These Cinnamon Oat Bars are great for a breakfast on the go and they can be tailored to individual taste! I made these with my girls and they absolutely loved cooking and eating these healthy treats. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

The trick to making these bars without a food processor is soaking the Medjool dates in water for about 20 minutes.

Place about 30 dates in a medium mixing bowl and cover with water.

After soaking, discard the seeds, and remove the dates from the water, then give them a rough chop. Next place them and the excess water into the blender. PULSE, PULSE, PULSE until you get most of the big chunks out, then blend until it reaches the consistency of smooth apple sauce.

While the dates are soaking, I like to roast my oats (i love how that sounds!) and nuts in the oven at 350F for 10 min. This will allow the oats and nuts to change color slightly, be careful not to burn them.  I just love the toasty flavor of roasted oats and nuts but burnt oats and nuts….not so much.

Next use a wooden spoon to stir all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. After everything comes together line a glass baking dish with wax or parchment paper and press the mixture down. Placing it in the baking dish will give you just the right thickness for your bars.

The final step is letting the bars set up in the fridge or the freezer for about 40 min. I must be honest, a spoonful of the mixture usually ends up in my tummy before making it to the fridge. One of the reasons I love this recipe is because it is edible every step of the way….

Ingredients

• ~30 Medjool dates (give or take a few)
• 2 cups oats
• 3/4 cup slivered almonds ( or whatever partially crushed nuts you prefer)
• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter*
• 1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes*
• 1/4 cup of chopped dried apples*
• 1/2 cup of raisins*
• 1/8-1/4 tsp of cinnamon*
• Pinch of sea salt or pink Himalayan salt

Directions:

Soak dates in enough water just to cover them for 20 min.

Preheat oven to 350F. Spread nuts and oats evenly on a cookie sheet and place in oven for 10 min.

Remove seeds from pre-soaked dates, rough chop them and place them and reserve water into blender. Blend until smooth. In a large mixing bowl add oats, date mixture and remaining ingredients. Stir until mixture begins to stick together. Pour mixture into a baking dish lined with parchment paper and press down to make flat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer for about 40 minutes. Remove, cut and enjoy.

Store Bars in airtight container or plastic bag in refrigerator or freezer.

*Everything in this recipe is optional and can be omitted or replaced with what you like. Substitute sunflower butter or almond butter for peanut butter. Use dried cranberries or blueberries…its totally up to you!