Replacing the Boxed and Canned: Homemade Triple Berry Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

Timothy loves Neutragrain Bars. It's one of his favorite snacks, especially the strawberry ones. I like them too. A lot. I always have a box in the house and never gave much thought to what was actually in them. One morning, not so long ago, I was munching on a Neutragrain Bar while reading the back label. 

Oh my gosh. No. I can do better. 

I found this recipe: Triple Berry Oatmeal Breakfast Bar by Delightful E Made and got to work. Timothy helped. ;) 

Triple Berry Oatmeal Breakfast Bar 

Ingredients: 

2 1/4 cups quick oats

2 1/4 cups flour 

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 cups frozen mixed berries

1/2 cup sugar (I used sugar in the raw)

1 tbsp corn starch

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*. Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray and set aside. 

1. In a bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined. 

2. Melt butter and pour over the ingredients. Stir until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined with the butter. Mixture will be crumbly. 

3. Pour 2/3rds of the oatmeal mixture (reserving the rest) into the 9x13 pan and press into the bottom. Set aside. 

4. In a second bowl, mix the frozen berries and the corn starch. Toss until coated, then pour the berries onto the prepared crust. Evenly sprinkle the berries with the reserved oatmeal mixture. 

5. Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool before cutting into long bars. Store in the refrigerator. Also freezes well. 

*Note: I wound up baking mine for 45 minutes, significantly longer than what the directions call for. I kept checking them and thinking, "Those don't look done yet!" so I kept baking. I'm assuming it is because of my higher elevation. We are at approximately 2,200 feet. Just something to think about when baking these. 

What a big helper!

All ready to go in the oven! 

I couldn't wait long enough for them to cool completely! 

Timothy loved them! 

These are DIVINE. Seriously delicious!! I'm so excited to be replacing our NeutraGrain Bars with these wonderful oatmeal fruit bars. I'm even more excited that I can make up a batch, store some in the fridge for that week, and put the rest in the freezer. Then I can take two out and pop them in the kid's lunchboxes to be enjoyed by the time lunch rolls around.  

Delightful E Made also has a blueberry version you can find here: Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bar by Delightful E Made that I will also be making. Awesome. 

Thank you, Tim, for being my big helper! 

With love,

Mama Hauck