteins and rice proteins, cacao, matcha powder, chia, greens, organic fruit and veg, and whole lot more. I do think the skim milk would have the better flavour. Or could I replace with almond milk? If so, I would have to judge how much liquid according to the consistency of the batter. What is the purpose of having the milk powder in it?
You could probably replace it with coconut milk powder! Like this: https://amzn.to/2DXYYAU
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