Almond Oat Strawberry Bars

These bars are a lot of fun because there's really an endless opportunity to be creative. They also don't have any sugar or flour! They make for a great and filling breakfast or snack on the go. The following is a recipe that I use, but feel free to add any of your favorite nuts, fruits, jams etc. Whatever you have around or think would be good should work!

Almond Oat Strawberry Bars:

•1 cup almonds, ground

•2 cups oats, ground

•1/2 cup walnuts, ground

•1/2 cup shredded coconut

•1 tsp. cinnamon

•1/2 cup applesauce

•1/4 cup maple syrup

•1 cup jam (I used strawberry, but go crazy!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Begin by grinding up all your nuts/oats and mixing them in a bowl. I used a coffee bean grinder to do this, but a food processor would probably work better. Add coconut and cinnamon. Add applesauce and maple syrup and mix well. You may need to add a bit of water or a bit more oat flour if your mixture is a bit too wet or dry. It should resemble thick cookie dough.

Once you have a nice mixture, spread about 3/4 of it on the bottom of a pan. I use a bread loaf pan for this recipe, but you could use half a cake pan if you don't have a loaf pan on hand. The dough stays in place without spreading out during the baking. Spread the jam on top of this layer, and then cover that with the remaining dough. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.