- Do everything fun we haven’t had time for yet this summer.
- Enjoy the guilt-free chances to stay up late because we can sleep as late as we want the next morning.
- Complete the millions of back to school preparations without letting them put a damper on the last days of summer.
On top of the above mentioned list, I have begun to feel the pressure of providing my kids with “Back to School Food.”
How does that differ than regular food? It needs to be already prepared, so it fits into the Grab-It-And-Go category that is essential for kids and food during the school year.
So over the next few weeks, I will be sharing with you my favorite school recipes that work for our family. Both quick breakfasts and our favorites for the lunch box as well.
Hopefully, we will all benefit by having a bit less craziness and a lot more time to pretend it is still summer 🙂
These bars are hands-down my kids favorite recipe. I first posted a more “treat-like” version of this recipe a few years back that I packed full of mini M&M’s, chocolate chips or mini marshmallows. Again, my kids adore them.
Awhile back, I decided to play with the recipe a bit to make them more appropriate for breakfast and this was my grand slam result. Tons of dried fruit, ground flax seed, less sweetener and butter. Still amazingly chewy and addicting!!!
Please don’t tell me your kids won’t eat dried cranberries, apricots and dates. YOU JUST NEED TO CHOP THEM SMALL ENOUGH….they will never know. Even my boy who “hates raisins” devours these because when he asks if there are any raisins in them, I can honestly tell him “no” 🙂
Print
PinIngredients
- 1 1/2 C quick oats – or pulse whole oats in a food processor
- 1/2 C Rice Krispies
- 1/4 C ground flax seed
- 1/2 C dried apricots – diced small
- 1/2 C dried cranberries – diced small
- 1/2 C dates – diced small
- 1/3 C coconut
- 1/2 C brown sugar
- 2 Tb honey
- 6 Tb butter, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together all the ingredients until the butter is evenly distributed. Pour into an ungreased 9 x 13 pan and press down firmly all over until the bars are level and well packed into the pan.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes. As soon as it is removed from the oven, use a bench scraper or metal spatula to press down into the bars to score them into the desired size. Once they have cooled completely, then use a knife to cut on the scored lines.
Notes
**You can also double this recipe and bake it in a 1/2 sheet pan for 18 minutes
These look so yummy, might make some myself x
These look wonderful, but be aware that Rice Krispies are not gluten free. You could crush Rice Chex to use instead if you are going for gluten free.
Thanks Robyn. I do use gluten free rice krispies when I make them. Rice chex is a great idea though!
I will try this recipe. Kids are fed the usual breakfast that I served. For sure they gonna like it.
And use gluten free oats!
Just made! So easy, thanks for a great recipe. How do you store them? (If there are left overs? 😉
Just in an airtight container. Glad you loved them too!
ok…so I just made my 3 round of these bars!! My family loves them!! I added 1/2 cup of chopped raw almonds and 1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds. They loved them with a bit of crunch. I also made a batch with dried cherries instead of the cranberries. Real good, too. I’m thinking down the road I may try adding a bit of orange zest for the holidays. Just don’t want the family to tire of them. They are great before practice and workouts!!
I also cooked mine a bit longer to get a tiny bit of golden color on the outside. LOVE them!! Love all your recipes…You’re terrific!!
forgot to tell you….I had a friend I was taking a meal to and I took some cut bars and wrapped each one in a piece of wax paper with a cute sticker to hold it closed. wrapped 6 up with a ribbon and gave them with the meal for quick breakfasts. They sent me a message how much they really loved having them.
I know I am babbling…but was just had to share. They look so darn cute all wrapped up and make them portable, too. Sorry for my wordiness!!
What a great idea! We adore this recipe and I have so many different versions depending on what is in the cupboard. Thanks for your kind comments
Awesome…do you have any ideas what could go with cinnamon? My husband asked if I could make some with cinnamon. Dried apples I think would be spongy.
I’m not crazy about dates, so I added apricots, cherries and golden raisins! Delicious! I left my fruit in bigger chunks because I’m a big girl and I like my fruit! LOL Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
rdnance- I think just adding cinnamon to the recipe would be a great idea. I agree that the dried apples would be spongy, but I wonder about diced apples that are cooked just a bit. They might be too wet, but it is worth a try!
Well, I baked these last night and they taste delicious but are really crumbly. It like they need something to bind them together like an egg or something. Any suggestions?
Would you consider adding Carb counts to your recipes when posting them? It can be done at home by the person following the recipes, but it is so nice to be able to see it before hand! I have a newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetic 4 year old who was also diagnosed with Celiac at the same time, and it would be so lovely to see the Carb counts without having to go check out each ingredient in the recipe and add and divide 🙂
I made them without coconut and added mini chocolate chips. Did I do something wrong because they are falling apart? Do I need to press them harder? They are awesome!!! My 6 yr old says it burns her tongue. I hope they learn to love them like we do.
Paula: did you use quick oats or whole? Whole would result in a more crumbly bar, as would baking them too long or too hot. Also, yes, I do press them down very firmly.
