Tropical Breakfast Bars

The inspiration to make these bars came from a request to make a delicious, healthy, breakfast cookie.  You might even be able to bake this dough in the form of cookies.

The recipe was based on this one for Tropical Lemon Cranberry Coconut Chia Bars.

I used cherries instead of cranberries, pecans instead of pistachios, and altered some measurements.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons chia seeds
• 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (approx 1.5 lemons)
• 1.5 cups regular oats, ground into a flour in food processor
• 1/2 cup regular oats (not ground)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1.5 cups unsweetened shredded coconut + additional for sprinkling
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup Agave nectar
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cherries

First, you combine 3 T of chia seeds with 6 T of fresh squeezed lemon juice and let it sit while it gels up.  Meanwhile, you process 1.5 cups of oats in the food processor to make oat flour.

In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, including the cherries, lemon zest, and coconut flakes.  I only had 1 cup worth of coconut flakes so I was a half cup short.  In a separate small bowl, mix together the wet ingredients, adding the chia/lemon juice mixture last. Here, I also ran out of agave and used less than was called for.  I think this resulted in the crumbliness of the bars later on!

Add the wet to the dry and mix, mix, mix.  You're going to think you might need more liquid but you don't.

It starts to form a fantastic consistency.
Line an 8" square pan with parchment paper, squish the dough into it, and bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a cooling rack for 30 minutes before cutting them into bars.

Voila!  Mine were too crumbly but still tasty.

These are good, but I'm still on the hunt for the perfect breakfast cookie recipe!