Maple Brown Sugar Baked Oatmeal Squares {Gluten-free, 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!

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 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.

Silk contacted me recently to let me know they came out with two new flavors of their Cashewmilk, 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.

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

• While I used the Silk Cashewmilk, if you need another option to suit your specific allergens, feel free.
• 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.

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:

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!

Recipe for Gluten-free Maple Brown Sugar Baked Oatmeal Squares:

Gluten-free, Dairy-free Maple Brown Sugar Baked Oatmeal Squares

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 35 mins

Yields 12

If you liked maple brown sugar oatmeal packets, you'll love these gluten-free maple brown sugar baked oatmeal squares! This is an easy to make, portable breakfast!

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 Vanilla Cashewmilk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup

Directions

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. Remove 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.

by Michelle Palin ~ My Gluten-free Kitchen

Recipe 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.

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This recipe was sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.