Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Soft and chewy vegan oatmeal cookie bars made with oats, pecans, and cranberries. Naturally gluten-free, easy to slice, and great for snacks or breakfast.

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Total Time 35

Servings serves

Calories 228kcal

Ingredients

10 tablespoons neutral oil such as canola, sunflower, or vegetable (150 g)
1¼ cups light brown sugar 255 g
½ cup unsweetened applesauce 120 g
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 5 g
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie or apple pie spice blend 2 g
½ teaspoon fine sea salt 3 g
2 cups oat flour 240 g
1 teaspoon baking soda 5 g
1½ cups chopped pecans 180 g
2½ cups rolled oats 225 g
¾ cup dried cranberries 115 g

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F/175C. Line a 9” x 13”/ 23cm x 33cm baking pan with parchment (or grease well).
In a large bowl, combine oil, sugar, and applesauce. Whisk or beat with a hand mixer until fully emulsified (no obvious oil floating at the edges).
Whisk in the vanilla, spice blend, and salt.
Add the oat flour and baking soda. Stir until completely smooth (oat flour likes to form hidden clumps).
Fold in the oats, cranberries, and chopped pecans.
Scoop into prepared pan and spread in an even layer. As the mixture is very thick, this is easier to do if placed in dollops.
Bake for 23-25 minutes until golden brown and puffy and firm on the edges and does move much in the center if tilted. Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into 24 pieces.
For best results wait until completely cool to cut. For very clean lines, freeze before cutting and use a serrated knife to cut. Bring to room temperature before eating.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days or in the freezer for 1 month. Bring to room temperature before eating.

Notes

Texture/taste Notes: Loaded vegan oatmeal cookie bars with naturally gluten free oat flour and lots of add-ins for a tasty energy boost and fiber-filled treat. Soft and chewy bars with crispy tops and edges are similar to a thick oatmeal cookie, but packed with even more dried fruit (cranberries) and nuts (pecans). A sweet treat that’s a portable bowl of brown sugar sweetened oatmeal for on the go breakfast or snacks. They can be dressed up with chocolate chips or left as is for an easy lunch box treat.

Oil choice: Any oil will work in this recipe. The best choices are very neutral flavoured oils like canola, sunflower, or vegetable. Coconut oil will strongly flavour the bars.

Spice blend: Instead of a particular blend, you can use ½ tsp/1g cinnamon with ¼ tsp/ ½ g ginger and ¼ tsp/ ½ g nutmeg.

Apple sauce: This is both the binding agent and liquid in the bars, much as eggs would be. The pectin in apples acts as the binding agent to provide structure to the bars. Substituting mashed banana will give it a very banana flavour and a more cake-like texture.

Nuts and fruits variations: All add-ins (besides oats) should come to a volume of no more than 2 ½ cups. Mix and match slivered almonds, walnuts, dried cherries or blueberries, and chocolate chips. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds can also be used. Larger dried fruits like apricots, dates, peaches, or pears should be chopped small.

Nutrition