Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Fruit Oatmeal Cookie Bars

I've been thinking with the dawn of this new year that I really need to start paying more careful attention to the things I feed my kids. It seems lately that all they want to do is eat, and when they recently devoured an entire box of Kellogg's® Nutri-Grain® Cereal Bars within the span of two short days, I knew I reallllly needed to get serious...for their sake, and for the sake of our grocery budget! And I've been inspired lately to try more home made meals and snacks, as opposed to conveniently prepackaged food items, so this afternoon I tried these yummy Fruit Oatmeal Cookie Bars found at allrecipes.com. They were a big hit during our Tuesday Tea Time today! Just as good (if not better) than the name brand store bought variety (at least in my opinion), and, if not actually better for my kids, I at least felt better for having made them myself. :)

Fruit Oatmeal Cookie Bars

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups any flavor fruit jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

Combine the butter, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt and rolled oats. Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the preserves over the top and sprinkle with the remaining crumb mixture, gently pressing crumbs into jam.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting.

Melissa