December 24, 2013

Oatmeal Raisin Bars

Oatmeal Raisin Bars
Oatmeal Raisin Bars



The stress of the holidays is almost over. As much as I love watching my kids faces during Christmas morning and spending time with my family I am always relieved when all the chaos is over. For what seems like 3 months all everyone talks and think about is Christmas. This year stores had their Christmas decorations out before Halloween, making the holiday seem even longer than normal. I personally love the day after Christmas. My kids have new toys to distract them and I can sit and relax with a cup of coffee. No more shopping, wrapping, or cooking. Things can go back to the way they are the other 9 months of the year. Plus the New Year brings new things to look forward to and the ability to leave the stress of the last year behind us. So as Christmas comes tomorrow, I will be happy. My kids will be ecstatic with all the gifts, while I will be happy that I can relax, I survived another Christmas.

Since we have been eating lots of fattening foods the last couple of weeks, I have been trying to have snacks that are healthier. Today I tried a new recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Bars from the January issue of All You Magazine.
Spring Hill Cemetery Huntington, WV
Spring Hill Cemetery Huntington, WV

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 5 minutes of which is active and makes 9 bars. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First, I substituted pepitas for the sunflower seeds called for in the recipe. My family loves pumpkin seeds and I use them in snacks frequently. Second, I found that I had to allow the bars to cook an additional 5 minutes in order for them to fully brown and set.
Spring Hill Cemetery Huntington, WV
Spring Hill Cemetery Huntington, WV

These bars taste more like baked oatmeal than they do raisin bars. I chose to pour maple syrup over two of the bars as a breakfast. I would suggest making a few changes to the original recipe. First, I would replace the raisins with fresh fruit. Fresh blueberries would be much lower in sugar and higher in vitamins than raisins. Second, I would add maple syrup to the bars in order to make them sweeter. As originally written the bars are a little on the not sweet side of things. I would suggest either adding maple syrup to the batter or eating the bars in a bowl with maple syrup drizzled over them. With a few modifications, these could be a great snack!

For the recipe go to Oatmeal Raisin Bars. 

12 comments:

  1. The recipe sounds delicious! Oatmeal and raisins just go together nicely, don't they? Merry Christmas, and enjoy that cup of coffee. :)

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    1. They do go together well I agree :) I hope you had a great Christmas!

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  2. Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

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    1. I hope your family had a great Christmas as well :)

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  3. Being on vacation I'm trying to stay away from the computer and focus on family but I just had to pop by and say Merry Christmas to you and your family! I hope you'll have a great day today.

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    1. I try to stay off my computer during vacations too. I haven't been posting much this week since we have had a lot of family time as well :) Merry belated Christmas and I hope your having a great vacation!

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  4. These sound really good and I agree with the sentiment about providing healthier snacks. I also agree about getting things back to normal, in general. I feel like it's been Christmas since the summer!

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  5. I agree that it seems like it's been Christmas since August. I think it's because the stores started so early this year!

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  6. Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year! Thanks for visiting Time with A & N in 2013.

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