Thursday, July 8, 2010

Baby Foodie - Homemade Cereal Bars

Conor usually enjoys an "appetizer" before meals - something to munch on to keep him content in the highchair while I fix his meal.  Usually it's cereal or Chickadees (Target's Goldfish), but last week we found Sunny Days Snack Bars.  BIG hit!  I thought I would try to make my own.

I adapted this recipe from CarriesCooking.  I substituted Sucanat for the brown sugar.  If you prefer, you can use brown sugar instead.  [If you're not familiar with Sucanat, it is a whole cane, non-refined sugar made from cane juice (SUgar CAne NATural).  I found it at a local health foods store, and imagine Whole Foods also carries it.  (Unfortunately I didn't find it at Trader Joe's, Hiller's or Kroger.)  It has the highest nutritional value of all major sugars derived from sugar cane.  I've also started experimenting with using Agave nectar as a sweetener, so look for some recipes with that coming soon.] 


1 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup Sucanat
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup fruit spread (I've made these with Trader Joe's 100% Blueberry Spread and apple butter, but any flavor of jam/jelly would work well I think)
2 tablespoons water (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F.
Briefly pulse oats in a food processor to a coarse powder.
Whisk together processed oats, flour, Sucanat, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Add oil, egg, vanilla, and apple juice, and stir until just combined.
Roll out mixture between two pieces of wax paper.  Final size should be ~12"x16", square edges as much as possible.  Carefully remove the top piece of wax paper.
Mix the fruit spread with the water, and spread evenly over bottom half of the dough.  (For thinner fruit spreads, omit the water.)
Use the wax paper to gently fold dough in half lengthwise (creating a jam sandwich), then carefully peel back the top layer of wax paper.
Transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment or a Silpat.  (Tip - lay the lined baking sheet on top of the dough, then flip it all over and carefully remove the wax paper.)
Use the back of a knife to create impressions in the dough but do not separate (make 3 rows of 8)
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cool completely then separate into bars.  Store in an airtight container or freeze.
Makes 24 servings.

Nutrition Facts
(Amount Per Serving)
Calories 80.4
Total Fat 2.8 g
Saturated Fat 0.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.9 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.6 g
Cholesterol 8.9 mg
Sodium 78.4 mg
Potassium 39.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 14.6 g
Dietary Fiber 1.4 g
Sugars 2.1 g
Protein 1.4 g

2 comments:

  1. Mmmm, they sound yummy! I'll be so glad when I can get back to cooking!!

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  2. Oh my we love cereal bars and I have tons of frozen baby food cubes that I dont use much anymore. I am so doing this today thanks!!!

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