A Happy Accident

We all know that sometimes things in the kitchen don’t go exactly as planned. It often takes many attempts to perfect a recipe created from scratch, but sometimes we get lucky and an experiment produces unexpectedly delicious results. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge fan of Lifethyme Market in NYC’s west village, and this week I wanted to make oat bars inspired by their amazing chewy raw granola bars. These bars are oat-based yet they are thick and fluffy- seriously if you live in NYC you need to try them!

My plan was to amp up my bars with chia seeds, nuts and flax seeds. I put the bars in the dehydrator overnight and when I checked on them in the morning everything was looking great. I went out for the day and didn’t end up coming home until around midnight, accidentally leaving the bars in the dehydrator for about 6 hours longer then I intended, oops! What I found in the dehydrator weren’t the cloud-like treats I was expecting, but instead a thin cracker/bread. Saddened, I took a bite but to my surprise it didn’t taste like the cardboard I was expecting- the bread was crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside like toast!

I might not have the perfect recipe for chewy granola bars yet but I’m excited to share this recipe for Raw Superfood Oatmeal Bread. It’s good on it’s own, and great with anything you would normally spread on toast.

Raw Superfood Oatmeal Bread

makes 15 pieces

What you’ll need:

2 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk of you choice*
1/4 sunflower seeds
1/4 almonds
1/4 cup raisins
3 tbs ground flaxseed
2 tbs chia seeds
1 apple, cored and chopped
3 dates, pitted (I used medjool dates)
2 tbs coconut manna or coconut oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbs vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt

*Store bought non-dairy milk isn’t raw. To make this recipe completely raw use homemade nut milk or substitute water.

Directions:

Mix together oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, raisins, flaxseed and chia seeds in a large bowl. Stir in non-dairy milk and let sit for 1 hour.
Combine apple, dates, coconut manna (or oil), cinnamon, vanilla in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add a splash of non-dairy milk if you’re having a difficult time blending. Add to oat mixture and stir.
Pour onto teflex sheet on dehydrator tray and spread evenly. The whole mixture should fit on one tray.
Dehydrate at 110°. After 12 hours carefully flip bread over. This can be done by putting another tray on top of the bread, flipping everything over and peeling off the teflex sheet.
Continue to dehydrate for another 12 hours. When bread feels crunchy and toast-like remove from dehydrator and cut into pieces. Store in refrigerator. Top with everything!

I made a traditional PB & J sandwich with this bread. Try any nut butter with 100% fruit spread (no extra processed sugars)! I also spread my new favorite product, coconut manna, on this bread and it was heavenly! What will you put on yours?

**UPDATE- 1 slice peanut butter/banana + 1 slice coconut manna/strawberry jam/dried coconut= AMAZING!!