Apple Pie
Breakfast Bars

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Total time: 35 mins
Serves: 12

Ingredients

  • 2 small apples, cored and chopped
  • 2 cups old fashioned oats
  • 1/4 cup oat flour
  • 1/4 cup turbinado (pure cane) sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon chips
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon Apple Pie Spice, divided
  • Cooking spray

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Place 1/2 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over medium heat.
  3. Add apples and 1/2 teaspoon Apple Pie Spice and sauté until apples begin to soften (about 5 minutes).
  4. Melt remaining butter in a medium bowl.
  5. Add all ingredients to melted butter and blend well.
  6. Spray an 8X8 glass dish with cooking spray.
  7. Press mixture into dish.
  8. Cook for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
  9. Allow to cool before slicing into squares.
  10. Enjoy!

Nutritional data

Serving size: 1 square
Calories: 134
Fat: 5 grams
Carbohydrates: 21 grams
Protein: 3 grams

Nutritional data is approximate.

 

This recipe was one of my very first recipes. I haven't made it in about a year so I decided to whip up a batch. I don't know why, but when I read the ingredients I thought "we can do better than this." So I added a little of this, took away a little of that and ended up with a bar that my daughter says "tastes junky." In our house, "tastes junky" translates into "this doesn't taste healthy." And let me tell you, anything that I can make that is a healthier version and it "tastes junky" is a success in my book. The other thing I have to say (full disclosure and all) is that my daughter does not like these! She says they taste like apple pie - and she detests apple pie. While tweaking (not to be confused with twerking!) I swapped out cinnamon for McCormick's Apple Pie Spice. Apple Pie Spice is a blend of ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon. So if you want to make your own, you can mix 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice, and 1/8 teaspoon ginger.

Other than that, I added pecans, swapped out the honey for turbinado sugar and added in some cinnamon chips. I also swapped out the whole wheat flour for oat flour and added an egg. Basically, I completely transformed the recipe. But hey, if it made my daughter think it was "junky" then I'd say the swapping worked! :-)

Note: You will probably notice that I add nuts to almost all of my granola bars. My kids and I absolutely love nuts and it's a good way to add them into our daily routine. If you want to omit them, deduct 17.5 calories and 1.8 grams of fat per bar (they also reduce carbs and protein by about .33 grams).