Should you soak oats before making granola bars?

Fill the bowl up with water to completely cover the mixture – enough that you can stir to combine. This soaking process will help the oats and seeds digest better . After the oat/seed mixture has soaked 8-12 hours, add the rest of the ingredients and combine.

Are oatmeal bars healthy?

And while granola bars are not diet-friendly, oat bars can help you lose weight, as long as you're eating healthy oat bars that are low in sugar and contain fiber and protein and stick to one serving . Granola bars often have little protein and fiber and a lot of sugar.

Should I soak oats before making oatmeal?

Soaking not only softens the oats, but it also makes them more tender, quicker to cook, and easier to digest . In a side-by-side comparison, we found that unsoaked oats lacked that fluffy, creamy texture soaked oats provide.

What happens if you don't soak oats?

By soaking your oats you neutralize the phytic acid . This soaking allows the beneficial enzymes to work and increases the number of vitamins and minerals present that your body will absorb. On the plus side, the process of rolling oats removes at least part of the bran, where a large portion of the phytic acid resides.

What makes oatmeal bars stick together?

Using the right binding agent in your granola bar recipe is a crucial part of keeping your bars from falling apart. While there are several different sticky ingredients that you can use, we've found that the binding agent that works the best is honey!

How long are oatmeal bars good for?

How to Store Baked Oatmeal Bars. Baked oatmeal bars should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. They will last for about five days .

How do you get homemade granola to stick together?

Clumpy Granola Method: Add Egg White The idea is that the egg's protein will help the oats bind to each other and create delicate clusters. Results: Not only does the egg white work as a glue to hold the oats together, but it also gives the granola an incredibly crispy bite.

What makes granola bars stick together?

Honey – Along with the nut butter , it helps all these ingredients stick together! I love its warm amber flavor in this recipe. Vanilla extract – It amps up the bars' warm flavor.

How long should you soak oats for?

To prepare overnight oats, simply put porridge oats in a container, fill them with water, your choice of milk or yoghurt, and place them in the fridge. Remember to always soak the oats for at least 12 hours, but 24 hours is better .

How long to wait for oats to soak?

Cover the oats and soak them in the fridge for 12 hours . Place a plastic wrap over your bowl of oats and place it in the fridge. Allow your oats to soak for at least twelve hours before serving. The longer your oats can soak, the more flavor they will absorb.

Homemade Apple Oatmeal Bars Recipe (2024)

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This homemade apple oatmeal bars recipe is easy to make, great for lunches, snacks and desserts and makes a great healthy alternative to cookies and cakes!

Homemade Apple Oatmeal Bars Recipe

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This homemade apple oatmeal bars recipe is easy to make, great for lunches, snacks and desserts and makes a great healthy alternative to cookies and cakes!

Author: Tawra Kellam

Ingredients

Units

1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 1/2 cups apples*, chopped or 3/4 cup apple butter (omit cinnamon)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup add-ins (optional), any nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit or coconut could be added.

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine the first five ingredients.
Pat half of the mixture into an 8×8 inch baking pan.
Layer apples and sugar.
Crumble the remaining oatmeal mixture on top.
Bake 35 minutes.

Notes

*Any other fruit may be used in place of apples or mixed with apples if you like. Raspberries or blueberries would be great!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

rose
May 22, 2010 at 7:48 am

this looks sooo good… :D … thanks for sharing this :D
Reply
rose
May 24, 2010 at 8:58 pm

i keep thinking of these… they look soooo good… with a nice icy cold glass of milk too… yummo :D :D
Reply
barb~
September 1, 2010 at 9:19 pm

I have a vision of a nice, warm square with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and warm caramel sauce drizzled all over…….:)
Reply
Jana
July 23, 2011 at 12:20 pm

Is “quick cooking oatmeal” the same thing as instant oatmeal?
Thanks!
Reply
See Also
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- Jill
  July 23, 2011 at 1:02 pm
  
  The difference in oatmeal is:
  Instant is the kind you can just add boiling water to and serve. Like what comes in the packets.
  Quick is the kind you cook but you only need to cook for a couple of minutes.
  Old fashioned oats are the kind which need to cook much longer.
  Most recipes unless other wise states use quick oats. This is what I call all purpose oats or everyday oats.
  Reply
Jana
August 11, 2011 at 1:16 pm

