Oatmeal Fruit and Nut Health Bars

I adapted this recipe from one I saw in the Oregonian years ago. Makes 24 bars. To calculate calories per bar I used the website MyFitnessPal, a free site on which you can easily track daily food and exercise. It has a recipe app for estimating calories, etc in home cooked foods.

These bars keep well, can be used as snacks for travel or hikes.

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp of olive oil or canola oil

1 large egg

3/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce

2 Tbsp lowfat milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cup of flour

¼ cup flax meal (optional)

1/4 cup Splenda sweetener

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

2/3 cup of chopped nuts, e.g. walnuts

1 to 1 ½ cup of dried fruit, e.g. dried cranberries, dried regular or golden raisins, diced dried

apricots, or a mixture

½ cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

3 cups rolled oats – quick or regular (I use quick cooking oats)

1 Pre-heat oven to 350 oF. Grease and dust with flour a 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking pan

2. Mix oil, applesauce, egg, milk and vanilla extract in a large bowl

3. Add flour, (flax meal if using), Splenda, baking soda, and cinnamon to wet ingredients

and stir to mix.

4. Add chopped nuts and dried fruit, (chocolate chips if using); mix into batter

5. Add 3 cups of rolled oats and stir into batter. It will be stiff.

6. Spread batter into greased and floured baking pan; use a spoon or spatula to pat the

batter out evenly in the pan.

7. Bake at 350 oF for about 30 minutes.

8. Cut into 24 square bars while still warm, store in container in fridge when cool and the bars will keep for 2 weeks, or can freeze and thaw as needed.

(During the holiday season, I also add chopped candied fruit and chopped candied pineapple to make the bars more like fruitcake. You could also add bran, wheatgerm, other spices; this is a very adaptable recipe.)

165 calories per bar, 4 grams protein, 7 grams of fat, 5 mg sodium, 2 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar