I love these blueberry oatmeal bars. They’re delicious as an afternoon snack, or even a midnight snack, or even for breakfast! They’re easy to make and are always a hit!

Ingredients
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup cold butter
1 cup blueberry preserves (I try to find low-sugar natural preserves)
Non-stick cooking spray

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat an 8×8 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients plus the vanilla and mix well.

Add the cold butter and cut it into the dry mixture using two dinner knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal and is no longer powdery. Do not over-mix… bits of butter will still be visible.

Ready to Bake?
Set aside about half of the oat mixture; press firmly into the pan. Bake until lightly browned at the edges (but not completely baked)… roughly 13-15 minutes.

After you remove the pan from the oven, spread the blueberry preserves over the partially baked oat layer, then sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the preserves. It won’t be a solid layer, some blueberry will show. Bake until the topping is slightly browned, 20-25 minutes. Cool completely on a rack before cutting into bars. Should make 9 servings. *Hint – these are best served warm, however, they need to completely cool before cutting – so once you’ve cut your bars, briefly warm in the microwave or toaster oven and then serve.

The Perfect Bite
As mentioned above, these are best served warm. If eating as a dessert try scooping a bite of vanilla bean ice cream with a warm bite of blueberry bar. Delish!

The Perfect Pairing
Enjoy with a large glass of of cold milk with breakfast or a steamy cup of coffee with vanilla creamer. As dessert, pair with a vanilla bean ice cream and some coffee with Bailey’s Irish Cream. Mmmmm….

The Perfect Health
Did you know oats contain a large number of the antioxidants that may help protect cells from the process of oxidization? Scientists have recently begun to discover how oat antioxidants may benefit one’s health. Read more here.