HB Eats: Baby Oat Bars Recipe

I used to make a version of these baby oat bars that were great for teething – they were hard and biscuit-like and HB could gnaw on it for AGES before they got too soft. However, HB is now in a weaning phase where he doesn’t want to be spoon-fed and sometimes, especially when I’m out and about, I want something which won’t require too much mess. These are perfect as they’re chewy and fairly soft.

Whilst I don’t like being sneaky with veg, I’m on a mission to try and get HB to have veg in some format for his breakfast lunch and dinner and these tick the ‘breakfast veg’ box. This particular recipe contains carrots as that’s what was in my recent Riverford box but you could just as easily substitute with finely grated courgette; the banana, cinnnamon and peanut butter masks the veg taste. Apple also helps add to the sweetness without needing to use something like agave or dates which I find so many of the store-bought options include.

If you want to turn these into teething biscuits, then all you actually need are the oats, banana and splash of milk – mix it really well, ensuring the oats are finely ground then press it firmly into a greaseproof papered tin and cook on a low heat (around 140’) for 40 – 60 minutes. Cut them whilst they’re still soft with a sharp knife otherwise they’ll be impossible to break evenly!

Ingredients

• 1 ½  cups* of oats
• 1 banana
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely grated
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• ½ apple, grated
• Splash of milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Optional extras

• Ground flaxseeds
• Chia seeds
• Alternative nut butters
• Finely chopped raisins

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200’C and line a shallow tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Gently food-process the oats with the cinnamon and any other optional dry ingredients.
3. Add in the banana, grated carrot, peanut butter and apple and mix well until it forms a thick dough.
4. Add in a splash of milk to loosen the mixture up (I used coconut drinking milk but nut milks work just as well) and stir.
5. Scoop the mixture into the baking tray and press down as firmly as you can. It’ll be quite sticky but persist! Once it’s evenly spread (I like mine to be quite chunky, about 1 – 1.5cm high) place in the oven for 20-25 minutes to bake.
6. The mixture should be springy to touch. As soon as it’s baked, cut into fingers or chunks using a sharp knife and leave to cool before breaking the pieces apart.
7. Store in an airtight container and these will last for up to 3 days.

Let me know if your little one likes them! And also if you make any delicious variations – I’m going to experiment with some baby oat bars which are more spiced to include cumin, garam masala etc. I’ll let you know what they’re like.

*1 cup = 85g