Hum…I bought old fashioned oats from Aldi for this recipe. They are supposed to cook for 5 minutes. Anyway I can use these…just cook them some ahead?
Anyone tried this? I hate to rebuy and not use these up. I have never bought oats before…my kids may like them for breakfast, but I have no idea.
Reply
- Jill
  August 11, 2011 at 1:47 pm
  
  Usually what happens when you use old fashioned oats in a recipe like this, the oats can have a slightly tough texture to them. The other oats become very soft and you almost don’t notice there are oats in them.
  I made muffins which called for oats with my granddaughter this morning and she was so surprised because you couldn’t tell it even had oats in them at all because they had just melted away cooked in with the batter where if we had used old fashion we could have seen and felt the oats.
  So you could try if you want. You might try it for breakfast for your kids. Add some honey, brown sugar, raisins, applesauce, nuts, dried fruit, butter, heavy cream or lots of things to it. We have a whole list of things to put in oats if you have a copy of Dining on a Dime you could check for more ideas in there.
  Reply
  - Bo
    May 19, 2017 at 10:42 pm
    
    There are three forms of oats. Steel Cut oats are basically in natural form and take an hour or so to cook. Old Fashioned Oats, also called Rolled Oats have been pressed or flattened (rolled) and cook in 10 minutes. Quick Oats are rolled oats that have been chopped up a bit and cook in 3-5 min. Instant Oats have been chopped a lot and cook in 1 minute. You can turn your old fashioned oats into quick oats by putting them in a food processor for a few short pulses. Not too long or you will have oat flour.
    Reply
Jana
August 13, 2011 at 6:31 am

I made these last night and they were excellent (I went ahead and bought the quick oats)! Thanks for a great recipe!
It seems like a ton of butter though, any ideas to cut down on the volume of butter?
Reply
- Jill
  August 13, 2011 at 7:09 am
  
  Jana I’m sure someone may have some ideas. Actually 1 stick of butter is normal for a cookie or bar recipe. I don’t usually worry about it too much because I think 1 stick spread through out about 24 cookies isn’t that much and I will just eat maybe 1 cookie a day when I make something like this.
  I find it interesting now after years of hollering about not eating so much fat I have seen 3 different things this week alone on how we need to start eating more fat and to be sure we at least get some fat in our breakfast. I have never tried to keep up with these things because after so many years of living if I had done everything that “they” said we should do I would be down to a celery stick and glass of water (and treated water at that). I just eat it all in moderation (one cookie not 3) and things like that.
  Reply
Amy Crawford
August 21, 2011 at 12:05 pm

Should I soften the butter first? Or should it be melted?
Reply
- Jill
  August 21, 2011 at 4:48 pm
  
  Amy it can be slightly soften but for something like this it doesn’t matter if you take it straight from the fridge. I wouldn’t melt it though because it would make it a sticky mess and too hard to work with.
  Reply
Jennifer
August 19, 2020 at 7:15 pm

I mad ethis with plums an dit was SO TASTY! Reminded me of my Grammy’s balcberry cobbler (cooked blackberry and cooke dplum are similar in flavor). It was really easy to make, will be cookign it again soon!
Reply
Rebecca
September 19, 2020 at 11:04 am

I am making this as I type this. It’s been in the oven for almost 45 minutes; as the top and apples didn’t appear done. How do you know and also what is the best process for storing? I want to send some to my son in the Army. Recipe was very easy to make. Haven’t tasted yet since it’s still cooking 😊
Reply
- Jill
  September 21, 2020 at 10:27 am
  
  When they are golden brown they are done. Also they will keep 3-4 days just in a airtight container on counter and a couple extra days stored in fridge. No sure how well they would ship Rebecca to your son. It would depend on how long it would take of course for them to get there and in the summer months they may not keep as well shipping either as in winter. Some cookies that are good to ship are chocolate chip, regular oatmeal, peanut butter, or snickerdoodles etc. Here is a post of ours that gives tips on shipping cookies and more kinds to ship. Most to the recipes listed here too are on the website or in our book. How to Ship Cookies
  Reply