Sweet potato, oats and UnTapped Maple Syrup

Contributed by Professional Triathlete Fiona Moriarty

Training for and racing in endurance sports is really, really hard. But what makes it harder than it needs to be is not fueling enough. We’ve all been on a ride or a long day where you just hit a wall. Maybe you forgot gels, or didn’t eat something with enough carbohydrates and you just barely make it home – absolutely wrecked.

I try to avoid that smashed feeling at all costs. With high level triathlon training, I have multiple workouts a day so fueling well during and after each session is absolutely critical. Why? It’s harder to show up and execute the next session if I’m trying to dig myself out of a nutritional hole.

That means I’m always keeping UnTapped close by during sessions, especially for high intensity work. For longer bike rides and recovering post-workout, I’ve come up with treats called Pickier Bars. Made with sweet potato, oats and UnTapped maple syrup (duh!) these bars taste great and keep bonking at bay.

Pickier Bars Ingredients

3 Cups Quick Oats
1 Cup Almond Meal
2 Cooked Medium Sweet Potatoes
2 Eggs
½ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 Packets of UnTapped Maple (½ Cup Maple Syrup)
½ Cup Organic Dark Chocolate Chips
¼ Cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes (optional)
Sea Salt (1/8 – 1/4 tsp, or 2-3 pinches flaky sea salt)
½ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Cinnamon (one big pinch)
¼ tsp Ground Allspice (one big pinch)
¼ tsp Ground Cloves (one big pinch)
Demerara or Turbinado Sugar for dusting on top

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 and cover a 9×9 pan with parchment paper.
Cook your sweet potatoes. Take a fork and stab your sweet potatoes all over and pop them in the microwave for 6-8 minutes. Once your fork can go all of the way through the potato – even in the thickest part- those spuds are done.
Add all of your dry ingredients to a bowl. Mix together with your hand or a whisk until incorporated.
Add olive oil, maple syrup, eggs, and sweet potato, minus the skin. Tip: I add the olive oil then use the same ½ cup measure to add the maple syrup. The leftover oil helps it slide right out.
Using a big spoon, fork, or your hand, mix until thoroughly incorporated. (Don’t forget to get everything at the bottom of the bowl!)
Add chocolate chips and coconut if using. The batter should be thick and wet. If you taste it at this point, it’s absolutely delicious but not crazy sweet.
Pour batter into a 9×9 baking pan and gently press until it’s evenly distributed in the tin. Add a few pinches of turbinado sugar over the top of the batter.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges are starting to become a golden brown. Remove from the tin after about 5 minutes and let cool on a baking rack.
Cut them in squares and wrap them in plastic wrap or aluminum foil for high-quality carbs on the go.

Maple Fanatic Pro Fiona Moriarty is a former Irish step dancer and soccer player who began track in high school as way to stay in shape. While attending Williams College she raced the 400m and 800m events on the track and after graduating she became a member of New Balance Boston. Some bumps in the road helped her find another sport as while recovering from a stress fracture she bought a bike and was hooked. She began racing triathlons and in 2019 she earned her pro card.
Throughout her athletic journey Fiona has also had a nutritional journey as she has learned that to sustain her pace of life she needed to full properly.
Follow Fiona @fionamoriartytri

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