Oatmeal Cookie Bars

It’s been a while since I’ve stayed up late making freezer snacks for Annabelle but last night I was in the mood to make her something new. Her diet has changed recently, we’ve gone gluten free and (mostly) dairy free and I’m still having a hard time getting her to enjoy treats that are based on nut flours, not really surprising since she never wants to eat nuts. So here it is. The picture I posted on Facebook yesterday. Couldn’t be simpler to make. And I have a friend to thank for sending me the idea! She got the original idea from The Burlap Bag blog. Thank you Ruth!

Pre-heat your oven to 350

• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, the ultimate lazy chef tool.
• Pulse 1 cup or organic, rolled oats in a food processor (You can skip this part. I did think because Annabelle won’t touch it if I leave the oats whole… picky toddler)
• Mush up 1 banana and mix it into the oatmeal.
• Add some more flavors and mix-ins.
• Cook for about 12 minutes.

I used: organic, dark chocolate chips, candied ginger, half an apple very finely chopped, cinnamon, a touch of coconut sugar and shredded coconut. You can add nuts, seeds, anything really. You may have to use another banana to help bind it if you start going too crazy with the mixins. Next time I’m going to try goji berries and dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds instead of chocolate chips.

According to Andrew it’s not really fair to call them cookies, they’re more like oatmeal bars. I think next time I’ll also put them in a pan so that I can cut them into oatmeal squares. Here’s how they got packed into Annabelle’s lunchbox. YUM!