My addiction for the last month has been baked breakfast bars. I discovered baked breakfast bars when I was shopping for groceries at Meijer one Friday afternoon. I saw a box of Kashi ripe strawberry baked breakfast bars on sale and decided to give it a try. Since discovering these treats, I have probably gone through five or six boxes in the last month. I’ve been packing a couple bars in my work bag for days when hunger strikes. These days are typically Tuesdays and Wednesdays since I head straight to my evening classes after work. After going through my sixth box, I finally decided to make my own version of breakfast bars at home. This way, I could at least save some money and still enjoy these treats. Thus, two weekends ago, I made my first batch of berry oatmeal breakfast bars using some leftover homemade strawberry jam and some black raspberry fruit spread sitting in my refrigerator. The breakfast bars turned out absolutely amazing and both Kevin and I ended up eating most of them the same day. We did save a few to bring to work during the week. Just last weekend, I made another batch of my oatmeal breakfast bars using homemade fruit jam. This time, the bars turned out even better after I baked them, cooled them, chilled them, and cut them into pieces. I’ve been trying to be more strategic with cooking and baking in bulk since these upcoming weeks were going to be especially busy for me. Projects, presentations, and assignments for my evening classes have been picking up as we enter the homestretch of the spring semester. I’ve been working nonstop to make sure I stayed on top of all of my commitments. On weekends though, I still make sure I dedicate at least one day to testing out new recipes and cooking in bulk for the week. I’m excited to share my mixed berry oatmeal bars since they turned out great and made for the perfect portable snack to pack for breakfast in the morning. Using homemade jam definitely brought the bars over the top. Surprisingly, Kevin really enjoyed the bars. He doesn’t particularly like oatmeal, but he did like these bars. The bars were perfect for breakfast, great as a snack, and even better as an after-dinner dessert served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. These bars have held me over a few times throughout the week when I needed a sweet treat.
For the mixed berry jam:
· ½ cup fresh blueberries
· 8 strawberries, diced
· ¼ cup granulated sugar
· 1 navel orange, zested and juiced
For the rest of the oatmeal breakfast bars:
· 2½ cups rolled oats
· ½ cup all-purpose flour
· ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
· ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
· ¼ cup granulated sugar
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Directions:
1) To make the jam, heat a saucepan on medium low heat. Add the blueberries, strawberries, ¼ cup sugar, orange zest, and orange juice into the saucepan. Let all of the ingredients cook while stirring occasionally until the mixture begins to thicken up, about 8-10 minutes. Let the jam cool for at least 30 minutes before adding it to the oatmeal breakfast bars.
2) To make the oatmeal breakfast bars, preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 7” by 11” glass baking dish. Set aside.
3) In a large bowl, add the oats, flour, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and kosher salt. Use a pastry cutter (or your fingers) to thoroughly combine all of the ingredients together. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbles. Divide the mixture in half.
4) Add half of the mixture to the buttered glass baking dish. Press the mixture into the bottom of the dish. Evenly spread the mixed berry jam in a single layer on top of the mixture in the dish. Top the jam with the remaining oatmeal mixture. Gently press the mixture down to ensure a uniform top layer.
5) Place the baking dish in the oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes. Chill for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator before cutting into bars.
Takeaways: These breakfast bars are very versatile. You can fill the bars with any fruit jam of your choice. If you prefer, you can also mix in some dried fruits, nuts, and baking chips to create your preferred breakfast bars. Feel free to test out different combinations until you find your perfect flavor profile.