Cherry Berry Breakfast Bars

Cherry Berry Breakfast Bars

 

vegan

adapted from Edible Perspective’s Monster Bars

makes 12 small bars

 

Ingredients

 

2.5 c rolled oats
2/3 c whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp. ground flax seed
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 small, ripe mashed banana
1/2 c peanut butter (I used crunchy)
1/2 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c cherry jam jelly (or any flavor)
1/3 c sliced fresh strawberries (optional)


Instructions

Preheat oven to 350* Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper, or lightly grease bottom and sides of pan.

I made homemade cherry “jelly” by pitting and halving about 1 1/4 cups of bing cherries, placing them in a small saucepan with a little water and sugar, and letting them simmer on medium low heat for about 15 minutes. Then I put them into a food processor and blended well, and pushed them through a sieve over the saucepan and discarded the pulp. To the remaining liquid, I added a little lemon juice and let the mixture simmer on low for another 5 minutes to thicken. Then I set it aside in the fridge.

You can just use your favorite low-sugar jam if you’d rather save time.

Next, in a large bowl mix oats, flour, flax, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and sugar until combined. In a medium size bowl, mash banana well. Stir in peanut butter with a fork until combined. Then stir in vanilla and almond milk with fork until combined.

Add wet to dry and stir with a spoon until just combined. Batter should be very thick and not too wet. Mix until no flour or oats are left on the bottom. If it seems dry add 1-2 Tbsp. more milk. If too wet, add 1-2 Tbsp more flour.

Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the pan with a spatula, until smooth. Spread jelly and strawberries on top evenly. Plop down spoonfuls of the rest of the oat mixture on top of the jelly; it will be easier to spread this way. Spread carefully with a spatula, until evenly distributed + covering the jelly.

Bake for about 33-35 min until lightly browned on top. Let cool for 30 min. Lift bars out by the parchment and cut into bars. Wrap individually for easy on-the-go snacks, or keep in a sealed container in the fridge.