Gluten-free Maple Brown Sugar Baked Oatmeal Squares {dairy-free}

Soft and chewy gluten-free baked oatmeal squares, in perfect portions for snack-time. Gluten-free, dairy-free and peanut-free, making them a great choice for breakfast or school snacks! If you liked maple brown sugar oatmeal packets, you’ll love these gluten-free baked oatmeal bars with those same flavors!

Those of you that have followed my blog for a while know that I am NOT a morning person. I do not get up and cook my family breakfast in the morning. Everyone is on their own for having cereal or instant oatmeal. I do try to bake muffins and quick breads at other times so my kids can enjoy those for breakfast as a change from the usual cereal.

The other day I was thinking about wanting to make something that could be a hearty breakfast, like baked oatmeal, but also something they could take to school for a snack, like they do the gluten-free muffins I make. I’m always looking for ways to get my kids eating better and bringing more nutritious, filling snacks with them to school. I didn’t want to include peanuts, so that it would be classroom friendly for snack-time.

In thinking about flavors, I decided to mimic my boys’ favorite instant oatmeal flavor: maple and brown sugar. I knew if I could replicate that flavor in a portable snack, I’d win my kids over. I’m excited to say that I nailed this on the first try and my kids and hubby finished off almost all of the gluten-free oatmeal squares in 2 days!

In looking at the results so far from my reader survey, it looks like about 20% of you loyal readers are looking for recipes that are dairy-free. That said, I’m going to work harder at testing dairy-alternatives to milk and butter in my recipes so that I can make good recommendations for substitutions and feel confident in those.

Notes on Ingredients and Substitutions for Maple Brown Sugar Gluten-free Oatmeal Squares:

• Non-dairy Milk: Use your favorite dairy-free milk alternative that suits your specific allergens. I tested these with CashewMilk and another time with Flaxmilk. If you can have dairy, feel free to use regular milk.
• To continue the dairy-free theme with this recipe, I used melted coconut oil instead of butter. I think any oil would work fine in this, if you need to avoid coconut.
• As always, be sure to use certified gluten-free oats in this recipe. I use GF Harvest Old Fashioned Rolled Oats which I buy from Amazon here.
• Use pure maple syrup, not the cheap pancake syrup. I buy jugs of pure maple syrup at Costco or get this Vermont maple syrup from Amazon here. 

We enjoyed these gluten-free oatmeal squares several ways. We ate the squares in a bowl with a bit of additional milk (or non-dairy milk) poured over the square, eating it like oatmeal. We enjoyed it this way both cold or warmed up in the microwave for 30 seconds.

We also enjoyed just grabbing a square to have as a snack, alongside fresh berries and a drink.

You can just wrap a square in plastic wrap or foil and send in your kids’ backpack for snack time.

I’ll be making another batch of these baked oatmeal bars soon and freezing the bars after I wrap them individually. Then I can just pull out a couple squares for my kids for school anytime.

If you do not have a bar pan like I used, you can pour the whole mixture into a 9×13″ pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray instead. I use this same pan for making my gluten-free zucchini brownies too. Here’s a look at the bars in the bar pan:

Love maple and want to try some other gluten-free recipes with maple syrup? Try my gluten-free maple donuts, they’re dairy-free too! Of course, I love to smother my gluten-free apple puff pancakes with pure maple syrup too! If you can have butter, then you’ve got to make this maple butter recipe.

I hope you’ll try these soon! They are such a great breakfast or snack! 

If you like these, make sure you try the new variety of these that I created: gluten-free apple cinnamon oatmeal squares!

Gluten-free Maple Brown Sugar Baked Oatmeal Squares Recipe:

Yield: 12-13

Gluten-free Maple Brown Sugar Baked Oatmeal Squares {dairy-free}

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Soft and chewy gluten-free baked oatmeal squares, in perfect portions for snack-time. If you liked maple brown sugar oatmeal packets, you’ll love these!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes

Additional Time 5 minutes

Total Time 33 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups gluten-free rolled oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup non-dairy milk, plain or vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray each square of a brownie/bar pan with cooking spray.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large bowl if you prefer to mix by hand), add the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds.
3. Add the Vanilla Cashewmilk, eggs, melted coconut oil and maple syrup and mix on low speed until well blended.
4. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup or scoop to fill each square of the brownie pan. I actually ended up with 13 squares, so if you measure the scoops slightly bigger, you'll end up with an even dozen.
5. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes, or until mixture is set firmly and edges just begin to brown. Remove from oven to cooling rack and let set in pan for 3-5 minutes. Then, remove bars from pan and allow to cool completely on cooling rack.
6. Store at room temperature in sealed container, or wrap individually in plastic wrap or foil for sending to school.

Notes

If you do not have a bar pan like I used, you can pour the whole mixture into a 9x13" pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray instead. You'll have to watch closely for doneness - I would start checking at 25 minutes and go from there.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Wilton Brownie Bar Pan
• 
  GF Harvest PureOats Gluten Free Rolled Oats, 41 Ounce
• 
  Kirkland Saigon Cinnamon 10.7 Oz Bottles( Pack of 2) - 21.4 Oz Total
• 
  Rumford Baking Powder, 8.1 Ounce, 2 Count
• 
  Spectrum Organic Refined Coconut Oil, 29 Ounce
• 
  Butternut Mountain Farm Vermont, 100% Pure Maple Syrup Vermont, Grade A, Amber Color, 1 Qt

I hope you and your family enjoy these! Please come back and leave a 5 star rating if you do!