Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Breakfast Bars

Did you ever wonder how many revisions a recipe goes through before it gets published in a cookbook or a magazine?   If you've ever picked up a copy of Cook's Illustrated magazine you know just how much tweeking goes into each and every recipe they print.    They must make each recipe at least a couple dozen times before settling on the perfect combination of ingredients.  (Who gets to eat all of those "test" batches anyway?)  Coming from the girl who doesn't like to repeat recipes, that would be torture for me to make the same recipe over and over again.  

Food bloggers are known recipe modifiers and they often publish both the original and the modified recipe.   I stumbled upon a recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip breakfast bars on biggirlssmallkitchen.com and I started to read her blog about the origination of the recipe.  As it turns out, she got it from weelicious.com and it was originally called Oatmeal On-The-Go Bars. 

This is what the origional weelicious recipe looked like:

And this is her recipe for Oatmeal On - The - Go Bars:
Oatmeal On-The-Go Bars  (Makes 18 Bars)

• Prep Time:5 minutes,
• Cook Time: 30 minutes,
• Total Time: 35 minutes,

• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cup milk (any kind of milk — rice, almond, soy, cow’s — will work)
• 3 tablespoons agave
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, blueberries, and/or cherries)
• 1/2 cup nuts (walnuts, sunflower seeds, and/or pepitas)

1. 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. 2. Place the first 5 dry ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.
3. 3. Mix the milk, applesauce, egg, agave, and vanilla in a separate bowl.
4. 4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, stir to combine and then stir in the dried fruits and nuts.
5. 5. Pour the oatmeal mixture into a buttered or greased 7 x 11 inch baking dish.
6. 6. Bake for 30 minutes or until thickened and golden.
7. 7. Cool, cut into squares and serve.
8. *Allow to cool, cut into squares and place in a ziploc bag to freeze up to 4 months. When ready, allow to defrost in fridge for 24-48 hours.

This is what biggirlsmallkitchen did to the recipe: 



And this is her recipe:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Breakfast Bars 
Ingredients
2 cup oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup neutral oil
1 egg
1 1/2 cup milk or almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chunks or chips
3/4 cup pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease two 4 1/2 by 8 1/2-inch loaf pans.
Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Beat together the peanut butter, sugar, and oil with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then, whisk in the milk by hand – carefully, so you don’t splatter. Stir in the vanilla.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and fold to combine. Stir in chocolate and 1/2 cup nuts and pour the batter into the two prepared pans. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining pecans.
Bake the bars for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden. Using an offset spatula, loosen the bars from the pan and turn onto a rack to cool completely. When cool, cut each pan into 8 bars. If you want smaller servings, cut each bar in half. Store in the fridge.

 

Now it's time for me to give you my version of these yummy bars.  I substituted a banana because I'm not a big chocolate and peanut butter fan.  Don't get me wrong, I love them both separately, I just don't enjoy the combination of the two together.   (Please don't tell Reese's.)  I also added more chocolate chips to my batter and used some of my favorite Trader's Joe's toasted slivered almonds.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Breakfast Bars
Ingredients
2 cup oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 mashed banana
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup neutral oil
1 egg
1 1/2 cup milk or almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chunks or chips
1/2 cup slivered almonds or chopped pecans






Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease two 4 1/2 by 8 1/2-inch loaf pans.
Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl.





Beat together the banana, sugar, and oil with an electric mixer until smooth.

 




 Beat in the egg.








Then, whisk in the milk by hand – carefully, so you don’t splatter. Stir in the vanilla.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and fold to combine.







Stir in chocolate and nuts and pour the batter into the two prepared pans.

 
Bake the bars for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden.

 
Using an offset spatula, loosen the bars from the pan and turn onto a rack to cool completely.

When cool, cut each pan into 8 bars.

I wanted my bars to come out a little "drier" like the ones from biggirlsmallckitchen but I think my banana added extra moisture to my batter.  Ben and Ryan really enjoyed these and said they would "totally eat them for breakfast."  In my book - that's a successful recipe.

Ciao!