Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

I found this recipe on the back of my gluten free oat package from Bob's Red Mill.  You can find their recipe on their website.   However, I did change a few things with my version.  I made it just a bit healthier and used a variety of oats.  These are a great oatmeal bar and make a great breakfast.  I think if you tried by doubling the recipe and using a cookie sheet you could make breakfast bars from this!

You will need the following ingredients:

• 1/2 cup coconut oil(melted or liquid form)
• 2 tsp vanilla(pure)- divided
• 1 cup gluten free oat flour, fresh ground(make sure the oats you grind are gluten free and you're fine)
• 1/2 cup gluten free rolled oats
• 1/2 cup gluten free oat groats
• 1 tsp stevia powder(pure real stevia)
• 1-1/2 tsp guar gum
• 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 1 tsp fresh grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup your favorite sugar free jam (we used a strawberry jam that is naturally sweetened with fruit juices)

Now you're ready to get started mixing!  My mixer has still not been replaced so I have to do my mixing by hand.  This recipes is really fairly easy to mix by hand so grab a bowl and a wooden spoon and let's begin.

Preheat your over to 375 Degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease(I spray with olive oil or coconut oil) an 8 by 8 pan.  You'll want to make sure it is greased well or it will stick and not want to come out of the pan.  These a bit crumbly anyway so you don't want sticking.

In your mixing bowl combine the butter and 1 tsp of vanilla.  Stir together.  Now add the flour, oats(both kinds), stevia, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and guar gum.  Blend until everything is mixed together.

Add the ingredients to the bowl to be mixed.

The mixture has been mixed and is ready for the next step.

Now you need to firmly press 1 cup of this mixture into the bottom of your baking pan.  Stir the remaining tsp of vanilla in with your jam until it is well blended together(you can omit this step without changing the flavor or texture).  Spread your jam over the top of the pressed in bottom layer.

Press 1 cup of the flour mixture into the pan and then spread the jam over the top.

Sprinkle the remaining flour mixture over the top of the jam trying to keep it even.  You may need to press down on the sprinkles to make the top uniform.  

Sprinkle the rest on the top and press to spread evenly.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Take out of oven and cool in pan for 30 minutes.  Cut into 16 bars and serve at room temperature.

Fresh out of the oven.

We did not eat all of ours in one setting and stored the leftovers in the refrigerator.  They seemed to keep well and were good to eat cold as well.

If you're wondering how to make your own gluten free oat flour here is what I did.  I took some gluten free oat groats and ran them through my grinder.  They made a great flour.  I used the bread setting because they are a hard groat and not small.  The flour worked perfectly in this recipe and a few others I've tried.

The wondermill works great to grind up oat groats on the bread setting.

The freshly ground oat groats make great flour.

Oat groats ready for grinding.

Shared on:  Homemaking Linkup, Wise Woman Link Up, Proverbs 31 Thursday Linkup, Wisdom Wednesday, Try a New Recipe Tuesday, Hearts for Home Blog Hop,