Do you ever have insomnia and decide at midnight that creating a healthy and delicious apple spice oatmeal bar recipe and listening to the Practical Magic soundtrack is a good idea?
No? Guess it’s just me 😀
Anyway, my daughter has been doing most of the baking around here lately, but for some reason, I felt inspired.
Maybe it was because I had been looking through my grandmother’s old recipe book. I admire how people often used what they had on hand. A trip to the store wasn’t just down the road with grocery pickup available.
People made do with what was on hand, and sometimes that called for a little creativity.
This recipe wasn’t in the book, but in the spirit of using what you have, I came up with apple spice oatmeal bars.
They are so yummy!
Want to give them a try?
Oh! I forgot to mention, these apple spice oatmeal bars are free from dairy, eggs, nuts, and gluten (as long as you use gluten-free oats).
Allergy-friendly and tasty?! Yep, it’s true!
Here is the recipe if you want a healthy, delicious snack 🙂
Possible Add Ins
- Nuts
- Dried fruit
- Carmel or maple drizzle
Just in case you were wondering what the verdict was on this late-night creation, here is what the facility taste testers (AKA my kids) had to say:
Taste Tester #1-“These are so good! Can we bring some to class for our friends?” (Even though I was glad she wanted to share, the answer was a hard no. I didn’t think the nature class teacher would appreciate crumbs from apple spice oatmeal bars all over the classroom).
Taste Tester #2- ” Did you make this recipe up in your brain? I hope you wrote it down so we can make them again!”
So, there you have it. This recipe seems to have tickled the taste buds of my facility taste testers, and they gave it two thumbs way up!
Apple Spice Oatmeal Bars
This recipe is quick, easy, and oh, so delicious! Best of all, you probably have everything you need in your pantry right now. Oh! And there is no refined sugar, nuts, dairy, gluten, or eggs!
Ingredients
- 4 small to medium apples
- 3 tsp honey
- 1-1/12 tsp cinnamon
- 2 cups quick oats
- 2 medium ripe bananas
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ginger
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Peel apples and cut into small pieces
3. Add 1 tsp. of honey and 1 tsp. of cinnamon to apple pieces and mix until apples are well coated.
4. Bake apples for about 15 minutes or so. Until the apples are tender, but not squishy.
5. While the apples are baking, smash bananas until they are mush.
6. Add and mix 2 cups of oats, 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. of nutmeg, 1/8 tsp. of ginger, 2 tsp. of honey, and 1/4 cup of water.
7. After the apples have baked and cooled for a few minutes add them to the mixture of other ingredients
8. Use a silicone mat or parchment paper in your pan (I used a 9x13) and spread the mix evenly into pan.
9. Bake for another 15-20 minutes.
10. Let cool, and enjoy!
Notes
Feel free to leave the ginger out if that's not your thing. I love ginger so I thought it would give it a little extra spice, and it did! But these bars would be just as tasty without it 🙂
Do you have a recipe you “made up in your brain” that was a hit?
I would LOVE if you shared! Please feel free to leave it in the comments below 🙂
