Tarahumara Inspired Peanut Butter Banana Energy Bars

Have you read Born To Run yet? If you haven’t, drop everything and go pick up a copy and read it. Now. Seriously guys, it’s that good. Kelly read the book first and mailed it to me, telling me to read it. However I looked at the title and thought “Meh, I don’t feel like reading some motivational-get-you-inspired-to-run-and-love-running book” and set it aside. Fast forward a few months and I finally decided to start reading. I was hooked. Immediately. I kept telling my boyfriend over and over “you have to read this! It’s so good!” But you see, he’s not a runner and had a pile of other books to read, so he too set it aside for months. Well, now that he’s read it (in under a week I think) and has become obsessed with running more and eating healthier, I think I’m regretting my decision to make him read it (aka I’m lazy). He had me hiking/trail running every day last week with him. 5 miles! Up hill! Ok ok, I can’t complain too much. It was almost 60 degrees here and this was our view from the top:

If you have read it, then you know all about the Tarahumara and their incredible running abilities. Brief recap, these are a tribe of Indians in Chihuahua, Mexico, who run over 100 miles at a time. For fun. And they do so in leather sandals, through cliffs and canyons, at record-breaking speeds. Oh…and they rarely get tired. What?! How!! Mentioned a few times in the book is a “magical” substance called pinole that they eat for an energy boost throughout their runs. In its basic form, it is toasted corn mixed with sugar and/or a few spices. That’s it, nothing special. It can be added to water as a drink, eaten as a paste, or baked into bars. First thing’s first, toasting the cornmeal until it starts to brown.

Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t like any of those fancy running gel snack things. Before Kelly and I ran our half marathon together we tried a few samples walking around the expo. And we were greatly disappointed with each one. So I was all for trying something different as an energy booster.

The original recipe I found for pinole is from Matt Frazier over at No Meat Athlete. It was…ok. If you want to try a traditional pinole recipe, try this one first. It wasn’t bad by any means, I just already am grumpy when I’m running and the last thing I want is a mediocre tasting snack. I wanted to switch it up a bit.

I decided to make my bars peanut butter and banana flavored. I still wanted the bars to be healthy and natural, but I needed something that tasted more like a treat (what can I say, I’m basically still a child). The base is  cornmeal though, so don’t be expecting a smooth cookie/cake texture when you bite into these. Think more like cornbread meets granola bar sort of thing.

I was pretty excited with how this turned out and want to try experimenting with other flavors or add ins. Maybe some apple cinnamon? Some raisins? I feel much better about myself grabbing one of these bars to snack on after a work out than a highly processed “energy” bar. Even ones that are organic and natural, nothing beats homemade. Plus, the recipe is incredibly easy and quick to make. Enjoy!

~Stephanie

Tarahumara Inspired Peanut Butter Banana Energy Bars (original recipe from No Meat Athlete)

• 1/2 c corn meal
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp honey or agave nectar
• 1/4 c peanut butter
• 1/2 banana
• ~1 tbsp water

1. In a skillet on medium heat, toast the cornmeal until it begins to brown. About 5 minutes or so
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl to form a paste (If it seems to dry, add a bit more water)
3. Spread paste about 1/2 inch thick onto cookie sheet
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until edges begin to harden
5. Let cool and cut into bars