Description
Baked oatmeal trailside treat bars work perfectly when you need a portable breakfast or snack that actually keeps you satisfied between activities. These chewy bars come together quickly with basic pantry ingredients, and you can customize them with your favorite nuts, dried fruit, or chocolate chips to match what you like.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup chopped mixed nuts
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients:
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350°F and line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper so your bars release cleanly.
- Combine 2 cups of rolled oats, 1/2 cup chopped nuts, 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/4 cup seeds, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.
- Whisk together your 2 eggs, 1/3 cup honey, 1/4 cup applesauce, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in another bowl until smooth.
- Pour your wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir everything together until the oats are fully coated.
- Press your mixture firmly into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly across the bottom.
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes until the top turns golden brown and feels set when you touch it lightly.
- Let your pan cool completely at room temperature so the bars firm up and hold together nicely.
- Once cooled, lift the whole batch out using the parchment paper and cut it into 12 bars with a sharp knife.
- Store your bars in an airtight container where they’ll stay fresh and ready whenever you need a quick snack.
Notes
- These bars hold together better when they cool completely in the pan, so resist cutting into them while they’re still warm or they’ll crumble apart on you.
- If your dried cranberries are very hard, soak them in warm water for a few minutes before mixing to plump them up and keep the bars moist.
- Swap the cranberries and sunflower seeds for whatever dried fruit and nuts work for your diet-raisins and almonds, or coconut flakes and pecans work just as well.
- Since these bars are naturally sweetened with honey and applesauce, the texture depends on how thoroughly you mix the wet and dry ingredients, so take time to combine everything evenly.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: With Oat
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
- Calories: 206 kcal
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 93 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 27 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 37 mg