I needed something simple to ease my way back into the realm of cooking. We recently moved to a different apartment complex so I have some "new" culinary territory to make my own. It's a much bigger kitchen and I love it. As soon as we put my food processor in it's new home I decided on making these bars. I wasn't completely sold on their texture when I first put them in to bake but they emerged from the oven wonderfully chewy. The blueberry studded bars are delicious on their own but the cinnamon vanilla glaze is really my favorite part, and rightfully so.
Phew, over two months it's been that long? I think I just needed a break from absolutely everything for a little while (or a long while apparently). I feel refreshed, energized, inspired, ready to work on exciting recipes, read blogs, and start school again in a week. Well maybe not totally ready for school to start...Either way I am happy to feel so rested and ready for just about anything! Thank you all for the birthday wishes, it was everything I hoped it would be. Twenty-one is definitely a liberating age. I was most excited to buy my first bottle of white wine to cook with (you might be a food-blogger if...)
I decided to treat these bars like scones because I enjoy how their triangular shape allows for perfectly crunchy edges and soft chewy centers.
Bars
1 cup oat flour
(you can either buy it or blend regular rolled oats in a food processor until they are fine like flour)
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup vanilla almond milk, unsweetened
(soy milk would be fine too)
(soy milk would be fine too)
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup dried blueberries
(no sugar added or low sugar variety if you can find them)
a couple pinches of flour
(use extra oat flour to keep them gluten free)
(use extra oat flour to keep them gluten free)
Glaze
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp vanilla almond milk, unsweetened
1/4 cup powder sugar
Preheat oven to 350F
Line a baking sheet with tinfoil and spray with cooking spray
Combine oat flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in your food processor pulse a few times to mix together
Add applesauce and 1/4 cup almond milk, pulse until blended and dough like (if you need to add more almond milk to get the right texture definitely do this as some oat flour can be much drier than others)
Sprinkle a few pinches of flour on a cutting board
Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead in dried blueberries and all but 2 tbsp oatmeal
Flatten dough into an 8 inch disk (about 1/2 inch thick) and carefully transfer to your greased baking sheet
Brush with a little almond milk and sprinkle with remaining 2 tbsp of oats
Cut into 10 wedges but leave the wedges in place
Bake 10-15 minutes until firm to the touch and lightly golden brown on top
Mix glaze ingredients together with a whisk, add more almond milk or powdered sugar to get the right consistency (thick but easily drizzles off the end of a fork)
Use either a fork to drizzle glaze over warm scones or a pastry brush to gently paint it over the top
Servings 10
Per serving (1 bar) 120 calories
