Chewy Breakfast Bars

I love oatmeal breakfast bars for a couple reasons.  First, it's a matter of convenience - grab and go.  Second, it helps me eat one of my favorite things - oatmeal.  I readily admit I don't like oatmeal cooked on the stove for breakfast unless it is doctored up with some type of sweetness.  I don't really care for the oatmeal bars you purchase in the store because they are either like chewing wet cardboard or nibbling on a brick.  I decided to come up with an EASY alternative to was versatile to fit not only various tastes, but one that would allow me to intermix ingredients so the recipe doesn't get stale.  The recipe below allows you to add three cups of magic ingredients.  This can be nuts, pepitas or dried fruit - even more oatmeal. 

4 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
3 cups magic ingredient
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups honey
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Prepare two 1/4 (quarter) sheet pans by liberally spraying them with cooking spray, applying a silpat on top and applying more cooking spray - set aside.

In a 4 quart saucepan on medium heat, bring butter, honey, brown sugar and salt to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low and on boil low for 5 minutes.  Set your timer as this is all that matters.  After 5 minutes add oatmeal and magic ingredient.  Stir gently to combine and continue to cook for two more minutes. 

Remove from heat and divide between two-1/4 sheet pans.  Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and place on cooling rack until completely cool. 

To remove bars, you may need to utilize a sharp knife around the edge to release.  Turn bars upside down, remove silpat and continue to cut into16 bars.


SIDENOTE: As you can see from the photo above, you can also glaze them with chocolate.  I subsequently sprinkled Fleur de Sel on top of the chocolate to give it a salty hint.  To glaze with chocolate use good, quality chocolate - NOT chocolate chips, they are not the same.  The amounts below with glaze almost all the bars.

16 oz chocolate, chopped - I used bittersweet, but you can use milk or white
1 tsp. canola oil

In a double boiler, melt chocolate and oil together until smooth.  Remove from heat, take bowl off of bain maire and let rest on counter for 15 minutes.  Dip tops of bars into melted chocolate and let rest on cooling rack.  Sprinkle with Fleur de Sel if interested.