Oh blondie oat bars, how I love you so. These are one of the easiest bars to make. And, I have to be honest, I make these in the toaster oven too. I know that you are starting to wonder if I even have a regular oven, given that I make everything using a refrigerator or toaster oven. And I do! But the preheating time really just makes me love my cheap(ish) toaster oven more.

This recipe is really easy, and made with complex carbs. From my gestational diabetes days (more here), I learned that complex carbs take much longer to drive my blood sugar up. Which means (in my simplified biology terms, feel free to correct me endocrinologists!) that this makes my body work less hard to process. I do sweeten these up with a little bit of maple syrup if I’m feeling like they need a little something-something.

Truth be told though, Lucas hasn’t fully developed a sweet tooth yet, so I’m trying to keep it that way. A quarter cup of maple syrup should do it if you want to make these even more palatable for the rest of your family (though we ate the pan clean, without adding the maple syrup). If you don’t have coconut oil, butter is definitely an option. I’ve heard that using butter will make the result more flaky, but I haven’t tried that out in this recipe.

Readers – if you have tried to make a substitution, please let me know in the comments!

 

 

 

 

 

FULL RECIPE

Mix together:

One banana

1 cup of milk

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

2 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup oat flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

Optional: 1/3 cup of honey (for babies, they are sweet enough without the honey. For adults and toddlers, the honey is great! don’t forget never to give honey to children under 1).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all ingredients. No stand mixer? No problem! Mix by hand 😉 Cook for approximately 20-25 minutes

Spread mixture on a 9×9 baking pan. You’ll know the blondie bars are done when the center stops jiggling, and the edges become a nice golden brown.

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