Breakfast Fruit and Oatmeal Bars

This is my first contribution to my mother's beautiful, handy and growing food blog. This recipe is directly from the Quinoa 365; The Everyday Superfood cookbook that I was lucky to get as a gift this past Christmas from my wonderful Mom. I got back to campus on Sunday night and school didn't start until Tuesday, so I killed time Monday by grocery shopping and cooking up these bars. I didn't follow the recipe exactly; I didn't have almonds, so I cut up walnuts instead; instead of using both quinoa and whole wheat flours, I used only one cup of quinoa flour; I had no dried apricots so I used almost a cup of dried cranberries; and I did not use flaked coconut (though I think it'd be great to include some). Also, unlike the recipe directs, out of lazy-ness I did not separate the dough into bars until after I cooked them, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this. The bars tasted great! They were mostly devoured by me and my roommates but I was able to freeze some for those mornings that I am in a hurry. Enjoy!

Makes 30 large bars.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup (80mL) slivered almonds

1/2 cup (125mL) butter, softened

1/2 cup (125mL) packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp (30mL) fresh orange juice

1 Tbsp (15mL) grated orange zest

1 tsp (15mL) pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

3/4 cup (185mL) unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup (125mL) quinoa flour

1/2 cup (125mL) whole wheat flour

1 tsp (5mL) baking powder

1 tsp (5mL) baking soda

1/4 tsp (1mL) salt

2 1/2 cups (625mL) large-flake rolled oats

1 cup (250mL) flaked unsweetened coconut

1/3 cup (80mL) diced dried apricots

1/2 cup (125mL) dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the almonds evenly on the baking sheet and toast on the centre oven rack for about 10-15 minutes, until fragrant and lightly toasted.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the orange juice, orange zest, vanilla and eggs. Blend will and then stir in the applesauce.

3. In a separate, medium bowl, combine the quinoa and whole wheat flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this mixture to the applesauce and mix well. Stir in the almonds, oats, coconut, apricots and cranberries. Ensure the mixture is well blended, using a large wooden spoon or your hands. Chill the mixture in the freezer for 30 minutes.

4. With lightly greased hands, form the dough into 1- by 2-inch (2.5- by 5-cm) bars or balls and place on a large baking sheet. If you have an ice cream scoop handy, use it to scoop rounds of dough onto the baking sheet, pressing each one down with a fork to flatten slightly.

5. Bake on the center oven rack for 12-14 minutes, until the edges are slightly golden brown. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely. Store them for up to 2 weeks in a sealed container in the refrigerator or freeze for up to 1 month.