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Becky's Oat Bars

Some people start to feel nervous when their gas tank gets below a quarter full. My idiot light is usually on for a good 10 miles before I fill up. Others get anxious when their bank account gets below a certain number. Ummm yeah, I am not sure we have ever had a time in our marriage where we had excess, I am ok with small numbers. I do have times when I start to feel a little uncertain, it directly correlates with the amount of baked goods in our home. I like to know when I need a treat to go with my afternoon tea I will have one readily available.

My friend Becky likes good food, this is one of the many reasons I like her. She posted a recipe recently on her blog (see Blogroll at right for address) and I thought it seemed like something I must try. The problem is I am completely unable to follow instructions as written. Be this tied to my issues with authority (it isn't a issue, in my opinion, I just don't LIKE authority, but I digress) or my need to express my creative flair, I went ahead and altered the recipe to fit my needs.

I like to say I am "good at using what is on hand". What this translates to is "I don't plan ahead enough to really follow any type of written recipe". This means that instead of using blueberries like Becky calls for, I used a mix of raspberries that I had frozen, fresh strawberries and blueberries that we started to look a little wrinkled. I figure this would be tasty with whatever fruit you had (I'm thinking' I am going to have to try it with apples and cinnamon here soon) and maybe even amazing with dried fruit (apricots anyone?) With no further ado, here is the recipe, if your the type who likes these things:

Becky's Fruit and Oat Bars
3/4 c. butter (if dairy free use coconut oil or dairy free margarine)
1 c. brown sugar 1 1/2 c. flour (if GF use Bob's Red Mill flour mix and 1 tsp. xanthan gum)
1/4 c. flax meal
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. oatmeal (optional 1/2 c. chopped pecans)
2 c. fruit (my berries were tart to say the least, so I tossed them with 1 T sugar)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugar, mix in flour, salt until well blended, add oatmeal. Press half of the mixture into a greased 9x13 inch pan: spread fruit over the mixture and sprinkle with the remaining oatmeal mixture. (Like a crumb topping) Bake @ 25minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5-10 minutes before cutting into bars.

So yummy if served a bit warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Or perfect with a hot cup of tea mid-afternoon. Now you will never again have that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realize tea time has come and you are without a treat to go with it.

Comments

stephaniejwood said…
Seriously, its one of my favorite things about you. You ALWAYS have some delicious baked good for afternoon snack. My poor children, like as not, hear, "I don't know, go get a spoonful of peanut butter and put a few raisins on it." when they get a little hungry in the afternoon.
Becky Johnson said…
Love it and the substitutes sound great. I was wondering how I might modify for my vegan daughter!! Yeah!

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