Snack time! Making Healthy Oatmeal Bars

This was the first snack recipe I made for the twins. They had just turned one, and we had started the solid foods phase and the change from formula to milk.

At our well-child visits, the Doctor had previously indicated the children’s diet should not include salt or sugar, at least for the first two years of their lives. I had already been preparing their purees at home, and I was obviously going to follow the same trend with their first solid foods. I looked at different baby snacks in the market, granola bars, cookies, among others. However, I found that they had too many processed ingredients and, in many cases, high sugar and salt content.

I know that eventually, the twins will be exposed to other types of foods or so-called quick snacks, and that is fine, they should know and try many things and enjoy a chocolate cake when the time is right, but I would like those to be exceptions and not the general rule of their meals. In addition, they can have those later in life.

The first years of development for children are so important that my thought process has always been to provide the best I can, to boost their developmental capabilities, and salt and sugar are not part of the equation, not even now at three years old.

I found this first recipe in a Parents Magazine, which I subscribed for since pregnancy. It is very easy to make, and you can have different variations of the recipe by adding other fruits, nuts or even making it vegan.

These are the ingredients you need for this recipe:

• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats – I love that they use oats and not flour as oats are so much healthier.

• ¼ cup chopped pecans – but you can avoid making it nut-free. I have done that when taking to schools as most of them are nut-free facilities

• 1 tbsp baking powder

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 2 cups milk – you can use almond milk for the vegan version

• 2 Tbsp melted unsalted butter or, substitute for vegan buttery sticks for the vegan version.

• 2 eggs – you can use one big banana or two small bananas for the vegan version.

• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup – I love that they do not use sugar but maple syrup since it is much healthier. However, I made this recipe without the syrup and added a little bit of ripe banana (around half a banana). You do not get the same texture result as if you add the syrup, but it is much healthier to use the banana for a 1-year-old. Now that the kids are three years old, I have started adding less than a quarter cup of maple syrup.

• 1 ½ cups of sliced strawberries – I have made it with strawberries, but also blueberries and peach. The options are endless.

How to prepare it?

Mix the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients separately and then combine them. Add the fruits and nuts at the end, combine well and ready to set in a pan, previously sprayed with butter or oil (vegetable one if vegan), and bake at 350 degrees F for around 30 minutes or until crunchy.

When out of the oven and cool, I cut them into small squares (for the little mouths and stomachs) and freeze them. To serve, I steam them in my Baby Bullet steamer, and voila! You have a delicious oatmeal square snack, very healthy, delicious, and nutritious that you can take when going out, you can serve as part of breakfast or as a mid-day or afternoon snack.

Do you have a favorite snack for your kids?

At The Maple Tree Project, we are working to bring these products to your homes, stay tuned and we will keep you updated with ordering and shipping information.

Until next time!!