Guest Post: Healthy (Blueberry) Oatmeal Bars, from The Newfangled Housewife

I feel incredibly blessed to be guest posting on Standpipe & Sprinkles today. 

I started "The Newfangled Housewife" almost two years ago in an attempt  to find my voice. It has taken me on a roller coaster ride, consistently changing as I do. I married at the age of 18, and since then things have never been easy. While I knew I always wanted to be a traditional Stay-At-Home-Mom/Wife, it turns out there's so much more to being a SAHM these days than I realized. "The Newfangled Housewife" has helped me learn and understand that day by day. 

Thanks for having me, Katie!

While these are pictured with blueberries, they can be made with anything else -- from fruit, nuts, to chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

- 1/4 C canola oil

- 1/4 C unsweetened applesauce

- 1/3 C brown sugar (optional)

- 1 egg

- 2 tsp vanilla

- 1 C whole wheat flour

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 C rolled oats

* 1/2 C to 1 C blueberries 

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 400.

- Prepare a 9 x 9 baking pan (spraying, lining with parchment paper, or lining with butter)

- Whisk together the brown sugar, applesauce, and canola oil.

- Add the egg and vanilla.

- Begin whisking in the flour, salt, and baking soda. Once the mixture gets too thick (and it will get too thick), switch to a spatula or spoon.

- Add the oats.

- Last, add your blueberries or addition of your choice. Since the mixture is so thick, odds are some of the blueberries will not fold in nice and pretty. A couple of mine decided to get squished -- but that's ok!

- Transfer the batter to your prepared 9 x 9 pan. It is a bit of an effort to smooth it and make sure there aren't any holes or things like that when putting it in the pan, but don't be discouraged! They come out beautifully. 

 

- Cook for 11 to 14 minutes. Test with a knife or tooth pick, making sure it comes out clean with no batter sticking, before removing from the oven.

- If you did not line the pan with parchment paper, let the bars cool in the pan for a good 10 minutes. If you lined it with parchment paper, you can remove them and let them cool on a cooling rack for a shorter period of time.

Enjoy for breakfast with a nice cup of coffee, in the afternoon with a steaming cup of tea, or at any moment in time with your beverage of choice! They are delicious and truly hard to pass up.

The Newfangled Housewife