blackberry hazelnut oat bars.

a tasty treat in 3 easy steps?  yippee! it's a piece of cake.  and by cake I mean bar.  blackberry oat bar that is. 

we're jammin', and I hope you like jammin' too! 

the goodies:

- 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

- 2 c. oats

- 1 1/2 c. hazelnuts

- 1 1/2 c. brown sugar

- 2 tsp. baking powder

- 1/4 tsp. salt

- 1 1/2 tsp. cinammon

- 1 c. softened butter

- 1 egg

- 1 c. blackberry jam

- 1/4 c. ground flaxseeds 

the fun part:

* preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

#1.) chop the nuts and toss them into your food processor along with all the ingredients except for the egg, jam and flaxseed.

#2.) take half of your oat-y mixture out, and in a separate bowl mix in your beaten egg.  spread this mixture evenly over an 11 x 15 greased cookie sheet.  bake for 10 minutes, or until firm and golden. 

#3.) dollop your jam and spread it evenly over your nicely baked crust.  sprinkle the remaining crumbly goodness over top, and bake for another 10 minutes.  remove from oven and sprinkle with flaxseed.

recipe adapted from: rebar cookbook  

what your body will like:

since these tasty bars err on the healthy side of things in the dessert realm, I thought we could focus on the health benefits of our favorite ingredient: flax. after you learn all these fun facts, you're going to feel like you're sprinkling your very own magical fairy dust onto your bars in that last step!

#1.) lignans: these feisty guys are linked to preventing hormone-related types of cancer (did someone say, 'movember'?). maybe next year instead of growing moustaches, all you handsome gentlemen could substitute some mo' flax instead? 

#2.) omega-3s: your body hearts omega-3s because of all their cardiovascular benefits. they lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and increase circulation.  omega-3s are essential, and as you might remember from our essential amino acid talk, these are nutrients that our body can't make on its own, so we need to get from the things we eat.  dig in!

#3.) fiber: I'll stop here.  we've gone over fiber enough in the last few posts.  but please, click here if you need a friendly reminder!