Piña Colada Oat Bars (gluten-free)

Oat bars are a perfect snack, and with school back in session, having homemade, easy-to-grab foods on hand is a must.

I had inspiration-overload when I went to the Nature’s Fare store shelves to buy my ingredients for granola bars (I knew I wanted to make something unique, I just wasn’t sure what that would be).  They carry so many great products (I strongly debated between this version and a fig and orange one, perhaps that is next!).

I’ve grown to love a number of different brands including Level Ground, the company that makes this delicious dried pineapple.  I was also so excited to find good-quality unsweetened ribbon coconut here as well, as it’s nearly impossible to source.

These gluten-free bars will be a hit with the crowd, young or old, and take no time at all to whip up. I made them without nuts (though it took every ounce of restraint for me to do so) so that they could be packed as a lunch treat as well.  Make sure that you really press them down before and after baking, as they can fall apart.  Not that anybody will be deterred, they flew off of my platter crumbs and all!

Makes 24 bars

Ingredients:

• ¾ c. coconut oil
• ¼ c. honey
• ¼ c. agave syrup
• ¼ c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ½ tsp. sea salt
• 1 ½ c. large flake rolled oats**
• ¾ c. oat flour
• 1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 c. unsweetened large flaked (ribbon) coconut
• 1 ½ c. chopped dried pineapple*
• ½ c. hemp seeds
• 1 tsp. baking powder

*I used a full package of Level Ground Pineapple from Nature’s Fare Market

 **use gluten-free oats to make it gluten-free

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 9×13” baking pan with parchment paper, leaving some paper sticking out of the sides so that you can easily remove the bars from the pan once cooked (you can grease the pan before lining it with parchment to help it stick).
2. In a small saucepan, combine the coconut oil, honey, agave syrup and brown sugar. Cook on low heat until the coconut oil is melted, stirring well to help dissolve the brown sugar. Add the vanilla and set aside.
3. In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Add the coconut oil mixture and mix well.
4. Pat the mixture into the prepared pan with your hands: you want to make sure that it is firmly pressed to ensure that the bars will stick together.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and completely cool and press the bars down again before taking the bars out of the pan (this can easily be done by lifting the parchment sides). Cut into bars with a large sharp knife.

Thank you to Nature’s Fare Market for sponsoring this post!