Fruity Breakfast Bars
Breakfast tends to be the hardest meal to consistently eat. This is especially true when you have to be at work at 7 am everyday. This bar isn’t the healthiest (high in sugars) but it’s got a lot of fiber and it’s homemade so there isn’t as much processing involved. It’s tried and true, unlike a sweet donut-like breakfast, it leaves you full and satisfied until your next meal. I based this recipe off of one I found on Smitten Kitchen.
- 1 1/2 c flour
- 1 c packed brown sugar
- 3/4 c oats (quick or rolled work)
- 3/4 c toasted slivered almonds, some more for garnish
- 3/4 t salt
- 3/4 t baking powder
- 1/2 t baking soda
- 1/2 t cinnamon
- 1/4 t nutmeg
- 3/4 c margarine (cold!)
- 1 t o1 1/2 c fruit jam (I use homemade Amish jam because I don’t think there’s anything better but Wegmans triple fruit jam is pretty amazing too)
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13 pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. This helps when taking out the bars.
Put the flour, brown sugar, oats, almonds, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a food processor. Pulse until all of the ingredients are well combined and the oats and almonds are broken down. Add the butter in smaller 1-inch pieces. Pulse until loose crumb forms.
Measure about 1 1/2 cups to 2 cups of the crumb mixture and set it aside for on top of the fruit filling. Using the remaining crumb, pour it into the prepared pan and press down to compact it together. Make sure that it is even distributed across the pan. Bake for 12 minutes.
Allow the crust to cool almost to room temperature. To speed up the process, let it cool at room temperature for 10 minutes and then transfer to the fridge for 20 more minutes.
Once the crust is cooled spread the fruit jam to all of the edges. Crumble the remaining crumb mixture on top and sprinkle some of the reserved whole almond slivers over the bars. Bake for another 30 minutes. The crumb on the top should be golden brown and the jam should be bubbling.
Prep Time: 45 minutes Yield: 12 bars
My Fruity Faces
My Fruity Faces is a line of edible stickers that are targeted towards children in order to make eating fruits and vegetables fun. These stickers are essentially pure sugar. I think you can guess how I feel about them.
I think a healthier and more sustainable way to get children to eat fruits and vegetables is to have parents eat fruits and vegetables. Parents are role models for their children, this is as true for eating habits as it is for academic success and drug habits.
