Oatmeal Fruit Bars

I have a new favorite cookie. Oatmeal Fruit bars. They are fast to throw together and because they are bars, there's no making batch after batch of little cookies.

This is the basic recipe. But you can dress it up as much as you want.  Maybe throw in some wheatgerm or coconut flakes, sunflower seeds or even raisins to make it more of a breakfast type cookie.

1 Cup Flour ( all purpose, whole wheat or a mix of the 2)
1 cup Quick Cooking Oats
2/3 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup Margarine (cold)
1- 10 ounce Jar Fruit Preserves (I like raspberry)

Combine flour, oats, brown sugar and baking soda in a bowl. Cut in margarine or butter until mix looks like coarse crumbs. Set aside 1/2 of mix.  Press other half of mix evenly in a greased 8x8 baking pan. Spread preserves.  Sprinkle reserved flour mix over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.
Cool completely before cutting- at least 1 hour. Cut in to bars. These freeze well for lunch boxes. Makes 16 bars.

Obviously, I didn't let mine cool enough before cutting- I'm kind of impatient that way.  If you let them cool completely, you'll get a much better edge. These are pretty sweet, so a small square with a big glass of milk is probably enough.  Preserves work better than jelly because they are thicker.  I've also used a can of Solo Brand Raspberry Pie filling with good results. If you decide to use jelly, decrease the amount, otherwise it will be too runny.



Comments

Anonymous said…
Those look great. A good lunchbox snack too!
Susan said…
Yum! I just finished making batches of lemon preserves and plum preserves... I bet they would taste great with this recipe! Thanks for sharing!
This looks so good! I love a bar cookie, one pan and you're done :)
These look delicious! What a great snack idea!