Oatmeal Breakfast Bars -Oil-free

If you are looking for something tasty and healthy, these oatmeal breakfast bars are a quick and easy, grab and go breakfast or snack that you can make for your kids or yourself. 

They are hearty and filling. Made using all whole food ingredients, these sugar-free and oil-free bars are gluten free, high in fiber, provide antioxidants, and are sweet and delicious. To me, they taste like a muffin!

I sometimes add nuts or seeds to the recipe

They are also very versatile and adapt well to additions such as seeds and nuts (pumpkin seeds, chopped walnuts, slivered almonds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds etc.) or even more dried fruit such a raisins. You decide and you choose. I sometimes like to keep mine simple and plain without any additions but sometimes I like it all!

I've shared my basic recipe and you can add whatever nuts, dried fruits, or seed that you like. 

My favorite addition to the finished batter before baking is 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/4 cup of additional raisins to the  Then I pour the batterf into the pan to bake. 

My friend Nancy Andres from Colors 4 Health reminded me to mention oats or oatmeal need to be certified gluten-free to be considered_gluten-free- Read about it here:gluten free oats

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Read the remainder of this post only if you want to know more about my diet and oil-free eating or just skip and go directly to the recipe at the bottom of the page . 

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Why oil-free? I'm following Dr. McDougall's lifestyle plan which excludes oil  because it is a highly caloric, contains zero fiber ( which is essential to good health) and very few, if any, nutrients. In other words- empty BIG calories. (Yes, I know olive oil is supposed to be good for you-)  

There are healthier ways to include good fats in the diet such as eating the whole food such as avocados, nuts, olives, and seeds which do contain lots of heart healthy fiber, vitamins, and lots of other nutrients. 

I am very happy eating whole food plant-based diet ( based on the book The Starch Solution or Dr. Mc Dougalls diet for weight loss

Incidentally, many best selling authors (who are also medical doctors) suggest an oil-free diet such as Dr. Fuhrman and some of the  18 doctors ( link to a great article) 

18 Vegan Doctors Who Drive the Plant-Based Movement

 

recommend a Whole Foods Plant-Based diet to reverse or prevent heart disease and other diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, and other degenerative diseases.  You want to listen to cardiologists, internists, diabetic specialists or do you want to keep getting your information about food from television commercials and magazine ads?

One more piece of information- the more sugar and salt you eat in your food, the less likely you are to enjoy whole food because salt and sugar are addicting. You will continue to crave highly processed foods that are making Americans fat and sick... 

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Ingredients for the bars.

2 cups of rolled oats blended in the blender into flour (in a blender)

1 cup of rolled oats

2 tsp baking powder

2 tablespoons of cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of cardamom (optional but I LOVE it)

1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon ground flax seeds 

1/2 cup of raisins, soaked for at least 1 hour or more, and drained

1/2 cup (about 6 dates) of pitted dates, soaked overnight or minimum of 1 hour or more, and drained

1 ripe banana

1 cup of almond milk

Optional: seeds, walnuts, 

I like to add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/4 cup of raisins!

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 inch non-stick baking pan with parchment paper. 

Mix oat flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and ground flax seeds to a mixing bowl. Mix well and set aside. Blend drained raisins, dates, and almond milk to the blender and mix until well blended. Mix the wet blender mixture into the dry mixture. Pour into an 8 inch lined pan and bake for 35-40 minutes depending on your oven.