Cooking Baking Eating

I’ve been drawn to vegan recipes for a while now. Not that I have any inclination to turn vegan, but they can have some VERY healthy desserts and I don’t feel quite as guilty eating a vegan dessert as I do a regular dessert.

I think that’s just because I sometimes feel guilty eating butter for some reason. Random personal quirk I guess.

I was looking for some vegan breakfast ideas since I’m a bit convinced I’ve got an egg intolerance, and came across oatmeal bars. I’ve done the baked oatmeal muffins before, but wasn’t too impressed by it. I’m very finicky about my oatmeal texture, it has to be just right or I won’t eat it.

But these…they looked delicious.

Now, because it’s me, I used the recipe as more of a guideline instead of actually following it.

If you’re surprised, you just don’t know me very well.

The recipe is two parts: oaty outside, fruity inside. The oats are applesauce, oats, sweetener and a few other bits. The fruit is basically pie filling thickened with cornstarch.

Easy!

I used a bag of frozen raspberries, sweetened with sugar, and just kinda winged it like I was making some of my normal jelly and used the cornstarch to thicken. Yum. I add a minimal amount of sugar to it, since I don’t like things super sweet, but feel free to add more as you like it.

The best part about making the oat mix is that I made it all in my food processor. Throw the oats in, add some spices, applesauce and sweetener. I just pulsed it until everything came together and the oats were a bit broken up.

Now comes the messy part. Putting the bottom layer of oats in the pan is not so difficult, just kinda smoosh it down until its about even.

After you put the fruit filling on it, then you have to almost blob the rest of the oats on top. Break it up with your fingers to evenly disperse the oat mix on top of the fruit. I find it a little difficult, and it looks a little weird, but it tastes fine so who cares?

The best part about making these is not only do they almost taste like pie, but you make one pan of these a week and you have breakfast every day!
And it tastes like pie!

For breakfast!

Yay pie for breakfast!

Egg free, gluten free (if you guy gluten free oats) and dairy free! Quite awesome if I do say so myself.

Raspberry Oat Bars
Loosely based on this recipe
Makes 6 bars.

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen raspberries
1/4 cup sugar (add more to taste, use alternate sweetener if you want)
1/4 water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water (optional, only if it feels too dry)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Use non-stick baking method of choice (butter/flour, spray, oil).
2. In a small saucepan, combine the raspberries and sugar. Heat over medium-high heat until the berries are defrosted and bubble a bit (add water/juice if you like, but the berries should release enough liquid to make the sauce). Mix together the cornstarch and water, adding it to the bubbling berries. Remove from heat and add the vanilla when the mixture stops bubbling. It should thicken quickly, but it will thicken more in the oven.
3. Combine the oats and remaining ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the oats are somewhat pulverized and everything is mixed together. Alternately, blend 1/2 of the oats in a blender and mix everything else together in a bowl.
4. Spread half of the oat mixture in the prepared pan, making sure the bottom is evenly covered. Pour/spoon the berry mixture over the batter and crumble the remaining oat mixture on top of the berries, trying to keep it as even as possible.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into bars.
6. Store remaining bars in the fridge until ready to eat. Top with powdered sugar if desired, and it’s especially good when warmed slightly.