Oatmeal Breakfast Bars - The Law Student's Wife

If we’re ever stranded on a desert island together, one of us best pack a hefty supply of Oatmeal Breakfast Bars.
I would be a horrific person with whom to be marooned for two main reasons:

a) When I’m hungry, I devolve into a freak cross between Ebenezer Scrooge and Godzilla, and
b) I’m hungry every two hours.

Standard equipment for desert islands does not include a refrigerator where I can stash my yogurt, a bottom desk drawer for my granola, and a top desk drawer for dark chocolate. I’m the adult who packs herself “morning snack” and “afternoon snack” every day before work. I’m so miserably unpleasant when I’m hungry, I’d rather chow in the middle of a meeting than subject my co-workers to my wrath. My co-workers agree with my decision.

The idea of being “so busy I forgot to eat” is a completely foreign concept to me. I am the girl on the airplane who pulls a container of trail mix, a baggie of carrots, and a bruised but edible banana from her purse the moment the captain turns off the fasten seatbelt sign. I pack a minimum of one snack per hour of any road trip (two is safer). I walk into work hoping someone brought donuts. I eat breakfast every day, but by 10:30, I have the munchies.

Hence, when my friend Elisabeth informed me that she had created a breakfast bar that could keep her first-year medical resident husband full for the hours he had to endure between breaks on his shifts, I was immediately intrigued. She kindly offered me one while Ben and I were visiting her in Nashville, and I was simultaneously hooked and FULL. Elisabeth’s Oatmeal Breakfast Bars combines the three musketeers of peanut butter, banana, and oatmeal. I also took the liberty of swapping out the agave Elisabeth uses for honey, because I love the flavor of honey, peanut butter, banana, and oatmeal together. Instead of three musketeers, now we have four!

Rather than bind the bars with canola oil or butter, Elisabeth’s Oatmeal Breakfast bars use applesauce and an egg. The egg adds protein and makes the bars extra filling, and the applesauce keeps the bars moist. Just one of these Oatmeal Breakfast Bars kept me full and happy for six hours straight.

The texture of Oatmeal Breakfast is denser than a banana bread but not dry or crunchy like a granola bar. They are hearty, filling, and absolutely delectable. I’ve been loving eating them warmed up for breakfast with extra sliced bananas on top, and a few bites post-workout keep me going until dinner.
Final selling point: Oatmeal Breakfast Bars are easy. Elisabeth is a busy mom with a one-year-old and the last person you will find fussing over a recipe. Simply stir together the dry and wet ingredients, pour into a pan, and bake. Oatmeal Breakfast Bars can also be wrapped and frozen for up to four months, so go big and make them in bulk.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars were just one piece of a wonderful weekend in Nashville. Billy (Elisabeth’s husband) and Elisabeth are two of Ben and my oldest and best friends. Billy and Ben were each other’s best men, and Elisabeth and I have known each other for nearly 10 years (crazy!). Ben and I drove down to visit them and their too-cute-to-be-real daughter during our epic three-week holiday travel extravaganza (you know, the one where we “accidentally” drove from Cleveland to Wisconsin) and had an amazing time complete with southern barbeque, Cards Against Humanity, and a little Nashville sight seeing.

For a broader recap of our trip and some restaurant reviews, keep reading! For the recipe for Oatmeal breakfast bars, you can skip ahead. I won’t judge. Peanut butter, oatmeal, banana, and honey are at stake here. You probably should have already started baking.

For the curious, Our Trip to Nashville: Good BBQ, Great Friends; Southern Hospitality

Eats:

Hog Heaven Barbeque: My favorite thing about this place is the location. It’s a tiny shed with a walk up window and a few picnic tables outside. When it comes to barbeque, that set-up just screams legit. While I’ll be a Kansas City-style BBQ girl for life, Hog Heaven’s ribs were ultra tender and smoky, and the black eyed peas and greens had killer flavor.

Holland House: Fun, creative cocktails in a speakeasy-style environment. The bar enders are very knowledgeable and recipes are created in-house. Please do us both a favor and order the Jitterbug Perfume.
The Pharmacy: I am still having happy dreams about the sweet potato fries. Killer sandwiches and burgers (I had the best burger bun of my life—perfect meat-to-bread ratio) and an impressive selection of mustards. I couldn’t decide, so they brought me four. For someone who is obsessed with condiments (even on her muffins), that spread won my heart for life.
Aquarium: The food and drinks are fine (especially if you enjoy tropical drinks and fried seafood), but this place wins the Nobel Prize for atmosphere. A giant aquarium runs throughout the restaurant, so you feel like you are sipping your peach margarita under the sea. Our waiter also knew the names of all of the sharks and stingrays, which I found impressive. (Don’t worry, we’re talking small(ish) sharks here. I wouldn’t want to be in the tank with them or anything, but if you think you’ll be sipping mai tais with Jaws, you will be disappointed.)

Sites:

Opryland Hotel: This place is mammoth! I easily could disappear inside of this place for a week, eat at a new restaurant every day, and get lost at least six times.

Opryland also offers plenty of opportunity for bad photo ops, such as…

The Grand Ole Opry: A life-long country music fan, I was completely giddy to see this place in person. Ben isn’t quite the enthusiast I am, despite the amount of energy he is displaying in this shot:

Best part of the trip: Spending time with two of the most wonderful friends I could wish for, and their beautiful baby girl, who was so gracious as to share her toys.
While the boys played with blocks, I caught up on some Dr. Seuss that I missed as a child.

And now, directly from Nashville to you: Oatmeal Breakfast Bars. Whether you are seeking to survive a shift at the hospital, your 8 a.m. meeting, or on a desert island with me, this portable, tasty, and super-satisfying breakfast that will keep you powered for hours. Oatmeal, peanut butter, honey, and banana go all for one and one for all!

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars are a healthy, filling, and absolutely delicious! With peanut butter, banana, honey, and oatmeal, these yummy bars will keep you powered for hours. These breakfast bars are easy to make, can be frozen for up to four months, and are great for snacks too.

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond, but any kind will do nicely)
3 tablespoons honey (Elisabeth’s version calls for agave)
2 tablespoons peanut butter (creamy or crunchy—I used natural creamy)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 large banana, quartered and diced

Directions

Place rack in the center reheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat an 8×8 inch square pan with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, stir together the oats, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. In a separate large bowl, combine the milk, applesauce, egg, honey, peanut butter, and vanilla.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and stir to combine . The batter will be very wet. Fold in the diced banana, then pour into the prepared baking pan.
Bake for 35 minutes or until thickened and golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool, cut into bars, and serve.

Notes

Storage: Once cooled, bars can be wrapped individually in plastic and kept in the refrigerator for 5 days or frozen in a zip-top bag for up to 4 months. Let thaw in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours before serving. For a larger yield, increase the ingredient quantities by 1.5 and bakes in a 9×13 inch pan for 25-30 minutes.

http://www.thelawstudentswife.com/2014/02/oatmeal-breakfast-bars/

Recipe adapted from my friend Elisabeth

More portable power breakfasts:

Author: Erin Clarke

I’m Erin, and I’m on a mission to cook everything that’s tasty, {mostly} healthy, and budget-friendly—all while Mr. Right is in the library.

I’m convinced that cheese and chocolate are the answer, that you can love sweets and veggies equally, and that delicious, satisfying food should be accessible to everyone.

The recipes here are affordable, approachable, and delectable, and I can’t wait to share them with you!