White House Fruit and Oat Bars

Updated Dec. 7, 2022

White House Fruit and Oat Bars
Doug Mills/The New York Times
Total Time
50 minutes
Rating
4(241)
Comments
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This recipe came to The Times in an article about Bill Yosse, the White House pastry chef under President Obama.

"Mr. Yosses’ most recent mission is changing the White House tradition of the bottomless cookie plate. (Among White House journalists, President Clinton was known for going straight from a grueling run into the pastry kitchen. Only part of it is visible through a window, but reporters outside recognized him by his sneakers.)

To edge out the cookies, Mr. Yosses decided to create a child-pleasing crunchy granola bar without nuts, chocolate or white sugar. “We went through many tastings on this one,” he said in his skinny galley kitchen, patting the final result, a mix of toasted oats, sesame seeds and chewy dried fruits into a sheet pan." —Julia Moskin

Featured in: The White House Pastry Chef Revamps Sweets

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Ingredients

Yield:2 dozen bars
  • 6tablespoons grapeseed oil, or other neutral oil, plus extra for brushing pan
  • 2cups rolled oats
  • ½cup mixed seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower and sesame
  • ½cup honey
  • cup dark brown sugar
  • cup maple syrup
  • Pinch of salt
  • cups mixed dried fruit, such as raisins, cherries, apricots, papaya, pineapple and cranberries (at least 3 kinds, cut into small pieces if large)
  • 1teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)

102 calories; 4 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 12 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 8 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, letting a few inches hang over side of pan. Brush with oil.

  2. Step 2

    Spread oats and seeds on another baking pan and toast in oven just until golden and fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes, shaking pan once.

  3. Step 3

    In a saucepan, combine oil, honey, brown sugar, maple syrup and salt. Stir over medium heat until smooth and hot. In a mixing bowl, toss together toasted oats and seeds, dried fruit and cardamom. Pour hot sugar mixture over and stir until well combined.

  4. Step 4

    While mixture is warm, transfer to prepared pan, pressing into pan evenly with an offset spatula.

  5. Step 5

    Bake until brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack and let cool completely. Using the overhanging foil or paper, lift out of pan and place on a work surface. Cut into bars, about 1½ inches by 3 inches.

Ratings

4 out of 5
241 user ratings
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Comments

#1) Mega sweet. As in really sweet. Seriously sweet. #2) I let cool a good hour before attempting to cut. Nope. Simply fell apart. I went ahead and spooned it into a container and stuck it into the fridge. The next day, I went to grab a piece and it was the perfect *bar* consistency. I'd like to make again and try chilling in fridge a good few hours before attempting to cut.
#3) love the ratio of seeds to fruit and oat. I used chia, sesame, poppy, and sunflower seeds.

With all that dried fruit, why do you even need the brown sugar, honey, and maple syrup? If you need something to bind the ingredients with, try using date paste (in a food processor puree dates that have been softened by simmering in enough water to just cover them).

Never use aluminum foil to line a pan. Parchment paper is the only good option in my opinion. (Also great for easy clean up when making cookies, baking salmon and roasting vegetables) These bars just came out of the oven and I immediately put them in the frig to harden. Sweet enough for my taste and ready to serve. Great recipe.

Taste is great. Notes: waaay less oil, and use parchment paper as I just baked them and could hey get them out of the tray. Would make again with way less oil and sugar.

Y’all jump at the chance to say something has too much sugar in it like yoga teachers in the early 00s in LA used to jump at any opportunity to loudly proclaim that they didn’t have a TV or eat meat. Same thing coming from the same part of the brain. Anyway, the intro to this says that they are “child pleasing”, and they are meant to replace cookies. Of course they’re sweet. If you wanted something that wasn’t sweet, you should have made something else.

Given the other comments about how sweet it is, skipped the brown sugar all together. Itwas still on the sweeter end of the spectrum, but not bad. I let it cool fully, then put into the refrigerator and it set up nicely. Instead of sunflower seeds I used sliced almonds and chia seeds. The recipe lends itself to variations.

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Credits

Adapted from Bill Yosses, White House pastry chef

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