Chewy Baked Oatmeal Cranberry Squares

I am always trying to invent, or recreate recipes into plant based, whole foods that are tasty and healthy for my daughter.  I found inspiration from Peas and Thank You  author Sarah Matheny, and recreated one of her wonderful recipes into a family favorite: Chewy Baked Oatmeal Cranberry Squares. 

Why cranberries?  We had a lot of fresh cranberries left over from Thanksgiving that I needed to start getting creative with.  None of us are huge fans of fresh cranberries on their own, but chopped up and mixed into recipes, they are great!  Also in disease-fighting antioxidants, cranberries outrank nearly every fruit and vegetable--including strawberries, spinach, broccoli, red grapes, apples, raspberries, and cherries.  How can you compete with that? 

Make sure to use fresh or frozen cranberries that have nothing added, and forgo the canned and dried versions that are packed with sulfur and sugar.

What you need:

3 Tbsp Ground Flax

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp Water

2 cups Old Fashioned Oats

1/2 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (Rice and Quinoa Flours work well here too!)

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

3/4 cup Pitted Dates pureed with 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup Natural Nut Butter of Choice (I like Almond)

1/3 cup Fresh Cranberries

What you do:

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Combine ground flax and water.  Set aside.

2.  Combine oats, flour, baking powder, salt in a mixing bowl. 

Dry Ingredients

3.  Blend dates in a high speed blender or food processor until smooth.  Add this along with nut butter and the flax water to dry mixture and stir well.  The mixture will seem dry but continue to stir until fully integrated.

4.  In food processor, pulse cranberries until finely chopped but chunks remain.  Fold into the batter.

Chopped Cranberries

5.  Press the mixture into an 8 x 8 lightly oiled or silicon pan.  Bake for roughly 15 minutes, making sure not to over bake.  Allow to cool slightly before cutting.  Makes 16 bars.

Hot out of the Oven

6.  Store in freezer if not immediately eating.  These store well in freezer. Enjoy!

Nutrition Info Per Square:

Calories: 142

Fat: 6 g

Saturated Fat: 0.5 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 61 mg

Carbohydrates: 21 g

Fiber: 3.5 g

Sugars: 8 g

Protein: 3 g

UPDATE: Just made these in a muffin pan for easy single servings. Made 12. Adjusted bake time to 12 minutes. 

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