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

Name: Maple Brown Sugar Baked Oatmeal Squares {Gluten-free, dairy-free}
Yield: 12-13
Ingredients: 3 cups [url]gluten-free rolled oats∞http://amzn.to/2eWcZ1N[/url]; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon; 2 tsp. baking powder; 1/2 tsp. salt; 1 cup Vanilla Cashewmilk; 2 eggs; 1/4 cup melted [url]coconut oil∞http://amzn.to/2dMpJ9Z[/url]; 1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup

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August 29, 2015 by Michelle Palin ~ My Gluten-free Kitchen 30 Comments

Thanks for sharing!

Soft and chewy 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!

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 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 squares in 2 days!

In looking at the results so far from my reader survey, it looks like about 17% 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.

Some of you might remember that back in December I experimented with a new product, Silk Cashewmilk. I used the original Cashewmilk to make a delicious dairy-free Mint Chocolate Pudding that was incredibly creamy and decadent. Cashewmilk was a little hard to find in my local stores back then, but now I’m seeing it in all of my local stores. Silk contacted me recently to let me know they came out with two new flavors, vanilla and chocolate and wanted me to test them out and create a new recipe using one of them! I was excited to partner with them for this post, and I thought the Vanilla Cashewmilk would be perfect to use in these baked oatmeal squares. Silk Cashewmilk is creamier than skim milk with the same amount of calories. I don’t feel that it has a nutty or off taste at all. Even my son that doesn’t like cashews agree, and enjoyed having his oatmeal square in a bowl of vanilla Cashewmilk.

Ingredient Notes:

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.
As always, be sure to use certified gluten-free oats in this recipe.
Use pure maple syrup, not the cheap pancake syrup.
Before you buy the Vanilla Cashewmilk, make sure you visit www.silk.com/cashew to sign up and get a coupon to use!

We enjoyed these several ways. We ate the squares in a bowl with a bit of additional vanilla Cashewmilk 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 cup of Silk Cashewmilk. 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 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. Here’s a look at the bars in the bar pan:

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