If you’re craving some spiced apple goodness, then this old-fashioned oatmeal bars recipe is for you. You’ll find familiar flavors and scratch-made snacking all in one bite!
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On busy mornings when we have homeschool co-op and I need to get us fed well and out the door these bars are my lifeline! We can grab some from the fridge or freezer and hit the road. When the afternoon hungries appear I feel no guilt when I pass these out as a convenient snack. Mamaw saves the day with another fantastic favorite from her recipe box!
These come together so easily with the help of some modern kitchen gadgets and can be made quickly with just a few pantry basics and some home-canned applesauce or other fruit butter you have handy. We have loved using up an excess of pear sauce with this recipe but some chunky strawberry jam will likely work too. Plum sauce in the pantry? Perfect!
A quick note on Old-fashioned Oatmeal Bars Recipe substitutions.
You know your kitchen and family best. If you are using something other than applesauce, such as peach preserves, you likely have prepared them with a lot of sugar. If you fear the oatmeal bars will turn out too sweet you can simply reduce the amount of sugar you put in the bars leaving out 2 tablespoons up to 1/4 cup.
The more you cook from scratch for your family, the more you will become comfortable with making substitutions that suit your family’s needs and tastes. Your goal in the end is a tasty, quality product that is made with whole food ingredients that nourish your family well.
This simple from-scratch recipe is a great way to use real food ingredients, pantry staples, and home-preserved food that you can feel great about serving anytime. The bars come together in a snap with plenty of hands-off time for you to complete other necessary tasks around the homestead.
If you have a food processor, you can use it for this recipe. I don’t enjoy the clean-up hassle of my food processor, so I usually just use my Ninja high-speed blender. Really any blender will work for you and provide excellent results.
Let’s get started making our Old-fashioned Oatmeal Bars so we can enjoy them sooner!
I have purchase some bar molds on Amazon that I really like to use now. However, when I first started making these oatmeal bars I spread them out in a huge rimmed baking sheet just like I am going to instruct you to do below. The molds just give a uniform size that I don’t have to cut later.
Preparing your pan is a key step to ensuring even baking and eye-pleasing results so don’t skip out on this step. Parchment paper is so helpful when making this recipe and most granola recipes as well.
Old-fashioned Oatmeal Bars Recipe with Spiced Applesauce
Equipment
- 1 High speed blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Old-fashioned oats, divided These are not quick-cook oats
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 Tbs Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg, freshly grated
- 1/2 tsp Real Salt
- 2 Large Farm-fresh eggs
- 1 Cup Home-canned Applesauce Or other fruit sauce/preserves
- 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
- 4 T Butter, melted Use unsalted if you have it or coconut oil.
- 1 Cup Almonds, pecans, walnuts, or cashews
Instructions
- Prepare a rimmed 9×13" Baking sheet with by greasing and then lining with parchment paper. Be sure the paper comes up the sides and has some overhang on each end.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Gently toast the nuts in a pan on the stove until just fragrant and lightly toasted.
- In blender jar or food processor bowl, combine 1.5 cups of oats, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt. Blend until oats are coarsely chopped and incorporated well with the other ingredients.
- Add the eggs, applesauce, brown sugar, and melted butter. Blend until well mixed.
- To the blender jar add the rest of the rolled oats and the toasted nuts and give a few pulse bursts on the blender just to combine the final batter.
- Use the blender jar to carefully pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread to corners with the back of a spatula so that your batter is evenly spread in the pan.
- Bake for 33 minutes and check to see that the top is beginning to brown gently. If not, you can add another 2-3 minutes. The edges should be pulling away slightly from the sides of the pan.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool COMPLETELY before removing from pan.
- Use the sides of the parchment paper to gently lift the oat slab from the pan.
- Use a metal bench scraper or knife to slice into 12 equal bars.
Final notes on storing the Old-fashioned Oatmeal Bars Recipe
These can be stored in an airtight container and kept on the counter (if they last) for up to a week. For longer storage and use I prefer to wrap them individually, stick them in a resealable bag, and put them in the freezer.
Lastly, for our large family I prepare a triple batch of these and bake them in 1 large pan and 2 sheets of bar molds all at once. This allows me to have one batch to serve immediately and some spare to put in the freezer for later.
Whether it’s a nourishing breakfast on-the-go or a convenient way to satisfy the urge to snack, these Old-fashioned Oatmeal bars are a recipe that is both healthful and versatile. I hope you will try some and let me know how much your family enjoyed them.
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