Oatmeal On the Go

Oatmeal Bars

Who doesn’t like a sweet warm bowl of oatmeal on a cold morning?  It fills you up, warms you from the inside out and is usually a nutritionally sound option (so long as you don’t add a lot of additional sugar).  A favorite sweetener in our house is mashed up bananas, or frozen berries, mixed into cooked oatmeal and topped with a little cinnamon and chopped walnuts.  Unfortunately the most nutrient dense oatmeal choices are the ones that take the longest to prepare (steel cut) and sometimes trying to cook even regular oats quickly in the morning doesn’t turn out so well.  And although I have tried the trick of par boiling oats the night before, I also find that cumbersome, and to be honest, oatmeal is always best when freshly cooked.  One simple solution?  Oatmeal bars and cookies made to go!!  You can prepare the dry mixture the day before, although these recipes literally take minutes to throw together, and then bake them quickly in the morning.  I even think they taste good the next day, and the day after that, so long as they are stored tightly in the fridge and reheated a bit before eating.  The ingredients are interchangeable depending on what types of dried fruits and nuts you prefer or have on hand.  The following are some of my favorites...  and they are literally as healthy as a bowl of oatmeal... on the go!!

Happy Breakfast Baking!!

Baked Blueberry Pecan Oatmeal Bars

finished product

1 1/2 C. organic old fashioned oats
1/2 C. chopped pecans
1/2 C. dried blueberries
1/4 C. ground flax seeds
1/4 C. brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C. organic soy milk
1 egg, whisked (or 1/3 C. soaked chia seeds)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Stir together the oats, pecans, dried blueberries, flax seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add milk, egg, and vanilla then stir to combine. Pour mixture into a nonstick sprayed 8”×8” baking dish then bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes our clean. Cool completely then cut into bars/triangles and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, or individually wrap and freeze. Microwave to reheat.

*Can substitute half of the brown sugar with blueberry jam.

getting ready to wrap some up to go!

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Baked Cherry Almond Oatmeal Bars

ready to bake

1 1/2 C. organic old fashioned oats
1/2 C. chopped almonds
1/2 C. dried cherries
1/4 C. ground flax seeds
1/4 C. brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C. organic soy milk
1 egg, whisked (or 1/3 C. soaked chia seeds)
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Stir together the oats, almonds, dried cherries, flax seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add milk, egg, and almond extract then stir to combine. Pour mixture into a nonstick sprayed 8”×8” baking dish then bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes our clean. Cool completely then cut into bars/triangles and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, or individually wrap and freeze. Microwave to reheat.

*Can substitute half of the brown sugar with cherry jam.

ready to enjoy!!

Great with a side of fruit!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Baked Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Bars

walnuts & cranberries

1 1/2 C. organic old fashioned oats
1/2 C. chopped walnuts
1/2 C. dried cranberries
1/4 C. ground flax seeds
1/4 C. brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C. organic soy milk
1 egg, whisked (or 1/3 C. soaked chia seeds)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Stir together the oats, walnuts, dried cranberries, flax seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add milk, egg, and vanilla then stir to combine. Pour mixture into a nonstick sprayed 8”×8” baking dish then bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes our clean. Cool completely then cut into bars/triangles and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, or individually wrap and freeze. Microwave to reheat.

*Can substitute half of the brown sugar with cranberry jelly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Baked Choconut Oatmeal Bars

 (a slightly more indulgent version)  J

finished product

1 1/2 C. organic old fashioned oats
1/2 C. chopped pecans
1/3 C. organic unsweetened shredded coconut

1/3 C. dark chocolate chips
1/4 C. ground flax seeds
1/3 C. brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C. organic soy milk
1 egg, whisked (or 1/3 C. soaked chia seeds)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

 Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Stir together oats, pecans, coconut, chocolate chips, flax seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add milk, egg, and vanilla then stir to combine. Pour mixture into a nonstick sprayed 8”×8” baking dish then bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes our clean. Cool completely then cut into bars/triangles and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, or individually wrap and freeze. Microwave to reheat.

good enough for dessert!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 C. almond butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 C. uncooked organic oats 

mixed with both dark and
white chocolate chips

              (quick or regular, or a combination)

2 T. ground flax seed

1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 C. finely chopped nuts

1/4 C. dark chocolate chips

Optional add ins:

1/4 C. unsweetened organic coconut

 1/4 C. dried fruit

ready to bake

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine the mashed bananas, almond butter and vanilla in a medium sized bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine the oats, flax seed, cinnamon and salt together and then mix into the banana mixture.  Fold in the nuts, chocolate chips and any other ad ins you are using and place a tablespoon of each on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes. 

*best eaten the same day or kept in the fridge for the next day.

 Breakfast is served!!