Cooking Challenge: Oats

I use oatmeal in so many things!!!!! But I just made these today so I thought I'd share the recipe and took a picture of my 9yo dd (she came home from school and ate 2 of them! :bigsmile: ).

I tweaked these from this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Playgroup-Granola-Bars/Detail.aspx


My recipe... (I used whole wheat, less sugar and honey, more spice, less oil, and added applesauce and PB and omitted the raisins. But you could also add some chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit, or unsweetened coconut.)

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup wheat germ (optional)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (optional)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup applesauce (use another 1/4 cup of applesauce if you want them to be chewier)

1/4 cup natural chunky peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts or unsweetened coconut (optional- not added in for calories)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. (I split make them into 2 batches and cook them in two 8 x 8" pans to please everyone in the family- one w/ nuts and coconut, the other w/ just chocolate chips)

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flour, brown sugar, wheat germ, spices, and salt. In medium bowl, mix together the honey, egg, oil, applesauce, PB and vanilla. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Stir well or mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. (I layered the pan w/ foil and sprayed Pam on a spatula to press them down)


Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut. (I just took the foil out of the pan and cut them into 24 bars w/ a pizza cutter.)

Nutrition Facts

Crunchy Granola Bars (in database under Jess playgroup granola bars

24 Servings

Amount Per Serving (with peanut butter, and no additions if you make them w/out PB then they're about 86 calories per bar)

Calories 117.2

Total Fat 5.3 g

Saturated Fat 0.6 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1.4 g

Monounsaturated Fat 2.6 g

Cholesterol 7.8 mg

Sodium 96.1 mg

Potassium 23.3 mg

Total Carbohydrate 14.9 g

Dietary Fiber 1.8 g

Sugars 3.8 g

Protein 3.3 g

Vitamin A 0.2 %

Vitamin B-12 0.3 %

Vitamin B-6 0.5 %

Vitamin C 0.2 %

Vitamin D 0.2 %

Vitamin E 1.9 %

Calcium 0.7 %

Copper 0.7 %

Folate 1.6 %

Iron 3.2 %

Magnesium 0.9 %

Manganese 8.6 %

Niacin 0.3 %

Pantothenic Acid 0.4 %

Phosphorus 1.4 %

Riboflavin 1.4 %

Selenium 0.9 %

Thiamin 2.9 %

Zinc 1.1 %
(used sparkpeople.com for the nutrition data)


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bump, thanks, Jess!

Looks awesome!! Great recipe. Can't wait to figure out what I'm going to post... I eat oats every day, but this requires something a little special, I think!

bump

Delicious! Esp topped with 1/2 Tbsp of natural PB :bigsmile:

Looks awesome, Meag!! TFS!

Had one post-work out today and it was great! So easy to grab and toss into my gym bag on the way out the door. Very filling for 132 cals :bigsmile: Love it!
For the record - the egg whites give the brownies a bit of a sponge-y quality, so don't expect full-fat brownie texture and consistency. But these are an awesome substitute if you want a high-protein snack!

I use oatmeal in so many things!!!!! But I just made these today so I thought I'd share the recipe and took a picture of my 9yo dd (she came home from school and ate 2 of them! :bigsmile: ).

I tweaked these from this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Playgroup-Granola-Bars/Detail.aspx


My recipe... (I used whole wheat, less sugar and honey, more spice, less oil, and added applesauce and PB and omitted the raisins. But you could also add some chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit, or unsweetened coconut.)

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup wheat germ (optional)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (optional)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup applesauce (use another 1/4 cup of applesauce if you want them to be chewier)

1/4 cup natural chunky peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts or unsweetened coconut (optional- not added in for calories)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. (I split make them into 2 batches and cook them in two 8 x 8" pans to please everyone in the family- one w/ nuts and coconut, the other w/ just chocolate chips)

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flour, brown sugar, wheat germ, spices, and salt. In medium bowl, mix together the honey, egg, oil, applesauce, PB and vanilla. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Stir well or mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. (I layered the pan w/ foil and sprayed Pam on a spatula to press them down)


Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut. (I just took the foil out of the pan and cut them into 24 bars w/ a pizza cutter.).

