Believe it or not, these Grab & Go! Oatmeal Breakfast Bars were the result of a homeschool assignment yesterday. My daughter, Kylie (age 7), and I rewrote a recipe from Laura Ingalls (THE Laura Ingalls, also known as Laura Ingalls Wilder).
Over the past few school years, I’ve been using curriculum from Moving Beyond the Page with Kylie. It is a comprehensive curriculum that can be used for an entire year, or you can also choose to use it as a supplement. We use the full comprehensive Age 8-10 curriculum (we just got it in the mail a few weeks ago!).
The first language arts unit of the Age 8-10 curriculum focuses on the book “Little House in the Big Woods,” by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Kylie not only read the book, but is learning what it was like to live in the pioneer days of the 1860′s – 1870′s in the woods of Wisconsin. Life for Laura Ingalls was very different than the life we live today; there were no tv’s, radios, electricity, etc. If one didn’t grow, hunt, or catch their own food, they wouldn’t survive. Items that we take for granted now (like owning a doll to play with) were precious and rare back then.
When I discovered the first book Kylie would be studying was “Little House in the Big Woods” I was thrilled. I read all of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books when I was a little girl. They are among some of my favorite childhood books.
Thank you MBTP for permission to use this image.
One of Kylie’s homeschool assignments yesterday was to follow directions and make a recipe for “Maple Bars,” by Laura Ingalls. After she completed making the Maple Bars, she was to think of something else she could make in the kitchen and write her own recipe card with step-by-step directions.
This is what I love about homeschool. The recipe above wasn’t going to work for our family because of our food allergies, so I decided to change the assignment. Kylie and I sat down with the Maple Bar recipe and re-wrote it to make it lower in sugar, gluten free, and also dairy free. We gave the recipe a complete makeover (especially since it went from a dessert bar to a breakfast bar), and Kylie wrote the first recipe draft:
She had quite a bit of help from me, but I’m really proud of her, and she was really proud of herself too!
I have 2 versions of this recipe for you today. One is for Maple Pecan Oatmeal Bars, and the other is for Blueberry Flax Oatmeal Bars. This recipe is versatile and can be personalized, much like granola bars. Feel free to substitute seeds for some of the nuts, and/or substitute other frozen, fresh, or dried fruit for the blueberries (not to exceed 3/4 cup).
Please note, I do not recommend adding shredded coconut to this recipe. Coconut requires added moisture and will dry out the bars.
Grab & Go! Maple Pecan Oatmeal Breakfast Bars:
Yields 9 – 12 servings
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 cup gluten free rolled oats
4 – 6 tablespoons palm sugar
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil (at room temperature)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F) and lightly grease an 8 x 8” baking dish.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add in the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Pour the dough into the baking dish and use a spatula to spread it evenly in the pan.
- Bake for 28 – 32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bars comes out clean.
- Allow the bars to completely cool before serving.
Grab & Go! Blueberry Flax Oatmeal Breakfast Bars:
Yields 9 – 12 servings
1 cup almonds, pecans, or walnuts, finely chopped
1 cup gluten free rolled oats
4 – 6 tablespoons palm sugar
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
2 tablespoons flax meal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil (at room temperature)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup frozen blueberries
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F) and lightly grease an 8 x 8” baking dish.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add in the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the blueberries.
- Pour the dough into the baking dish and use a spatula to spread it evenly in the pan.
- Bake for 28 – 32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bars comes out clean.
- Allow the bars to completely cool before serving.
Enjoy!
xoxo
Megan
This recipe is linked to EOA Link up, Make Your Own Mondays, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Full Plate Thursday, Thank Your Body Thursday, Fight Back Friday, Gluten Free Fridays & Tasty Traditions.
These look lovely Megan, especially the blueberry ones! We used to watch Little House on the Prairie on TV years ago, I hadn’t thought about that for ages. I love that you are able to teach your children to cook at such an early age and to get involved in creating recipes, they are both so cute!
Thank you Kylie, for this fantastic recipe!! I can’t wait to try it!
I say you get an A+ on this assignment!
These look amazing. Anything with pecans is good in my books. I love your photos, they are absolutely stunning!
Love these! What a great way to start the day. Oatmeal bars are a favorite of mine!
Meg, those bars are GORGEOUS! And I just love how your daughter wrote out the ingredients and directions. Tell her she’s so awesome. I showed my daughter her written recipe and she thought that was super cool (because she likes to help me in the kitchen as well). These bars are a must make my friend.
What an amazing post, Megan! Such a beautiful collaboration with your girls … in every way.
Kylie did an outstanding job on writing up the recipe. Getting help is a good thing. That’s how we learn. That curriculum sounds excellent. These are the kinds of things that I miss from my days of teaching 3rd grade. Sadly, my sister and friends who still teach in public schools tell me that not much time is allowed for such activities any more. It’s mostly about what’s on the darned tests. 
Anyway, thanks so much for sharing this whole experience! The Maple Pecan Bars are the ones I want most! 
xo,
Shirley
What a fabulous lesson Megan and your girls just get cuter and cuter! I am crazy about blueberries so these bars are really calling out my name. Delicious!
Stopping by from Gluten Free Friday. These look so good! I hope to try them out soon.
Hi Megan,
I just love a Grab and Go Breakfast Bar and this looks delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this special recipe with Full Plate Thursday and enjoy your weekend.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
What a fun assignment! I loved Laura Ingalls Wilder books.
I loved seeing your daughter’s sweet handwriting! We are reading through the Little House series for history and read aloud, too!
She did such a great job!! These look amazing! Loved to see their smiling faces!!
Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 
Thanks for linking back to the Gluten Free Fridays post!
Party starts tomorrow night (thursday) at 7:05 pm eastern time! Hope to see you there!
Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
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Megan, these are just what I’ve been looking for! Tell your daughter to keep up the good work, I am proud of her too!
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Check back tomorrow when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts!
Yum! These look so perfect. I’ve got some maple pecan bars that I make too, which are just a wee bit different
As a mom, my heart totally melted when I read your post!! Aren’t you doing incredible things for your girls??? I love it!
You were a reader fav from last week’s SIT post so you’ll be featured tomorrow.
Big hugs to you and those Kitchen Cuties!!!
Amy
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What an amazing mother you are! Your girls are such a delight.
I am new to this GF and am needing to start due to my 7 year old son, however my 6 year old daughter is allergic to tree nuts, can I forgo the nuts in the blueberry recipe?
Very excited to read more of your blog!
Hi Jen!
Thank you so much! I’m not certain you could substitute anything for the nuts since I haven’t tried it myself. If I were to try substituting something though, I would probably try using more oats. 
Megan