Deceptively Delicious Blueberry Oatmeal Bars (With Spinach)

Submitted by LuckyMe

"These are from the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. Great for a quick snack or easy breakfast."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• nonstick cooking spray
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3⁄4 cup balance trans-fat free margarine, chilled
• 1 cup no-sugar-added blueberry spread
• 1⁄2 cup spinach, puree

directions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Coat an 8"X 8" baking pan with cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and vanilla and stir to mix well.
4. Add the margarine and cut it quickly into dry ingredients with two knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal and is no longer powdery. Do no overmix--bits of margarine will still be visible.
5. Set aside about half the oat mixture; press the rest firmly into the pan. Bake until lightly browned at the edges (but not fully baked), 13 to 15 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, mix the preserves with the spinach puree in a small bowl.
7. Spread blueberry mixture over the partially baked oat layer, then sprinkle with reserved oat mixture. Bake until topping is slightly browned, 20-25 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool completely before cutting into 12 bars.

8. Spinach Puree:

9. Steam baby spinach(for mature spinach-remove stems) for about 30-40 seconds or cook in skillet with 1 tablespoons water for about 90 seconds or just until wilted. Puree in food processor or blender for about 2 min until smooth and creamy.

Reviews

[ShaGun]

This is the 2nd time I've made these. It's true that you can't detect the spinach, which is nice. My children just aren't a big fan of these. After the first bite, my kids don't want to eat any more and I end up eating them all myself simply because I don't want to waste the ingredients. The first time I made them, I brought them to the park and no one would touch them after they heard they had spinach in them. I did use a larger pan (9"x11") the second time I made these and thought that was a much better pan size.

 

[sabradiamond]

These are EXCELLENT!! I made them trying to give my kids a healthier breakfast them box cereal. They loved them and never guessed that there was spinach in them. I followed the recipe exactly but next time I think that I will use a little less sugar and make it in a larger pan for thinner bars. Thanks for sharing!

 

[2BigMommas]

I have made these a couple of times now and they are excellent! I used 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour in place of some of the white flour and did not notice any difference in taste or texture. We like ours a little thinner, so I also used a slightly larger pan than the 8"x8" and reduced the cooking time slightly. Many thanks for posting!

 

[Peytons Mom]

I make these ALL the time!!! My 2 year old daughter LOVES them...thank goodness!! Who would have thought that blueberries would mask spinich!!

 

[free-free]

These came out yummy!!! YAY! :) They caught my eye because I love spinach and oatmeal and was dying to mix the two!!!...i used the "Walden Farm"- zero calorie, carb. and sugar spread (my new favorite product obsession!!!! :) )and more spinach than suggested (that was just to use it up)...i also added steel cut oats in with the old fashioned because i enjoy the nutty mix of textures in the different oat grains... then ended up throwing some flax seed in on a whim as well :) ...i guess because of my slight experimentation i seemed to need a lot more baking time (they just would not brown for me...it took a bit of patience... but finally they seemed to look set up a bit (probably after about an extra 30 minutes of continuous checking)...in the end all the wait was worth it because these were a very neat sweet treat... Thanks so much LuckyMe...delicious bars indeed!!! :)