When it comes to making snacks and things for lunchboxes, if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: things which can be used for more than one purpose are AWESOME. That's why these strawberry oat bars are fantastic.
Serve them for breakfast, in the lunchbox or for an afternoon snack. Gosh, they even work for dessert.
If you're expecting a hard style granola bar, then these are not for you. They are softer, more like porridge bars.
I have a friend who I love very dearly who said to me the other day "You haven't done a cheap strawberry post yet!" She waits for it every year when the strawberries are cheap and then bakes. So I thought I'd better stop letting her down.
Strawberries have been $1 a punnet for a couple of weeks around here and the quality is amazing. Personally, I choose smaller strawberries as they tend to be sweeter and I always check the underside of the punnet.
Any juices at the bottom are a dead giveaway that there is a yucky one in there, which basically means the whole punnet will be mouldy before they see the light of day.
The best thing about the strawberry season is that the strawbs are filled with flavour and super yummy. That's how they are meant to be. Strawberry oat bars need them to be like this!
When we lived in London many years ago we popped over to Germany for a road trip and everywhere there were these giant strawberry stalls selling punnets of fresh strawberries. The best thing about them? The punnets weren't plastic! The strawberries could breathe and it meant that they kept fresh longer.
If you make these oat bars, you can freeze them in squares, ideal for the lunchbox or a grab and go breakfast. I freeze on a tray so they can then be popped into freezer bags or containers and won't stick to each other.
Strawberry oat bars, no added sugar
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 2 eggs
- 250 grams strawberries topped and sliced
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup milk
- 100 grams butter melted
- 1 ripe banana mashed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (355f).
- Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
- Press into a 20 cm square cake tin (either lined or silicone).
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 5 mins in the pan.
- Remove to a wire rack and allow to cool.
- Chop into squares.
Natalie says
Hi. Is it possible to substitute or leave out the coconut in these? There's a severe allergy in our class, and it's always a challenge to find lunchbox recipes without coconut.
Kylie says
You could add extra oats. Coconut is a tricky allergy!
Hayley says
Do you think these would freeze well? Of not what would you recommend on shelf life?
Kylie says
I freeze them in bars, they are ok for 2-3 days in the fridge.
Bec says
Suggestions on a banana substitute???
Kylie says
You could use pureed apple?
Anita says
Can my 10 month old baby eat these? She only has 3 teeth!
Kylie says
As long as she has no allergies and she is supervised, I can't see why not.