Paula: also be sure you use butter and not margarine because that would also make a big difference in your end result
I used quick oats, I used butter. I cooked it like you said. I’ll try pressing harder. I love your recipes.
This breakfast bar looks appetizing! I think I will try to make ten pieces of this so I can share it with my friends.
That breakfast meal is suited for those people that are always on the go. Thank you for the recipe, I will definitely try making this one.
What a complete breakfast meal! If you are looking for a power breakfast meal, this is the kind of food that you need.
Can I replace brown sugar with an artificial sweetener? I will be using aspartame instead. Is that okay, I mean will it affect the taste of that breakfast meal?
Viktor- I would not make that substitution. Yes, the brown sugar adds sweetness but more importantly, it adds chewiness and stability to the bars. If you do you an artificial sweetener, I would suggest adding some agave syrup or honey as well. Your result won’t be the same but it will be your best bet.
I would like to thank you so much for this recipe. My friend referred this program to me: “body building for beginners” and I’ve been doing it for a week now. So far, I haven’t been advised to avoid any of the ingredients on your list, so I think I’m safe to eat this. I will definitely try this at home, together with my little sister who also loves oats. Thanks again for your recipe!
My children love these breakfast bars. Good to know it’s healthy for them, because I’ve been trying hard to feed them fruits and vegetables. They’re fussy eaters, so I’m trying to do every technique I could find on the net, just to give them healthy snacks!
Thank you! Our family nutritionist advises us to eat these bars for snack. She even sent us this link just in case we wanted to make them at home instead. I’m so glad this works for us. Thanks again!
I have tried this recipe and I can assure that it is very delicious. Well, I’m always on the go and this kind of bar snack is very appropriate to my kind of lifestyle.
Bringing lunch box to school is what I hate most because it’s bulky and I don’t like carrying things using both of my hands at the same time. The recipe is great and I know that it will taste really good.
we made this bar to complete our Girl Scout “Snacks” patch, made a perfect on the go snack. Thanks! They loved it.
I made these bars and they taste great but do not stay in bar shape. They just fall apart. What did I do wrong?
Sarah- i would suggest two things. Make sure you press the mixture really firmly into the pan before baking. Secondly, score your bars very well as soon as they come out of the oven so they don’t fall apart when you cut them later.
we have a coconut allergy in our house but I really want to make these. Substitution ideas?
Wendi – You can just use more rice crispies or oats! -Carole
Excited to try these! My kids love granola bars and I only have one other recipe. I like to mix it up. 🙂 I made a double batch and have them in the oven now. I added chopped almonds and chocolate chips instead of dates and apricots (using what I already had in the pantry). Do you know if these freeze well?
Yes. They are even better frozen (IMHO).
My family loves, loves, loves these! I’ve made about 8 batches so far. I wrap them individually and place in a large freezer bag in the freezer, then just pull one out in the morning to place in child’s backpack for morning snack. I can’t resist them either. I actually prefer to eat them frozen. We’ve played around with several different types of cereal and granola and different dried fruits.. It all works well if you just crumble or chop it finely. We’ve also been bad and added 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips. Yummy. To keep them from crumbling, you must press them down very compactly. I do this before and after baking. Thanks for this recipe. It is a keeper!
So glad you found a recipe everyone loves Katie! I agree that they are sure hard to resist. Thanks for your comment
Looks great! Gonna give it a try tomorrow with what I have in the pantry. Sounds like a lot of butter though, any suggestions for substitutions? Applesauce? Thanks.
Jenn- you could try applesauce but your results will be quite soft and not stay together. You could use coconut oil instead of butter and reduce the amount a little bit.
YEAY!! Finally a kid friendly bar that doesn’t have nut butter in it!
can t wait to try these! 🙂
So glad you are going to give them a try! I also have a no bake version as well that doesn’t use any nut butter. You can find them easily under my “Top 10 Recipes” link at the top of my page
I just tried this recipe for my kids yesterday. Its absolutely yummy . Its a hit with the whole family. Infact i have to make another recipe and probably double it this time. Thanks.
Love to hear that Nafeesa! Look around and find some more recipes to try out
Hi Carole, I have been looking for a healthy breakfast bar for my one and half year old daughter and this looks ideal!
I would very much appreciate your thoughts on the below.
Can I replace the rice crispies with more pulsed whole oats? If not, how can I avoid any other cereal in it?
I was hoping to make it more protein packed (specially as she wont eat eggs easily). If I added eggs to it, what other changes/additions would you suggest so it does not ruin the consistency? Looks like the flaxmeal is serving as a binder too, and I would like to keep that.
Thank you very much!
You can use more oats, the result will just be a bit more sense and dry Sangitha. I cannot see any way to add eggs to this and still make them work. If you are looking for protein, you could always add a bit of whey protein powder to the mixture
Do you have calorie count on them?
Hi Rashida! I don’t have nutritional information but there are a lot of wonderful online calculators that will give you all the stats you are looking for. I hope you enjoy these! -Carole