Recipe Collection

Oatmeal Fruit Bars

I made these for the first time a few days ago, and I love the recipe so much, I want to make sure and type it all down so I don't forget it! We were given a bag of dried fruit and nuts mix. It had dates, raisins, dried plums, dried apples, walnuts, and pecans mixed together.

Here is what I used:

one yellow cake mix
about four cups of quick cook oatmeal
three eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
vanilla extract - I eyeballed about a tablespoon
two tablespoons of brown sugar
and warm water - I did not measure this
Three cups of dried fruit and nuts

In my mixing bowl, I combined the cake mix, eggs, oil, vanilla, brown sugar, and oatmeal. I slowly added the water until everything was a thick moist consistency without being overly wet. It was so thick my spoon could stand up straight! I did not over mix either.

Then I placed it in a generously oiled baking dish and baked at 375 for about 40 minutes. I didn't really time it, just when it turned a dark golden color and looked nice and solid, I took it out. You can always do a knife test to be sure. Once they cooled I cut them into easy to eat bars. They are dense, like bread almost and can be picked up and eaten.