Healthy, Homemade Bars (& cookies)... for Tina!

Reader Tina wrote in asking, "Do you happen to know any recipes, or could you point me toward a site, for making bars/treats for kids.  I'm looking for some sort of granola bar or oatmeal cookie recipe.Kids love stuff like this, but the kind you buy are so full of sugar and who knows what

else."

I hope this info is helpful for you, Tina!

I don't yet have a granola bar recipe but here are two that I've been wanting to try - if you give them a go, let us know how they are!

1. Squash-based bars

2. Applesauce-based bars

As far as an oatmeal cookie recipe, I'm not really fans of oatmeal cookies, so I don't have one. But, some baking tips to make recipes healthier (you'll want to try them out to see how they work with your baking recipes):

- use whole wheat flour

- try using yogurt, pumpkin, bananas, or applesauce instead of oil/butter

- try using sucanat or honey for less processed/a bit healthier options for white sugar

- try using less sugar than the recipe calls for, or use applesauce or yogurt to replace some of it

I did find one oatmeal cookie recipe out there that could be a good healthy version: Banana Oatmeal Cookies.

Other options for replacing granola bars and the like for other easy and tasty snacks that kids like could be:

Muffins (like these)

Apple chips (core and slice apples, bake at 200 for about 2 hrs. - flip after 1 hr. - opt.: dust with a bit of cinnamon... full recipe coming soon!)

Banana bread

Whole Wheat Cheese Pretzels

Mini Oatmeal Pancakes

Recipes for some of these items will be coming in future posts! Most of them can be made in a toddler-friendly way as well. I will include that info in with those recipes. If you try any of these recipes, write in to let us know what you thought!