Name: Soaked Oatmeal Breakfast Bars (Sugar Free)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 20 bars
Ingredients: 1 1/2 c. gluten free steel cut outs; 1/4 c. raw buckwheat groats; 2 T yogurt OR 1T lemon juice OR 1T apple cider vinegar; 4 c. room-temperature water; 4 eggs; 2 overripe (soft bananas); 1 c. milk of choice; 1/3 c. coconut flour; 1/3 c. melted butter; 2 t vanilla; 1 t baking soda; 1/2 t real salt; 1 c raisins

Some mornings are well, just plain tough. As hard as I try to have a hot breakfast ready for my kids in the morning, I sometimes miss the mark. And then there’s the husband. His days begin at a brutal 4:30 in the morning when he gets his biking gear ready for his commute to work. I try to prepare his breakfast the night before and that usually consists of a quart size mason jar of bone broth, sometimes some sort of egg muffin or two, and sometimes a breakfast bar of sorts. Like this one.

It is completely sugar free. If it seems a little bland to you, you are more than welcome to ~~dunk~~ drizzle these bars with chocolate ganache, but I prefer to keep them plain as they serve their breakfasty job well that way.

[Tweet “Well soaked oatmeal, lightly sweetened with overripe bananas makes for a simple breakfast win!”]

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Soaking Oats?

Grains, nuts and legumes are seeds and seeds are meant to pass through our system undigested because of the built in anti-nutrient property. These anti-nutrients are called phytic acid and they are designed to make seeds difficult to digest. These same compounds hinder active enzyme activity during digestion making it hard to absorb all the nutrients in the seed. When you soak grains, nuts or legumes, you are essentially kick starting the sprouting process and makes the seeds more digestible and helps your body to obtain all the nutrients in the food.

Traditionally, the process of soaking and sprouting has been the golden standard in many cultures. Some argue that there really is no need to go through the trouble of soaking and sprouting. Whether or not soaking grains provides any benefits may be debatable but I know that personally, I fare better when grains are soaked prior to cooking. Oats, in particular are notorious for being very hard on the digestion, for us anyways. I always, always soak them for at least 12 hours, often more. If they’re not soaked, I go with an easier to digest grain like white rice or buckwheat.

Speaking of buckwheat….

Because oats are low in enzyme phytase, they are unable to break down the phytic acid that binds to the nutrients. Enter buckwheat. This humble seed is high in phytase and helps the oats neutralize the phytic acid making for better nutrient absorption and easier digestion.
If using whole buckwheat groats, go for the full 24 hour soaking to give the phytase enough time to do its job. Or you can slightly grind or crack the buckwheat groats in a coffee grinder and get away with soaking for only half that time.

Breakfast Bars

This can be prepared the night before and left in the refrigerator overnight to be tossed in the oven the next morning for a hassle free breakfast. You do want to time it right, though, considering the process of soaking the oats and buckwheat. If you are cooking them straight from the fridge, add an additional 5-10 minutes to the cooking time and be sure not to put the cold pan/dish in the oven. I would place the dish in the oven first during preheat and allow it to warm up to temperature along with the oven so to avoid drastic temperature change in the pan. I learned this the hard way.

About 12-24 hours before you want to bake these, rinse and soak your grains in slightly-warm water with some acidic medium (yogurt, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar). This will help the phytase to break down the phytic acid in the oats. After soaking, rinse them well in a colander and drain water well. I usually let them sit in a sieve while I prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Beat eggs on medium-high speed until foamy which should take you about 4 minutes. Add bananas and continue to beat until combined well. Add the rest of the ingredients in the order that they are listed and mix for another minute. Add soaked grains and mix for another 30 seconds, just enough to combine well. Add the raisins and stir by hand. Pour contents in a greased 9X13 dish and bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

You can store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container or freeze them and pull them out as needed. I cut them into bars and stack them in a tall tupperware container with parchment paper between the layers. They freeze well for hectic mornings. Either pull a few out the night before to thaw out or toss them in a convection oven for 10-15 minutes.