Soaked Oatmeal Raisin Snack Bars {Meals On-the-Go}

Whenever we venture out of the house, I try to bring our own snacks. Sometimes it's something organic and store bought, other times I make something and pack it to go. This recipe is popular with the kids, though my husband doesn't care for it since he never really like baked oatmeal and prefers crispy snack bars. These oatmeal raisin snack bars are dense, moist, and chewy. The addition of soaked nuts gives it a little crunch while still being easy to chew even for my 16 month old. Soaking the nuts and the oatmeal for this recipe makes it easier to digest and reduces phytic acid content.

If you like baked oatmeal, you will like these snack bars. You can make them with your choice of fruit and berries, really the possibilities are endless! Just work with whatever you have on hand - that's what I did. I used red quinoa, hence the specks you see. You could use dried cranberries instead of raisins or in addition to them. I would love to experiment even more with this and I can see myself adding goji berries, chia seeds, or dark chocolate chips. At home these are good to store for 2-3 days, after that they will taste a little off. To extend their life you can always dehydrate them longer on your lowest oven setting. 

Serves 6, 12 squares
Prep Time: 15 minutes (+ overnight soak)
Bake Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups organic rolled oats
1/2 cup soaked raw cashews (or other nuts) 
1 cup cooked quinoa 
1/2 cup plain organic yogurt

1 cup organic raisins
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 banana diced
2 pastured eggs
1 tbsp honey (or more if you want it sweeter)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon 
1/4 tsp real salt

Directions: 

1. Day 1: The night before, mix oatmeal and nuts with water and yogurt (or whey) and leave to soak overnight. You may also cook the quinoa the day before to make prep faster the next day. 

2. Day 2: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a square baking pan with unbleached parchment paper (I love this one). 

3. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients. 
4. Pour out the moist mixture onto parchment paper and shape as needed.
5. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes, optionally dehydrate longer on lowest oven setting is you want the bars less moist (they would last longer for longer trips). 
6. Let cool and pack them to go or snack at home! Our favorite ways to bring snacks with us are to use either a unbleached paper snack bags, Think Baby containers, or reusable snack bags. 



If you make this recipe, we would love to know what you served it with or if you put a different spin on it! If you adapt this recipe and post it on your own blog, please link to Eco-Babyz, we would appreciate it :)


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