Aussie Bars: Food for the Trail

Our family is always searching for great snacks we can take with us on the trail that are healthy, provide great energy AND don’t cost an arm and a leg.

It’s not easy keeping kids fed and energized, especially when we are spending long days on the trail.

Aussie Bars

I decided to make these bars after trying a similar product called “Aussie Bites” from Costco. They were full of whole grains, healthy fats, and dried fruit.

Even more importantly, they stuck together really well and didn’t crumble all over the place. Often, the Achilles heel of homemade granola bars is that they disintegrate, but not these!

I read a few recipes online, before modifying a couple and creating bars instead of muffin cup bites. I hope your children enjoy these as much as mine do.

Need some more ideas for snacks on the trail? Check out this post with many of our favorite ideas.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cup rolled oats
  • 2 T granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup dried apricots
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 3 T cup ground flaxseed
  • 1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 2/3 cup cooked quinoa
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted (or can do all coconut oil)
  • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil or canola oil
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • a pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pulverize half of the oats in your food processor or blender until the oats are the consistency of a coarse flour.

Add the remaining oats, dried fruit, seeds, and other dry ingredients. Process until the raisins and apricots are in small bits. The mixture might begin to stick together at this point.

Pour in the remaining ingredients, and pulse to combine.

Remove mixture from the food processor and mix thoroughly in a bowl.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Divide the oat mixture into two even parts.

Take one part and press into the pan in a rectangular shape. Repeat with the other part. Leave space between each section.

Place into the preheated oven and bake for 13-16 minutes–until evenly browned. Remove from the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees.

Aussie Bars

Cut the oblong slabs into bars and leave on the pan with space in between each bar.

Return to the oven and bake for 15 more minutes. Remove, and let cool.

Store in an airtight container or bag for 4 days at room temperature, or for longer in the fridge or freezer.

Aussie Bars

Aussie Bars

These Aussie Bars are a perfect non-crumbly homemade granola bar option for energy on the trail.

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cup rolled oats
  • 2 T granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup dried apricots
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 3 T cup ground flaxseed
  • 1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 2/3 cup cooked quinoa
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted (or can do all coconut oil)
  • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil or canola oil
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • a pinch of salt

Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    2. Pulverize half of the oats in your food processor or blender until the oats are the consistency of a coarse flour.
    3. Add the remaining oats, dried fruit, seeds, and other dry ingredients. Process until the raisins and apricots are in small bits. The mixture might begin to stick together at this point.
    4. Pour in the remaining ingredients, and pulse to combine.
    5. Remove mixture from the food processor and mix thoroughly in a bowl.
    6. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Divide the oat mixture into two even parts.
    7. Take one part and press into the pan in a rectangular shape. Repeat with the other part. Leave space between each section.
    8. Place into the preheated oven and bake for 13-16 minutes--until evenly browned. Remove from the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees.
    9. Cut the oblong slabs into bars and leave on the pan with space in between each bar.
    10. Return to the oven and bake for 15 more minutes. Remove, and let cool.
    11. Store in an airtight container or bag for 4 days at room temperature, or for longer in the fridge or freezer.

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Author

  • Rita Muller is a born and raised Vermont girl and mom of five children (yes, she knows one is missing in the photo below – she’s working on that!) She works and plays from the northeastern corner of her tiny state. She likes to think that Vermont is small but mighty. Living one hour from the largest mountains in the Northeast and a major part of the Appalachian Trail is a constant source of outdoor adventure ideas. She divides her time between cooking, chicken wrangling, gardening, teaching her children, trail running, hiking, backpacking, and getting outdoors to camp and explore WITH her children. She and her husband Ryan have a deep love of the outdoors that they seek to share with their children, even though it might look different than adventuring with adults.

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