Ok, so the first batch was gone in 2 days!! I made another batch y'day. This time I used NO flour. I used 4 cups of assorted old fashioned oats/ hot cereal (I had a whole wheat/ barley/ rye blend). I forgot to add the brown sugar (oops, and they were still fine!), and also used 1/2 cup of PB and another 1/4 cup of applesauce. I baked them a little longer and they were crunchier that way. Anyway... the recipe is really easy to change up to your liking! My girls love them and I send them extra in their lunches to share w/ their friends. :bigsmile:

I made these cookies Thurs thanks to a recipe from a good MFPal of mine (Allislefttogain) - Hope she doesn't mind me posting the recipe! I added too many oats and so mine turned out really dry, but otherwise they were delicious and the guys at work loved them!

Steel Cut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Ingredients: 

* 1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar 
* 3/4 cup egg whites 
* 1 1/4 cups applesauce 
* 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 
* 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 
* 2 cups quick cook steel cut oats (uncooked!) *** I used old fashioned and used 3 cups, since I have no idea what "quick cooking steel cut oats" are -- Steel cut oats in Canada are definitely NOT quick cooking. I'd suggest 2 cups old fashion, instead ***
* 1 tsp. baking powder 
* 1/2 tsp. baking soda 
* 4 (heaping) tsp. cinnamon 
* 100g semi-sweet chocolate chips
* 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (my addition)

Preparation: 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees 
3. Mix applesauce, egg whites, vanilla and sugar together in bowl to dissolve sugar. 
4. Add dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips and coconut.
5. Spray cookie sheets with non-stick spray. 
6. Drop by spoonfuls on cookie sheets and bake 15 minutes at 375 degrees. 
7. Cool and store. 

Per my recipe (w/ 3 cups oats)
Yield: 25 (large) Cookies 
Serving size: 1 Cookie
Calories 126 Carbs 21 Fat 4 Protein 3 Fiber 3 Sodium 52

Omitting the coconut would drop the fat and carbs a little, but it's worth it to me! 2 cups oats would yield about 20 cookies, with 142 cals per cookie - but trust me, these cookies are HUGE.

-Meag

Here's one of likely a few oat recipes I'm going to make in the following days. I don't take credit for it at all - Found it in this thread: (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/149814-banana-blueberry-protein-bread?hl=protein+brownie#posts-2028645) but altered it slightly to remove the artificial sweetener and after my first attempt realized that making it in half-batches in a loaf pan, instead of full batches in an 8X8, helps to ensure that the batter cooks through.

I really recommend these for anyone looking for a cheap alternative to protein bars. Super easy to make (5 mins + 20 mins baking) and quite yummy.

Easy Protein Brownies
Makes 6 servings

4 egg whites or 1/2 cup of Simply Egg Whites
1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 scoops (60g) whey isolate (chocolate)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup water
1 medium banana, cut into chunks
(Optional - 1/2 cup splenda or other substitute)

Pre-heat oven to 375F. Spray and line a 9X5 loaf pan with wax or parchment paper (these are a major pain to get out otherwise).
Throw everything into a food processor and blend for about a minute, scraping down the sides when necessary, to ensure that everything is thoroughly combined. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake uncovered for 15 mins, and then cover with aluminium foil for last 5-7 mins, until cooked through (toothpick test works fine). Allow to cool and remove from pan. Slice into 6 and enjoy!

Stats per brownie:
Calories 136
Carbs 17
Fat 2
Protein 16
Fiber 3
Sodium 141


Delicious! Esp topped with 1/2 Tbsp of natural PB :bigsmile:

haha yay someone else made my brownies!! dont you love them?? i want some! PROTEIN!!:flowerforyou:

yeah thats a great idea to make a smaller batch because sometimes the middle is a little funky haha..wasnt sure how they would be without sweetener.. Im going to try them without, I am taking your word for it!! :flowerforyou:

BUMP!!!