My daughter loves to snack and I’ve been buying the packaged mighty bar or nibbly fingers from Plum’s Organic and Ella’s Kitchen. They really come in handy during hungry meltdown when I picked her up from work, or when we were going on trips/outings. There’s some draw back though, 1) price — can be expensive if buying it all the time, 2) crumbs — quite annoying to clean up the mess in the car.
So, this week I’ve decided to try making a homemade bar that is nutrients dense, softer in texture and doesn’t leave tiny crumbs for the little tots to munch on.
I’m not much of a baker and I really hate measuring things. I would much prefer cooking when I can just throw a bunch of ingredients together and enjoying the flow of creativity as I go. But, as a mother and wanting my kid to have variety of healthy snacks, I ventured into the baking world. The first batch was a failure as I thought cooking the oatmeal probably will cut the baking time in half…emmm, that turned out to be quite the opposite. And the product reminds my husband of a bowl of cold oatmeal glob.
Second time, I changed out some ingredients and modify several steps and the bar turns out better but still not quite to my satisfaction. Though my little one thinks is delicious and chow down three squares right away. So, my guess is this bar probably will be a hit among 12+ months to 2 year-old. It’s soft, easy to chew (with or without teeth) and doesn’t stick inside the mouth.
Serves : 10-11 servings Calories : 55 calories, 1g protein, 1g fiber, 2% iron, 8% Vitamin C.
Ingredients: 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 1/2 cup frozen blueberries 1/4 cup dried cranberries 1/4 cup milk 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 350ºF or 175 ºC.
Mix rolled oats with applesauce and milk, fold in blueberries and dried cranberries. Add in the honey and stir content until well mixed.
Transfer content into a small baking pan (8×6). Spread out evenly and pressed it down.
Place into oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Then cut into 2×2 square.