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Healthy Vegan Oatmeal and Cranberry Bars

Healthy Vegan Oatmeal and Cranberry Bars

 

If you have been following my blog then you have seen a few recipes for healthy, wholesome bars. This one is a bit different because not only is it a vegan recipe, it also has no flour, or added sugar; just one tablespoon of honey for the whole batch. This egg free treat is extremely easy to put together and is great to make with the kids!  Let them wash up and get their little hands into the mess and go for it.

You will see my picture of the bars that they are all different; I made them three different ways. A few have all fruit spread (I used apricot and strawberry) and others have a thin layer of vegan grain sweetened chocolate on top. You decide how you want to make them and I hope you enjoy them. Just a note: they are low in calories, fat, carbs, sugar and sodium but still high in flavor, so you can have two! Catch a pic of my little guy Josh enjoying a bar at the bottom of the recipe, of course he chose the one with chocolate.

Nutrition: calories 76.3, fat 2.4 g, carbs 12.1 g, fiber 2.2 g, sugar 4.9 g, sodium 5.6 mg, protein 2.2 g, Weight Watcher PointsPlus® 2

 

Healthy Vegan Oatmeal and Cranberry Bars

Makes 16 Bars

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
  • 2 jars baby food applesauce — I used organic applesauce and plums with apples
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp cinnamon, divided
  • 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
  • 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds — crunched up a little
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries or your choice of dried fruit — apricots work well in this recipe
  • 1 tbsp honey or agave nectar
  • 1 tbsp all fruit spread
  • 2 tbsp. vegan chocolate chips. This is optional, if you add chocolate it only adds on about 4 calories per serving
  • 1 tsp soy milk
  • pinch of sea salt or kosher salt

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray cooking spray (on the bottom and sides) of an 8 X 8 baking pan and set aside until ready to use.
  2. First things first, place nonstick aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and sprinkle out the wheat germ and almonds. Bake for about 5-10 minutes; just to toast up a little. Do not let this burn. Take out and let cool off.
  3. Once cooled, break up the almonds a little and set aside until ready to add to the mixture.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, add oatmeal, baby food, vanilla, salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, and honey. Mix well with a rubber spatula. Make sure you get way down and mix in all of the oatmeal.
  5. Add in the toasted nuts and wheat germ along with the dried cranberries.
  6. When all is mixed together well, pour out mixture into your prepared pan. Spread the mixture to the ends of the pan and make sure it is nice and level.
  7. Bake in the oven on the middle rack for about 20- 30 minutes until lightly browned (not dark brown). Turn the pan around after 12 minutes for even baking. You will see that the bars have pushed away from the sides a little bit.
  8. Take out of the oven and sprinkle the remaining 1 tsp of cinnamon over the whole batch. At this time if you are using the fruit spread, then spread that over the bars as well and place back in the oven for 5 more minutes.
  9. Take out of the oven and place on a cooking rack. If you are using chocolate, heat the chips and soy milk in a small microwave safe bowl along for 15 seconds. Take out, stir, put back for another 20 seconds and the chocolate should be melted. Stir again and then with a spoon, spread over the bars in a very thin layer.
  10. Cool the bars until almost at room temperature and cut into 16 bars. Store in a cool dry place for up to 2 days or in fridge up to 5 days. Enjoy this wholesome treat!

 

Healthy Vegan Oatmeal and Cranberry Bars 2

Disclosure: You may see links to ingredients or cooking items in the ingredient, instructions, or equipment sections of this post. I’m a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. I will receive a small percentage of sales generated by these links. However, this in no way increases the price of the items.

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