Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
2 2/3 cups oats
1/3 cup flax seed meal
1/2 cup dried fruit
2/3 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans)
1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 medium bananas, mashed
1 liquid egg replacer (I use Ener G)
1/3 cup canola oil
1-2 tablespoons agave nectar
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet. Combine all the dry ingredients and mix well.
2. Add mashed bananas, prepared egg replacer, oil and sweetener and mix well until blended and mixture is sticky. Add water, as needed for a sticky consistency.
3. Shape dough into bars on prepared cookie sheet, making the bars about 1/3" thick. I would definitely recommend shaping all the bars at one time, because the longer the dough sits, the stickier it gets.
4. Bake for 15 minutes.
I make these for my husband in lieu of buying him store bought breakfast bars. They are healthier and cheaper.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
So...I didn't like these. I used mostly dried apples and a bit of apricots, almonds, sunflower seeds, and walnuts. For the sweetner I used 1 T mollasses and 1 T agave nectar. I spread it out in a 9x13 dish and baked at 350 for 20 minutes or so. They came out springy, dry, and boring. I wil definately try these again but with only apricots and coconut and a lot more sweetner. I wish there was a way to either make them crunchy like the real deal or soft and smooth like an oatmeal cookie. Any ideas?
These were great! Easy to make! Very tasty! Kids loved them! Went quickly!
Sweetner- Maple Syrup
Seeds- Sunflower Seeds because my daugher is allergic to nuts.
Flaxmeal- ground flaxseed in a coffee grinder for fresh flaxmeal.
Egg Substitute- 1 TBSP ground flaxseed and 3 TBSP of hot water for the egg substitute.
As suggested in a previous review- 9 x13 Baking Pan; pressed the mixture in the pan and cut bars while warm.
I love this recipe! It is such a great healthy snack :) I made it for the second time last week, not as healthy since I was going on a family trip and putting copious amounts of chocolate was the only way to get them to eat it, but they were still great. I halve the recipe and still had a ton! I put in some walnuts, dried apples, dried dates, currant, and choco chips. I used applesauce too. It was delicious :) I can't stop eating them!
The only problem I have is that they never seem to firm up. Do I need to leave them in longer or are they supposed to be soft?
I really like these for a quick and healthy snack. Unfortunately, I have a serious sweet tooth and so it wasn't quite sweet enough for me the first time but the second time I added a little more brown sugar and it was perfect. I love the flexibility of this recipe you can pretty much throw in whatever you have in the cupboard..dried cranberries, apricots, coconut, almonds, chocolate chips....mmmm so good.
These are great! SOOOO easy to make! I used dried apples and dates and brown sugar for the sweetner, might use some fruit with a bit more flavour next time. I sprinkled a bit of shredded chocolate on top and it was a great addition, I might stick 'em inside next time. I really enjoyed these, I can see a bunch of experiments with them in the future. Also made a half recipe, which is great for just one person...especially since I'm finding that I'm lacking the willpower to go eat them all at once!
I also just put them into a small baking/casserole dish and cut them into pieces rather than getting all messy trying to form them, it worked great.
YUM! These are a great, natural alternative to the whey containing granola bars I usually eat. The only modifications I made were whole wheat flour in place of the flax seed meal (I'm not familiar with that ingredient), and the addition of some vegan chocolate chips.
I was bored so...
Here are some interesting Flax facts.
Flax fibers have been used for 5000 years to make linens. Today, flax are grown mostly for the flax seeds which are used for their nutritional value. They contain high levels of Omega-3 (alpa-linolenic) fatty acids and lignans. Lignans may benefit the heart and also possess anticancer properties. Studies have found they help reduce tumors and may benefit certain types of breast and prostate cancer. Flax seed can also help stabilize blood sugar levels, good for diabetes. It has high dietary fiber and can be used as a laxative when consumed with liquid. They are also said to help hormonal imbalances.
Flax seeds are also used to make flaxseed oil or linseed oil. The whole seeds are chemically stable and will last for years in a cool dark place. Ground flax seeds and their oil do not keep very long especially when exposed to oxygen. Both become rancid very quickly even when refridgerated. Ground flax seeds will last for only a couple days in the fridge or up to month frozen, believe me you'll know when it turns, Yuck! Ground flax seeds can be used as an egg replacer in certain recipes, like baked goods. Combine 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds with 2-3 tablespoons water = 1 egg.
Here is some nutritional info on flax seeds from the USDA Nutrient Database:
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 530 kcal 2230 kJ
Carbohydrates 28.88 g
- Sugars 1.55 g
- Dietary fiber 27.3 g
Fat 42.16 g
Protein 18.29 g
Thiamin (Vit. B1) 1.644 mg 126%
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.161 mg 11%
Niacin (Vit. B3) 3.08 mg 21%
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.985 mg 20%
Vitamin B6 0.473 mg 36%
Folate (Vit. B9) 0 μg 0%
Vitamin C 0.6 mg 1%
Calcium 255 mg 26%
Iron 5.73 mg 46%
Magnesium 392 mg 106%
Phosphorus 642 mg 92%
Potassium 813 mg 17%
Zinc 4.34 mg 43%
% based on average adult diet
OMG so good!!! For the flax meal I just ground the flax seeds up in my Magic Bullet (you could also use a coffee grinder). This was a much cheaper way to do it (versus buying flax meal at the store). I put in dried apples, cranberries, dates, prunes, coconut, almonds, and pecans. For sweetener I used brown sugar. Like everyone else, pressed the mixture into pans and then cut them into bars later. I didn't think it made much but after having a small square I had to stop eating because I was SO FULL (and I was sad because they are SO DELICIOUS). I will definitely be making this again with different ingredients each time! So much fun!
I just made these, and they also turned out great!
I made a couple changes though...
2/3 cup applesauce in place of the bananas, because bananas are out of season.
cold-pressed unrefined coconut oil in place of the canola oil.
I got out the Ener-G but forgot to add it, but they turned out so well, I will probably not include it in future batches.
trail mix in place of the dried fruit and nuts.
I had to bake mine 5 min longer, but I'm also at a high altitude.
pressed mine into a 13 x 9" baking pan and cut them while they were still warm.
I will add more sweetner next time, maybe even just 1/3 cup of sugar.
my husband thinks the flax seed was too strong, so next time I will use half flax seed and half wheat germ (or similar).
p.s. I noticed that some people don't know where to get flax seed meal. I just buy whole flax seeds in bulk and grind them up in my coffee grinder. The flax seed keeps longer unground too.
I made these last night and they turned out pretty good. My bf and I never have time for breakfast in the morning so I wanted something healthy we could take in the car. I didn't use nuts because my bf doesn't eat them so I added a small amount of dark chocolate chips (dark chocolate is healthy right? ;))but next time I'm going to make a batch with nuts just for me. Thanks for the recipe!
Wow any recipe with this many reviews has got to be good, can't wait to try it!
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