Food Fact Fridays: Breakfast Bars

 The original recipe from which these breakfast bars came was from Food Network’s Ellie Kreger RD’s cook book "So Easy" (see citation at the end of this post). Its’ original title was “walnut and dried cherry bars”….as you can see I changed them quite a bit! This is because I typically operate under the modus operandi “use what ya have." This guiding principle necessitates me to make numerous alterations/additions to recipes, making every occasion of using the recipe exciting as the outcome different every time! Since these bars freeze well, I have made a habit of making large batches, wrapping each bar individually in foil and then freezing them for use later in the school/work week.


Below is the original recipe with my own additions and alterations following. Enjoy some summer cooking!

Ingredients:
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats (or just plain rolled oats is fine)
¾ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
¼ cup toasted wheat germ
1 tsp group cinnamon
¼ tsp Salt
½ cup Honey
1/3 cup Unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup Canola oil
1 Lg. egg, beaten to blend
1 Lg. egg white
¾ cup chopped dried tart cherries
½ cup finely chopped walnuts
¼ cup “fruit only” apricot fruit preserves
Cooking Spray


Instructions:

1—Preheat the oven to 350F.
2—In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, wheat germ, cinnamon and salt
3—In another bowl whisk together the honey, applesauce, oil, egg and egg white until well combined. Stir in the oat mixture until well combined. Stir in the cherries and walnuts.
4—Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Spread the mixture in the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center becomes out clean, 30 – 35 minutes.
5—When the bars are nearly done, put the preserves in a small saucepan (or microwave) and bring to a boil. As soon as the bars come out of the oven, brush with the preserves. Cool completely and cut in to 12 bars, about 4X1 ½ inches each.
Makes 12 servings
Calories per bar: 230


Changes I made:
~ Made my own applesauce by microwaving 1 granny smith apple.... used about 1/2 of it
~Used fresh sweet cherries instead of dried tart cherries
~ Used Flax Seed Meal instead of wheat germ (note that this will brown the product more. When given a range of cooking time check your baked good after the shortest amount of time… in this recipe it is 30 minutes.
~ Added Whole Flax Seeds
~Used homemade strawberry jam on the top instead of the suggested the apricot preserve.


Citation

Krieger, Ellie. So Easy. Hobbocken, New Jersey: Wiley & Sons Inc, 2009.