Healthy Oat Bars

If you have preschoolers like mine, you’ll know how ravishingly hungry they are, all the time (except meal times!). I’m constantly trying to think of healthy snacks to give them during the day. Though I must confess I invariably succumb to giving them biscuits since they are such a cheap and easy snack.

But I think I’ve finally hit gold with with this easy to prepare, super healthy recipe that my kids absolutely loved. I was hoping it would last the week, but they swiped the entire tray before the end of the day! I was just happy to see so many nutrients go down so quickly that I didn’t complain!

The thing about this recipe is that you can experiment with loads of ingredients, making it as simple and cheap, or as exotic as you want!

Ingredients:

1.    1 1/2 Cups Oats (I used ‘Oats Plus‘ since I had that with me)
2.    1/2 Cup Dessicated Coconut (If you don’t have this, don’t worry, just add more oats)
3.    1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
4.    1/2 tsp Ginger Powder
5.    1/4 tsp Nutmeg
6.    1/4 tsp Salt
7.    3 small over ripe Bananas
8.    2 tbsp Oil (I used rice bran oil, but you can use any other oil or butter, if your kids don’t like the taste)
9.    1/4 Cup Honey
10.    1 tsp Vanilla Essence
11.    1/2 – 1 Cup of Dried Fruits and Nuts (Walnuts, Raisins, Almonds, Cashews, Dates, Cranberries, Apricots, etc.)
12.    2 tbsp Chocolate Chips (This is absolutely optional – I added it just to give it that tiny bit of surprise when the kids bit into it!)

Method:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together (1-6). And then add the wet ingredients (7-12)

2. Line a square baking tray with foil and butter it. This makes it very easy to take it out once its done.

3. Put the mixture into the tray and press it down hard.

4. Bake it at a temperature of 190 C for about 30 mins. When the edges turn golden brown, you’ll know its done.

5. Take it out and cut it while its hot. When it cools, lift the entire thing out of the tray. Remove the individual pieces and store in an air tight box. If you’re going to keep it for more than 3 days, then refrigerate or freeze it.

Success!

You can experiment by adding other healthy ingredients like flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, etc.

Instead of banana, you can try pumpkin puree or even peanut butter.