Vegan Hidden Veggie Protein Bars

Preheat oven to 400ºF and run an 8×8 inch baking pan with coconut oil.

Spread oats onto a large baking sheet evenly and bake in oven until lightly golden brown, about 7 minutes. Sprinkle coconut evenly on top of the oats and place back in oven until golden brown, just about 1 minute. The coconut cooks very quickly, so watch closely. Remove from oven and let cool. Turn oven temperature down to 300ºF.

In a large food processor, process carrots until they resemble small peas. Add cauliflower and process until it is broken down and looks like rice. Finally, add spinach and process until broken down into small pieces.

Transfer vegetable mixture into a large bowl and add coconut sugar, protein powder, salt, hemp hearts and toasted oatmeal and coconut. Stir until well combined.

In a medium, microwave safe bowl, place almond butter, maple syrup and coconut oil. Microwave until liquid and bubbling, about 1–2 minutes. Whisk wet ingredients together until almond butter is smooth, and then pour into dry ingredients. Stir until mixture forms a crumbly, wet dough and then use your hands to bring it all together until it is evenly mixed.

Press mixture evenly into prepared baking pan. Pack it into pan as hard as you can. Bake until top turns light golden brown and a little bit crispy, 30–35 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and then place into the refrigerator to cool completely. Slice into bars and devour.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.