Breakfast Bars

I make these on a regular basis for a filling, breakfast on the go.  They are very versatile and easy to make.

You probably have everything you need to make them.

Here's the basic recipe (you can adjust to your own tastes):

350 degree preheated oven

1 can sweetened condensed milk or fat free sw. cond. milk

1 c peanut butter - I put a plastic bag in my measuring cup, then load the pb for easy clean up

1/2 c oil 

1/2 c applesauce ( I left it out this time, since I didn't have any and it was fine)

4 c quick oats (or steel cut)

3 1/2 c mix of dried fruits and nuts ( I used 1 c raisins, 1 c craisins, 1 c chopped walnuts, 1/2 c sliced almonds)

    suggestions: chocolate chips, pb chips, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pecans, dried blueberries,           apricots. Well, you get the idea.
1 T vanilla
1 T cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Ahhh, versatility!  I didn't have enough peanut butter, so I added this to the mix.

A tip for quick chopping nuts: put them in a bag and roll over them  with your rolling pin until you get the right consistency. 

Put it all in the mixer, or you can mix it yourself, until all ingredients are moist.

Spray a 9 x 13 pan

Dump it in,

Don't you just hate messy hands?  I put a bag over my hand to press this into the pan.

Just get it pressed down well and relatively level.

Put it in the preheated oven and cook for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

This is how it comes out - just barely brown on the edges.  Don't overcook it, or the bars will fall apart after it's cool.

Let it rest for about 10 minutes. I have this cool cutter I use for cutting these.  I spray it, or your knife with cooking spray, because it's pretty sticky. I cut mine into 12 pcs. Leave them in the pan to finish cooling completely.
When completely cool, take them out and wrap individually in saran wrap for a quick, on the go breakfast.

 Enjoy!!