The New Granola Bar: Golden Raisin Oatmeal Squares

I have nothing against prepackaged granola bars. In fact, I rather like them. But they’re usually kinda dry…and have strange things in them…plus they’re really small and always leave me ripping into another shiny wrapper to get a second one. Most of them are more candy bar than granola bar. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but maybe not the best choice for a healthy snack. Remember Kudos?! I managed to convince myself that chocolate-covered granola bars studded with candy and caramel was a healthy snack. It’s got GRANOLA, right?

So when the lovely people over at SunMaid sent me some of their golden raisins, I decided to try my hand at a healthy granola bar. I wanted something kind of cakey and dense, chewy, sweet, and soft. They had to be soft. So I came up with these oatmeal squares, and I think they’re pretty darn good. Each bar has 160 calories and 3 grams of protein, so these are a great snack for a lunchbox or even as a quick breakfast.

Golden Raisin Oatmeal Squares

makes 16 squares

Ingredients:

• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup SunMaid golden raisins
• 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp chia seeds
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 Tbsp virgin coconut oil
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten with a fork

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, raisins, chia seeds, cinnamon, salt, and sugar, mixing well. Mix in the eggs, applesauce, oil, vanilla, and honey.
3. Spread the mixture into your prepared baking dish, and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
4. Lift the bars out of the baking pan by the parchment paper and allow to fully cool on a cooling rack before cutting into bars.