Strawberry Oat Squares Take 1

Um…

OK, hear me out. I can explain.

So I woke up at 1 pm here. Yeah, that’s late, I know. But it’s summer and I’m pretty sure it was a weekend when this happened. There’s some justification in that, right? (Let’s pretend. Please go along with it.)

I made some breakfast (which can take awhile,) I ate it, and then it was 3 pm.

Maybe I do need a better story.

Anyway, this is the truth. So at 3 pm, Mom and I need to go to the grocery store to pick up supplies. We’re going to a 4th of July concert with some family friends who are coming to our house at 5 pm, and it’s a potluck. I decide I’m going to make brownies based on this recipe. (P.S. Angela, you rock!)

So by the time we get ready and to the grocery store, it’s 3:40 pm. We get out at like 4:18 pm, I think. (Which could easily be record time for us at a grocery store.)

We get home, and I dash up to my room and get the receipt from Angela’s web site. Oh no.

Did I fail to notice the 1.5 hrs. of chilling time that could not possibly happen when I’m so late so they would be sitting in 90 degree weather?

Of course I did.

Great.

So I spend another 20 minutes routing through the site, so come up with this recipe. Naturally, I would change a few things, but what could go wrong?

I mean, I have 20 minutes before they get here.

I’m only trying a recipe I haven’t made before that is supposed to bake for 30 minutes plus cooling time.

Don’t say it. I know.


Fiasco-ed Strawberry Oat Squares with Homemade Jam

Adapted from Oh She Glows

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2t baking soda
1/2t salt
1/2 cup stevia (this is what I use)
1/4 cup liquid egg whites (or about 2 actual egg whites)
1 small container of unsweetened/ no sugar added applesauce
2T unsweetened almond milk (click here or here for brands)
1T unsweetened shredded coconut
2 baskets strawberries, chopped
stevia, to taste

Mash strawberries (with a potato masher) until juicy and jammy.

Boil for 10-20 minutes, considering how thick or strong you like your jam. (The longer it cooks, the more it reduces for heightened flavor. At some point, it does stop thickening and start burning, so be careful.)

Totally ignore the baking temperature because you’re almost out of time. I baked this at 450 degrees, but it clearly should be 350. (Just like the original said you should.) I was told we were late, so I just pulled them out of the oven after 10-15 minutes of baking, and decided to call it a “crisp” instead of “bars.” Yeah, okay. It was really underdone, but it was good. I plan to remake the bars and bake them at the correct temperature for the correct amount of time and let you know how it goes.

So when we get there, we’re actually not late. Oh well, It was really fun anyway and I got a compliment on my “crisp.” *Sarcastic laughter* That’s my friend Christine. (She’s on the left, I’m on the right.)

This is what was left of the “crisp.” (Okay, I’ll stop now.)
In my defense, it didn’t have any serving utensil some maybe people wanted it, but simply couldn’t get it.

I guess you don’t have to play along anymore, but you have to admit, it was kinda fun. 🙂

I took some nice pics of the fireworks, but the Internet is in a bad mood so it would take me a long, long time to upload everything. I plan to do it later in the week.

By the way, I stuck the leftovers in the freezer (and they taste great.) Sometimes I crumble about half of one on my oatmeal.

You guys, my patient readers, are awesome. (I hope I didn’t use readers in the plural for nothing.) 😉

Enjoy!

-Kelly M.