S has been complaining that the grain-free bars I make are too sweet. Really? This is coming from the child who would love nothing more than to eat a bowl of icing. But, okay, I like bars, so I’m game for finding a new recipe. I prefer to stay away from wheat, when we can, so these super-easy oat bars from KathEats.com sounded interesting. There’s no sugar or flour, just oats, dried fruit and a bunch of nuts and seeds. If you’re sensitive to gluten, use gluten-free oats. (I’m a fan of the ones from Bob’s Red Mill.)
The verdict? It’s a keeper. But I will be playing with it some, trying different nuts, fruits and coconut. S thought they weren’t sweet enough (The other bar is too sweet and this one not sweet enough. Ack!), but C liked them. And I had two with my cup of coffee this morning. For the next go-around, I’ll add 1/4 cup of honey or brown sugar.
Note: These have the texture of a dense muffin, rather than a crunchy cookie. Recipe follows the photo.
Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars (from KathEats.com)
Ingredients
1 1/2 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. chopped nuts (any variety is fine – walnuts, almonds, etc.)
1/2 c. dried fruit (again, any you like is fine – raisins, cranberries, apricots, dates, figs)
1/4 c. seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, flax or sesame)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. kosher salt (I think you could eliminate this or cut it to 1/2 tsp., esp. if you don’t add a sweetener)
1 1/4 c. skim milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients.
Mix wet ingredients.
Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine.
Pour into a 9X9 baking dish either coated in cooking spray or lined with parchment.
Bake for 40 minutes.
Cut into squares.
