AliLarter.com

June 4, 2013

Cherries are in season, and I fawn over a homemade jam. I’ve also been trying to develop a soft cereal bar like the ones my son adores. These are adapted from Tessa the Domestic Diva. They are vegan-amazing, filled with healthy ingredients. A quick breakfast, afternoon snack with an iced coffee or an anytime “special treat” as my son will say. Enjoy!

Cereal Bars with Homemade Cherry jam

Ingredients:

1¼ c spelt or whole wheat flour
1 c oat flour (grind rolled oats in a food processor until fine)
1 Tbsp flaxseed meal
1 tea baking powder
¾ tea salt
½ c applesauce
1/3 c coconut oil, melted
1/3 c agave
2 tea vanilla
½ c cherry jam

 

Homemade Cherry Jam

¼ c water
2 ½-3 c sugar, depending on sweetness of cherries
5 c pitted cherries, from about 2 pounds
2 Tbsp lemon juice
½ Tbsp lemon zest

 

Bring sugar and water to a boil. Add cherries and lemon juice and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Test the thickness of your jam by placing a dollop on a frozen plate and tilting the plate to see if the jam drips down.

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, mix together flours, flaxseed meal, baking powder and salt. In another bowl whisk together applesauce, melted coconut oil, vanilla, and agave. Mix wet ingredients into dry flour mixture. Divide dough in half, and refrigerate one half. Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper until you have an 8×8 inch square for the bottom half of bars. Lay the rolled out dough, with the parchment underneath, into the baking pan. Peel off top piece of parchment, pushing dough down with your fingers as needed. Spread the jam over the top. Roll out remaining dough between parchment and invert the dough onto top of jam, pressing dow. Be sure to remove the parchment from the top! Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool and cut into bars or bites!