Oatmeal Cranberry Snack Bars

My triplet boys love those packaged snack bars. You know, the fruity ones that are all soft and chewable. But, for those good at math, you also know that a box of fruit snack bars will last me 2-3 days at the most. That’s a lot of money spent on snack bars for the triplets! I had never tried to make them myself, even though that is the obvious solution here. So, this past weekend, I donned my apron and chef’s hat and went to work. The result? A huge batch of yummy, chewy Oatmeal Cranberry Snack bars that lasted my entire family (not just the triplets) for almost a week! These snack bars make a great toddler snack.

 

This recipe uses I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Original Spread rather than traditional butter. Inspired by the original recipe on their website, this one substitutes the raisins for dried cranberries. In truth, you could do this with any dried fruit to create your children’s favorite flavors.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups uncooked old fashioned oats
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 cup I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!® Spread
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• (2) 8 ounce bags of dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13×9 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the first five ingredients. Cream the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!^® spread with the light brown sugar and the regular sugar. Blend in the eggs and vanilla. Slowly add the flour and oats mixture until mixed. Stir in dried cranberries. Spread the mixture into the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Check to see if done by inserting a toothpick in the center to see if it comes out clean. Cut into bars of the desired size.

 

Do you use I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!^® spread? I’ve used it in recipes for several years now, but Unilever has recently reformulated the product. The new I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!^® is available in grocery stores nationwide beginning October 2014 for a suggested retail price of $3.09. The new I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!^® spread has 40% fewer calories and 70% less saturated fat than butter. The new I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!^® offers a fresh butter taste to add flavor to any meal, and can be used for spreading, topping, sautéing, cooking or baking. I really like that it doesn’t have to be softened. I can pull it out of the refrigerator and use it right away. Let me know if you try it in this recipe for Oatmeal Cranberry Bars or leave a review on their new site! For more great tasting recipes, visit the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!^® recipe page.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.