Best Blueberry Oatmeal Bars

Okay, so the title of this recipe is actually BERT’S Best Blueberry Oatmeal Bars.  You know, Bert….as in Bert and Ernie?  This recipe is from a Sesame Street cookbook called C is for Cooking: Recipes From the Street.

I bought this with dreams of cooking through the entire cookbook with The Littlest Apple, enjoying the experience as we went along and hopefully finding a few new things for him to eat.  While we DO cook and bake together fairly regularly, this particular experience was less than idyllic, ending with The Littlest Apple crying and in time out.  Just keeping it real, folks.

Honestly, this cookbook pleasantly surprised me.  As expected, there are lots of easy recipes a preschooler can make, and it is certainly geared toward kid favorites (chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, pizza).  Here are some of the titles: Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce, Cookie Monster’s Homemade Peanut Butter Sandwiches (the recipe is for the peanut butter), Ernie’s Frozen Fun Pops, Zoe’s Rainbow Salad Boats.

But the first section of the cookbook has recipes from Martha, Emeril, Jamie Oliver, Rachel Ray, and Alton Brown.  The rest of the cookbook also includes some surprising recipes like Grover’s African-Style Peanut Butter Soup, Bert’s Tutt-Frutti Turkey Salad (which has curry), Grover’s Egg and Sausage Strata and this recipe for Blueberry Oatmeal Bars.  We all really liked these Bars (though it does seem to be one of the less healthy recipes from the book!).  Great for breakfast, snack or dessert.

This cookbook also contains lots of useful information about getting kids involved in the kitchen and making food fun.  Each recipe includes at least one kid-friendly step, and there are even some Sesame Street stickers at the end.  This is such a cute cookbook!

Best Blueberry Oatmeal Bars

from C is For Cooking

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups uncooked old-fashioned oats
• 1 pint (2 cups) fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with aluminum foil.  Lightly grease the foil with nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt until well-mixed.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter until fluffy.  Beat in the oil, eggs, and vanilla.  With a wooden spoon, mix in the flour mixture until blended.  Stir in the oats and blueberries.

Use a rubber spatula to spread the batter evenly in the pan.

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.  Lift by the foil from the pan and cut into 24 bar cookies.