Oat Snack Bar Recipe

Healthy, tasty, and filling! — Oat bars are the perfect on-the-go snack packed full of nutritious and delicious ingredients. These are also a great supplement for women who are nursing and wanting a boost in milk production. The oats, flax seed, and Brewer's yeast makes them a wonderful lactogenic snack.

Notes:

Oats- We recommend using a brand of non-GMO rolled oats. Rolled oats add an irresistible chewy consistency that is satisfying and filling.

Nuts/Dried Fruit- Use nuts that are soaked and dried. This makes them easier to digest and increases the nutrition content. A favorite combination of ours is chopped walnuts and dried figs. Feel free to experiment with any nuts, seeds, dried fruit, chocolate chips or cocoa nibs!

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups oats (soaked, see directions below) 1/3 cup oat flour (you could also sub for almond flour or hazelnut flour) 2 to 3 cups equal parts dried fruits and nuts

6 tablespoons melted butter 1/2 teaspoon salt (no salt if using salted butter) 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 tablespoons ground flax seed 3 tablespoons Brewer’s yeast 2 cups filtered water plus two tablespoons yogurt, kefir or whey (double if you are soaking nuts as well) 1/3 cup peanut butter or other nut/seed butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup honey 2 tablespoons grade b maple syrup

Directions:

1. For best results, soak your oats the night before in a combination of two cups of warm filtered water and two tablespoons of yogurt, kefir or whey.  Do the same for your nuts if you don’t have soaked and dried nuts on hand.  The next day, drain the oat/nut mixture in a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth. You can let this sit for an hour or two or squeeze out if using cheesecloth.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8″ x 8″ pan with parchment paper, allowing it to go up the sides for easy removal of the bars. Lightly grease the parchment paper and sides of the pan if they are exposed with butter or coconut oil.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter, liquid sweeteners, dried fruit and peanut butter.

4. Toss the wet ingredients with the drained oat/nut mixture and mix until well combined. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing in firmly.

5. Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes, until they’re brown around the edges.  Once they cool completely they’ll still be chewy.

6. Cool the bars in their pan on a cooling rack. After about 20 minutes place them in the refrigerator to cool the rest of the way.  This will speed the cooling process and ensure that they honey is able to solidify all of the ingredients together so that they don’t crumble when you cut them.

7. Once cool, use a knife to cut the bars into squares.  To store, stack the bars in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge.  If they are kept in the fridge they will be crunchy instead of chewy. Enjoy!