Saturday, January 8, 2011

Baked Soaked Oatmeal Bars with Chocolate Chips

Saturday has come upon us again.  I wasn't in the mood to make waffles, but I did make whole grain pancakes, scrambled eggs with cottage cheese and curry, and vegetarian sausage.  I used my waffle recipe (previous post) and instead used ground oats, just used 2 tsps of turbinado and added an extra tsp of baking powder.  

Anyhow... let me get to the point.  I aim to buy all organic foods-- we all know this can expensive.  My oldest, Brinley is just 2 1/2 years old and loves to snack.  I was buying organic granola bars, whole grain bars...etc.  Those alone can get expensive!  In an effort to tackle the budget issue, I have been on the prowl to make these kinds of snacks from scratch.  He loves my Brown Rice Krisp Bars (recipe in this blog somewhere).  This morning, while making my coffee and preparing the pancakes, I baked the "Baked Oatmeal with Chocolate Chips) that I had started about 12-15 hours ago.  This recipe was inspired by a "Keeper of the Home" recipe, but I made a few changes.  According to KOFTH, soaked oatmeal is high in phytates- which impairs digestion.  This can cause a block in mineral absorption.  KOFTH recommends 12-24 hours of soaking for better digestion.   So I prepared the oatmeal last night around 7 pm and baked it this morning.

1. The day before:

In a large bowl, combine:
6 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup melted coconut butter
2/3 cups raw honey 
1 cup cultured milk product  (I used 1/2 cup Greek yogurt  and 1/2 cup water)

Mix well, so that everything is moist. Cover with a clean kitchen towel, and leave it to sit on the counter until the next morning.

2. The next morning:

Preheat the oven to 350, and then add to the bowl (if oats are a little dry and hard to stir, I added a tbsp of water and put in microwave for 30 seconds to soften).  Then:
Stir in 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (or raisins/ dried fruit)

3. In a separate bowl, stir in: 

1 beaten egg
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon (or to taste)

4. Combine everything and scoop into a large greased pan, like a 9 x 13.

Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes.

My husband and son picked at these while waiting for me to finish breakfast this morning-little did I know they had eaten about 1/4 of the pan!  My son likes it plain or I have heard people eating a piece of warm baked oatmeal in a bowl with milk (your choice, almond, rice...etc).  They turned out great!!!

2 comments:

  1. I'm going to make this for my husband. We only do organic (local as much as possible), and I'm always happy to find homemade options for items he likes for "on the go."

    Thanks for posting this, lovely lady. So happy to see you're into all of this. We were the "granola" family growing up when no one else was into health food and nutrition. It's nice to see so many people adopting a healthy lifestyle now. Keep it up! :)

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  2. Awe-Thanks! I hope he likes them! I have been called a “granola” for over a decade (the amount of time I have lived here in the states)-- in Panama, where I grew up, our family ate a “whole food” based diet—I didn’t appreciate it until I moved here. You are right, it is so nice people are adapting to “this lifestyle”—it has made my shopping much easier in the last few years! My small group calls me a “crunchie”!
    Hope you are doing well… and please send me some recipes. I am all about trying new things. I wish I had known about your eating habits when we worked together. I used to make Joy Graham some crazy dense bread and she was the only person who appreciated it!!! You look beautiful!

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