Bliss Milk Bars

A quick, delicious, nutrient dense snack, with oats to promote milk production! You can't go wrong there!

These granola bars are as easy as mixing up a batch of homemade cookies. The amount of honey makes them both slightly indulgent and slightly expensive, but it’s worth it! 

My sister was given a bar recipe when her second was born, and she shared it with me and over years of making them and experimenting I have refined it to this version.

They were a lifesaver when I had my first baby and I have been making them for friends and clients for years. I hope you enjoy them too! 

SUPPLIES:

  • 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish or something similar

  • Parchment paper to line dish

  • Small sauce pan

  • Large bowl

  • Mixing spoon

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup organic salted butter (or coconut oil)

  • 4 1/2 cups rolled oats (2/3 rolled and 1/3 instant is an option too)

  • 1 cup organic raw honey (I love this one)

  • 1 ½ cups oat flour

  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract 

  • 1 tsp. baking soda

  • 2 cups of add-ins (roughly equal proportions, except a bit less for the chia seeds):

    • My favorites are: golden raisins, chocolate chips, Chia seeds, coconut flakes and blanched almonds (you can use whatever you like!)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F

  2. Line a 9”×13” glass pan with parchment paper, just press it in a bit, so that the bottom and sides will be covered when you press the bars in. 

  3. In a medium saucepan melt butter and add honey stirring and cooking on low till melted and combined, then add the vanilla. (Let cool for a couple minutes while you gather your dry ingredients, so it won't melt the chocolate chips immediately)

  4. In a large mixing bowl combine oats, oat flour, baking soda and 2 cups of your fav add-ins.

  5. Pour honey, butter, vanilla mixture into dry ingredients and mix till all moistened.

  6. Pour mixture into parchment paper/glass dish and press firmly and evenly with a spatula to flatten.

  7. Bake at 350°F for 15-22 minutes until just golden brown on the edges and light brown on top.

  8. When they come out of the oven they will have puffed up a bit, I like to use a spatula again and press them down, making them more dense for cooling.

  9. Allow to cool completely in the glass dish then chill in fridge before cutting. They will be soft and fall apart if you try to cut when they’re still warm. They will keep fine at room temp, but longer in fridge.

Variations

✔ Add ¼ c. cocoa powder to the dry ingredients; no chocolate chips needed.

✔ Use ½ c. natural peanut butter, almond butter or sunbutter in place of ½ cup of the butter (stay on the short side of baking time as nut butters can dry out the bars).

✔ Use a large cookie sheet and press the bars more thinly.

FAQs

✔ How about dairy free? Coconut oil works fine in place of butter, especially in the nut butter versions.

✔ How long is the shelf life? Seriously, I found a bar in our diaper bag that had been there for months, and it was perhaps a bit lower on the quality scale, but no mold or other issues that would deem them inedible. Generally they are gone so quickly you don’t have to worry about shelf life!

✔ Can I use less honey? Quality honey is expensive and the “unhealthy” ingredient in this recipe. When you heat the honey, you can definitely cut it down by at least 1/3 cup and everything still holds together. I also had success substituting natural applesauce for up to 1/2 cup honey, but the resulting bars weren’t very sweet. The chocolate chips were a necessity.