Mt. Daniel Oat Bars
Oats, butter, and dried fruit pressed into a pan and cooked in the microwave. Nine squares, no oven.
- calories
- 350
- weight
- 3.1 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 5 g
- serves
- 9, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- Breakfast
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Day hike
- Car camping
- Bikepacking
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Rolled oats | 2 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1/2 cup | melted; ghee or coconut oil keeps longer in heat |
| Brown sugar | 1/2 cup | packed |
| Honey | 1/4 cup | |
| Raisins | 1 cup | |
| Dried cranberries | 1 cup | |
| Chopped nuts | 1/2 cup | walnuts or almonds, whatever is open |
Method
- At home: stir the oats, sugar, fruit, and nuts together, then pour the melted butter and honey over and mix until every oat is coated.
- Press the mass into an 8x8 microwave-safe glass dish. Press hard. Loose bars fall apart in the pack.
- Microwave on high 5 to 7 minutes, until the top darkens. It should still give under a finger when it comes out.
- Cool in the pan until firm, then cut into nine squares and wrap each one.
- On trail: unwrap and eat. No stove, no water.
Butter and honey are the binder here, not a flavor note. Sugar syrup plus fat coats the oats and sets as it cools, which is why the pressing step matters more than the cooking step. The microwave drives off enough moisture that the whole thing firms up instead of staying a wet pile.
These are a few-day proposition, not a season’s worth. Fat and honey do most of the preserving, but there is no reason to push it past a long weekend in a warm pack. For anything longer, cut and wrap them, freeze the batch, and pull out what the trip needs the morning you leave.
Packing
Wrap each square in plastic or parchment, then bag them together. Individually wrapped means one bar leaving the pack at a time instead of a brick of nine.
Variations
- Swap the cranberries for chopped dried apricot or dates for a softer, sweeter bar.
- Half a cup of powdered milk in the dry mix adds a few grams of protein without changing the texture much.
- Coconut oil in place of butter makes it dairy-free and holds up better in a hot pack.
https://trailcooking.com/snacks/mt-daniel-bars