One of my most popular recipes, here on the blog and at home with my family, are the Breakfast Oatmeal Bars whose recipe I posted 3 1/2 years ago.Countless time I have baked these because they are so good: wholesome, crunchy without added sugar, and very tasty and filling. My husband has these for breakfast and my kids as a snack when they come home from school. Making them is easy as pie too.A few weeks back, my husband suggested to make a savory version of it. I was immediately hooked onto the idea. My first try wasn’t so successful, as I just threw random chopped veggies in. I realized, it needed strong flavors to stand up against the mild taste of the oats. I doubled the spices and herbs and opted for olives and sun dried tomatoes. A winning combination. The first batch that came out of my oven, I ate all by myself. The second batch was for my husband to try whose idea this was. He tested and approved and now loves to take a few bars in his lunchbox every now and then.
The recipe is very new and I haven’t experimented yet with other flavors. I can imagine capers in there too. Or fresh rosemary. Perhaps bacon bits or even smoked salmon if it doesn’t have to be vegetarian? It’s worth a try and if you experiment with the add-ins, let me know how it came out. Enjoy!
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SAVORY OAT BARS WITH OLIVES AND SUN DRIED TOMATOES
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cups milk
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and finely chopped
1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped
Serves 9
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Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line 8-inch square tin sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, combine oats, salt, herbs & spices and ground flax. Add milk and let stand to soak for 10 minutes or so. In the meantime finely chop the sun dried tomatoes, olives and almonds. Add to oat mixture and stir well.
Pour mixture into prepared tin sheet and spread evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Let cool on wire rack. Then cut into bars/squares. Store in airtight container. Keeps well in the fridge for 3 days.
what a great idea! these look wonderful!
Love this idea! Very different!
love these!!
What a smart man your husband is! I have never thought of making a savoury granola bar. My imagination is racing at all sorts of possibilities.
What a fabulous idea! Must try
wow a savoury granola ! sounds intriguing !
Thanks, Suzanne. I passe don the compliment! Let me know what flavors you throw in whenever you try it. I am convinced, savory granola bars will become superstars. It’s such a great recipe with so many possibilities. I can imagine crumbled feta cheese too.
This is why I’m such a fan of your baked-goods recipes! Always creative and packed with nutrients. I’m almost afraid to try these because I know I’ll get addicted and eat them all in one sitting.
Yum yum – going to try this later today!
These were delicious! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
I added 1/4 C finely grated Parmesan cheese and thought it added to the flavor combination. Because it’s a hard cheese it didn’t seem to affect the shelf life either.
Then I tried a significant variation that I think works even better, possibly: curry. I doubled your recipe and made a number of substitutions as below:
3 cups rolled oats
2 cups coconut milk (I used water to make up the difference between 1 can of coconut milk and 2 cups liquid total)
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons curry powder
4 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
1/2 cup dried mangoes, finely chopped
1/2 cup dried unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup roasted salted cashews, in pieces
You may have just saved my life. My husband has been asking me to come up with something like this, but I’ve had no luck at all. I know what I’m doing this weekend!