Ridiculously Simple Any-Fruit Oatmeal Bars

One packaged snack food that I do like to indulge in is Kashi TLC cereal bars. At $3-$4 a box, though, I really need to be making my own fruit and grain bars--plus then I can share them with the kids without food contamination worries. This recipe is based on my Grandma Langlois's fig neaton recipe, which calls for 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of butter.  Those were true dessert cookies, needless to say, but this updated version is breakfast- and snack-worthy as well.  And a cinch to make!  With two kids, it is way easier to make these at home than to take our traveling circus on the road to Target to buy pre-packaged breakfast bars.

 

1 1/4 cups oat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup liquid sweetener (agave nectar, maple syrup, brown rice syrup)
1/4 cup canola or melted coconut oil
1/2 cup jam of choice (I used Trader Joe's fig butter in the ones I made today.)

Oil a 9 inch square baking pan and preheat the oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, oats, salt, and baking soda. Add the sweetener and oil and mix together with a fork until crumbly and evenly moistened. Press roughly 1/2 of the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the jam evenly over the bottom crust. Sprinkle the remaining crust crumbs evenly over the jam and press them down a bit. Bake the bars in the preheated oven for  25-30 minutes, until just slightly golden on the top.  Let the bars cool completely before cutting, or else they will be messy.

This recipe is also posted on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesdays, and Wellness Weekend. Check out all these great recipe collections!

On to the cute pictures! We had a blast being silly at the children's museum in Phoenix this weekend: