These cereal bar cookies are based on my Better Than Nutrigrain Bars.  When Tricia posted her nifty Cereal Bar Cookies a few weeks ago at OAMM, they were a hit!  Requests came in for making them gluten free, but I wanted to work with the recipe a bit to get the ratio right instead of giving out an untested recommendation.  I started with working on altering the original recipe, however sticking with the original recipe and trying to tweak it became problematic.  Things kept crumbling or were not tender enough.  So, to make things easier, I went back to the cereal bar recipe that I make for my family, but changed it up to make the cute cookie shapes in Tricia’s recipe.  They worked out great and are the perfect size to send for snack time with my youngest daughter for school.  I hope you like them!

One tip about using sucanat instead of brown sugar in this recipe:  If using sucanat, cream the sucanat with the coconut oil in the mixing bowl before mixing in the rest of the ingredients.  It really helps with binding the recipe together if using sucanat as a sweetener in this recipe.

The Recipe: Gluten Free Dairy Free Cereal Bar Cookies

Servings: 15 bars
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Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups certified gluten free rolled oats
  • 6 Tablespoons brown sugar or sucanat
  • 1/4 cup corn starch
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil or gluten & dairy free margarine
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla
  • 3/4 cup jam or jelly of choice, I like fruit juice sweetened

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Put oats into a blender and pulse until ground but still with some texture to it (mostly it will look like flour, but there will still be flakes and partial flakes in the flour. I like a little texture in these bars.) Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients, except jam, to the dry and mix until well blended and formed into a cohesive ball.
  • Divide the dough into 30 balls. Oil a muffin tin. Press one dough ball into each of the bottom of 15 muffin tins, pressing each to form a raised edge, a bit like a pie crust. Put about 2 teaspoons jam on dough in each tin. Flatten each of the remaining dough balls into a circle to fit in the muffin tin and top the jam with the flattened dough. Carefully press the edges of the top and bottom dough to seal.
  • Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until baked through and golden brown. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before gently removing bars from muffin tin. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.
  • Freezing Directions: Place in a sturdy freezer container, separating bars with waxed paper. Seal, label and freeze.
Author: Angela Litzinger @ test.angelaskitchen.com