Breakfast Bars

Laurie asked for my breakfast bar recipe so I'm putting it here. I'll never remember to send it to her directly.

A couple of notes:
This is a VERY forgiving recipe. I've never made it the same way twice.
It's quite "frugal" and quite healthy. Beware of the fiber if you aren't used to it.

Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats (NOT quick cooking)
2 cups of assorted fiber and protein (I mix ground flax, oat bran, wheat bran, protein powder, nutritional yeast, ground oats, ground nuts, sunflower seeds, whatever)
2 apples grated with skin on, or a cup or so of apple sauce
1/4 cup sweetener (maple syrup, sugar, honey) OR a tiny bit of stevia
1 cup fake milk (I prefer almond milk)
dried fruit (however much you like up to about 2/3 cup. I like dried cranberries or cherries)
bit of vanilla
bit of cinnamon
bit of nutmeg (I think some ground ginger could be nice depending on what you're putting in)
bit of baking soda
2 eggs or egg substitute (e.g. 1T ground flax in a bit of hot water = 1 egg, or EnerG egg replacer)
Anything else that strikes your fancy
If the lack of flour bothers you, you can put some in, about 1/2 cup seems to do well if the apples were pretty juicy. I leave this out now as it makes the bars even more dense.


The batter should be almost a dough, but still a batter. It's HEAVY. This is not a low-calorie breakfast bar.

Press into a greased and floured 9X13 or 8X11 pan

Bake at 350 until a knife comes out clean (or cleanish). Since I use fake-eggs, there really isn't anything that has to be cooked so I just go until they are dry and look like they'll come out of the pan ok.

Cool in pan.

If I've greased and floured the pan well enough, I can tip the cooled bars out onto a cutting board in one piece and cut them in chunks more easily. If they don't want to come out, you can cut like brownies and dig them out of the pan with a spatula.

Really, these are SUPER fibery and you WILL poop.

Enjoy!


No 'Poo update: it is rainy and humid here today and that might be contributing to my bouncy, wavy, slightly frizzy hair. BUT I can run my fingers through it (which previously could only be done after a good brushing) and even after a day in a tight ponytail, once I took the tail out my hair popped up rather than staying stuck to my head like a peeled grape. It is less stringy than with shampoo. My head is a bit itchy, but not like before and no one called me "pickles" so it must not be too vinegary.