Homemade Breakfast Bars - Mornings are not always pretty.

Mornings around our house can be a little crazy.  Our oldest is only mildly pleasant a mess when she wakes up.  She requires a solid 15 minutes of snuggles before she wants to even consider getting her day started. And if you're in a hurry? Forgetaboutit. The other two kiddos like their sleep too, but we aren't at a point yet where they have to be anywhere right away, unlike their big sister who has to get to school. 

After delicately getting her moving and eventually heading downstairs, there's rarely time for a sit-down breakfast. We have become big fans of greek yogurt "squeezies" and muffins. But recently, I passed some organic cereal bars marketed for kids at Costco, and thought "what the heck…if it can simplify our mornings, I'll give it a try!" So, I threw the bars in the double-cart and gave them to the kids a couple days later. They were, of course, a huge hit. And the mornings I toss them each a bar and we pile in the car seem to go pretty smoothly, I have to say.  

Having said that…#momguilt for the processed junk that I justify giving them because its labeled "organic." It still has tons of sugar, little-to-no protein, and it's the first thing they put in their little bodies some days. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I never give them the easy stuff, and there are worse options out there, for sure. But with every organic-processed-bar I tossed, I wondered "What can I do that is a better option for their nutrition, but still offers the benefits of grab-and-go yummy goodness?"

Three Costco boxes of bars later, I finally consulted pinterest & the blogosphere and found what I believed to be a good place to start for homemade, clean, breakfast bars. I tend to be unable to follow recipes EXACTLY as they're written, but aside from a couple of small tweaks, I followed this recipe pretty closely (Whole Wheat *Pastry Flour* is key!).  The kids and I made them together and while they are tasty and HONESTLY taste really similar to the pre packed stuff (but better!) ours did not turn out too pretty…just like our mornings! PERFECT FIT!

They might not be perfect, but they passed the 1yo, 3yo & 4yo taste test!

They were a bit labor intensive - to be honest. I made the dough earlier in the day so that it could chill, and after pre-school pick up we all worked together to roll it out and cut our bars out.  We made a dozen bars, all around 3"x2" and filled with strawberries.  I cooked down some ripe strawberries as the recipe suggests, but it seemed too runny and I wasn't into the cornstarch idea they offer in the original recipe, so I added about 1/4c Bonne Maman's Strawberry Preserves. I love that stuff.  Once summer is here (someday…) and I can make some fresh jelly, I'll likely just use that to fill future batches.  The crust "scraps" taste like homemade graham crackers. They were a big snack time hit. #bonus!

After the bars cooled, I started thinking that part of the reason I think the processed, pre-packed stuff is fun for kids is because it's like a little present they get to unwrap and eat without sitting at the table with me nagging them.  So I decided to go all out by wrapping the bars individually in foil and had the kids decorate them with stickers so they'd have fun picking their bar out in the morning.

In the end, they're kinda cute.  Hopefully I will get more efficient with the recipe and be able to get more than a dozen bars out of each batch, plus we have found that they freeze and defrost really well if you need to make a large batch to stock up.

Here's hoping for a smooth, well-rested, tear-free morning tomorrow!

PDF Recipe From SuperHealthyKids.com