Breakfast: Oat and Honey Bars

I have no idea why we called these Oat and Honey Bars. There's no honey in them. They are from Jenni Muir's A cook's guide to grains, called Crunchy Oat and Coconut Slice. She had these under cookies and crackers, but it goes under our breakfast, along with all our granolas and oat bars. Really, these are eat any time bars. Yum!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 325ºF. 
2. In a large saucepan, slowly melt the butter over a gentle heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the oats, sugar and coconut, mixing until well combined.
3. Transfer the mixture to a 8”-square tin and press it out evenly. 
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden. 
5. Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into pieces and serve.

Other Details:

• Easy for kids to make. 
• To make fruited versions of this, simply stir in about 1/2 cup of sultanas or raisins, chopped dried apricots, prunes, mango, or other dried fruit at the same time as adding the oats, sugar, and coconut.
• Walnuts are a terrific addition, but other nuts will also work well. Add about 1/2 cup to this quantity of mixture.
• Warm spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger can also be added. Use 1 to 1 1/2 tsp in total of your favorites and add them along with the dry ingredients.
• Don't use shredded coconut or coconut flakes. It might seem as though they will look more attractive, but they make the mixture less absorbent than desiccated coconut, so the baked result is greasy and uncohesive. (I could not find dessicated coconut and just used shredded coconut. It fell apart very easily, but I wouldn't call it greasy.)
• If the corners are browning too quickly, cover them with some foil.
• Serves 12
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