Having these apple pumpkin seed to-to bars on hand during the week made my life so much easier. Work has been picking up, and I’ve been leaving the house around 7:30 AM each morning. As the person who hits snooze till the last possible second, having something I could just grab out of the fridge and eat on my way to work was a life saver. Though I don’t recommend eating on the go, sometimes we have to, and when we do it’s best to be prepared.
Since it’s now Autumn, we want all the pumpkin and/or apple flavored everything right? These apple pumpkin seed to-go bars are my new favorite, and I will be making them every Sunday in preparation for the week ahead. They are healthy enough for breakfast, but they have just the right amount of sweetness to satisfy my after dinner sugar cravings without reaching for cookies or ice cream.
This is especially helpful for working women (like me) or busy moms who feel like they have to choose between heating healthy and having quick solutions on a hectic schedule. It’s my goal to make it easier!
And for all of you who don’t do grains, check out a my recipe Paleo Apple Cinnamon “Oatmeal” I did last year that feels like oatmeal, but it’s not!
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups quick rolled oats
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 apple (I like granny smith for baking) grated or shredded into thin strips- I used a mandolin slicer to shred the apple
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk or nut-milk of your choice
- 1 snack cup size of apple sauce (measures out to 1/4 cup and 2 tbsp if you’re not using apple sauce from snack cups)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 c melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds or nut of your choice (this measurement can totally be adjusted based on how much you want in the bars)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a small to medium baking dish with some non stick spray. An 8×8 dish is a great standard size. Mine was more of a 10×7 but I don’t think it makes much of a difference. I follow the goldilocks rule…not too big and not too small. 😉
- Mix the dry oats, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In another bowl mix together the wet ingredients (milk, apple sauce, maple syrup, shredded apple, and coconut oil). *Here’s a tip, don’t let the wet mixture sit for too long or else the cold milk will harden the melted coconut oil. Learned that the hard way.*
- Slowly combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until it’s an even mixture.
- At this point add any nuts/seeds or other fun additions you might like. I used pumpkin seeds and they were delicious!
- Pour the mixture into the baking dish and pop that baby in the oven for 35-40 minutes.
Here are some ways you can change it up to meet your taste preferences or dietary needs…
- If you aren’t into maple syrup you can substitute any sweetener of your choice. I would stick with a liquid though or it might throw off the consistency, but HEY you might come up with an even better recipe in the process! Or try varying the amounts if you prefer to not have the bars too sweet, switch out the maple syrup for another serving of apple sauce. Just experiment!
- Maybe pumpkin seeds aren’t your thing, if so some great options are walnuts and pecans.
- You can even get really adventurous and put some dried cranberries in here too.
Enjoy!!!!
