“Skinny” Oatmeal Raisin Bars
My recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Bars is my absolute favorite, can’t-eat-just-one baked good. They’re seriously THE BEST! 
And, pretty much every time I bake a batch, they’re completely gone within 2-3 days with me doing 90% of the damage! 
I realize it would be much easier to just not make these delicious treats, so I don’t devour them in less than 72 hours, but not enjoying these goodies would also make me pretty sad. So, what to do? “Skinny” the recipe!
“Skinny” Oatmeal Raisin Bars
Makes 9 bars
Ingredients:
2 cups dry oats
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup raisins
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Spray 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine ingredients until smooth.
3. Spread batter in prepared baking pan, and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes until bars are cooked all the way through.
4. Let bars cool completely in pan before cutting.
Changes: The sweet brown sugar still dominates the bars, which makes me think that the 1/4 cup of sugar in the original recipe probably wasn’t needed at all, so I just nixed it. I reduced the amount of canola oil to 1/4 cup from 1/2 cup, which cut a number of calories from the recipe. I replaced 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour with 1/4 cup of wheat bran for some added fiber, protein, iron, and other nutritional goodies. I also added a tiny amount of vanilla extract for some added sweetness.
My Review: Flavor-wise, the “skinny” version of Oatmeal Raisin Bars is pretty close to the original, but not nearly as sweet. The texture of the “skinny” bars is a tad more chewy and dense compared to the original recipe. If you’re in the mood for a sweet treat, but not necessarily dessert, these “Skinny” Oatmeal Raisins Bars are perfect for satisfying that craving!
Spring it!Posted by: Tina 48 comments
Posted in: Uncategorized, recipe
on May 3rd, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Those look absolutely fantastic!!! I’ll bet they would disappear in a matter of a day here… but that’s ok! They’re healthy
on May 3rd, 2009 at 8:59 pm
AH! You know I love these bars and will def be trying the new skinny version
on May 3rd, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Anything oatmeal is good in my book
on May 3rd, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Yay, I love your recipes already (oh gosh, those delicious pumpkin oat muffins!), but skinnified? Sounds great to me!
on May 3rd, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Those look yummy
I’ll have to make those!
on May 3rd, 2009 at 9:14 pm
totally making these this week!
on May 3rd, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Yum! Those would disappear real quickly over here too. I love anything made with oats.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 9:19 pm
ooh! these sound like they’d disappear in a flash!
on May 3rd, 2009 at 9:49 pm
is there anything i could use instead of the wheat bran?? would oat bran work?
these look AMAZING!
on May 3rd, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Hmmm…. do you think Flax Seed Meal could work in place of the wheat bran in order to make these gluten free?
on May 3rd, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Hi Tina! I really enjoyed meeting you tonight! I posted that picture of you photographing your food in my blog, hope that’s okay
on May 3rd, 2009 at 10:08 pm
I love the skinny version! I actually prefer treats to be more chewy and dense.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 10:41 pm
These look great.
If you’re ever interested, I make “healthy” cookies all the time, and they’re really, really yummy. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup wholemeal flour, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 2.5 tsp ground cinnamon (I’ve also had good results adding a half teaspoon of mixed spice, too), 2 tsp baking powder, and 10-12 each of quartered prunes and dried apricots (you could sub in dates, raisins or other dried fruit, but the prunes and apricots plump out in the cookies and taste awesome 
. To the dry ingredients, add 1 lightly beaten egg, 4 Tablespoons pure maple syrup and enough applesauce (usually between 3/4 and 1 cup) until the mixture can be formed into cookie shapes on a baking tray. Bake at around 180 degrees celsius (350 fahrenheit?) for ten to fifteen minutes or until biscuits are firm and golden. Devour.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Awesome recipe! See, I’d be compelled to add chocolate chips and nuts and coconut and all manner of other things that would de-skinny-fy them… but I bet I could exercise SOME self control if I had to. Hehe. Thanks for the inspiration!
on May 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 pm
so making these this week, thanks TINA!!!
on May 4th, 2009 at 1:41 am
Great recipe, bookmarked it for a later date!
on May 4th, 2009 at 5:32 am
love the original recipe, so can’t wait to try this one! one question though, you recipe still calls for 1/2 c. packed brown sugar, but the paragraph below makes it look like, maybe, you wanted to that to be 1/4 c. in the “skinny” version. is that correct??
on May 4th, 2009 at 6:20 am
@lisa: Nope, 1/2 cup of brown sugar.
on May 4th, 2009 at 6:21 am
Yum, I love oatmeal bars, looks great Tina!
on May 4th, 2009 at 6:46 am
I’ll definitely trying these!
on May 4th, 2009 at 7:00 am
@gina (fitnessista): Yea, I think it would. Let me know how they come out of you try it!
on May 4th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Yum! I love your original oat bar recipe. I will have to try this version!
on May 4th, 2009 at 8:45 am
Shut up. Your Oatmeal Bars are the best recipe I have found in blogland to date. I freaking love them. You can see me rave about them on my blog when I’ve made them. I have even messed around the recipe adding things like PB2. Can’t wait to try the skinny version!! Thanks Tina.
on May 4th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Can’t wait to try these! Do you have an estimate on the nutritional stats?
on May 4th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Yum, these sound great. Can’t wait to make them.
on May 4th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
@Amanda @ Cakes and Ale: No, sorry!
on May 4th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
i just made these with dates instead of raisins, and 1/4c flax + 1/8c flour instead of the oat bran…they came out great!
on May 4th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Great alterations!
I don’t trust myself!
That’s why I don’t bake
on May 6th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
[...] “Skinny” Oatmeal Raisin Bars [...]
on May 7th, 2009 at 6:06 am
I love “skinny” versions of goodies like this. I’ll definitely be trying your recipe soon
Thanks, Tina!
on May 7th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
[...] ate about 1/2 of my salad before giving up and eating what I was craving: “Skinny” Oatmeal Raisin Bar! In last night’s batch, I further reduced the brown sugar to 1/3 cup and substituted 1 tbsp [...]
on May 8th, 2009 at 7:21 am
[...] of “hungry” this morning. Let’s hope this meal does the trick! (I took a “Skinny” Oatmeal Raisin Bar to go just in case I get hungry [...]
on May 11th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
[...] One thing I love to do that is not apparent on my blog is bake. I often let things like baking fall to the wayside when school and work are in full swing. I decided last week that as soon as school was over I was going to hit the kitchen and try all the various recipes I’ve seen online. Tonight’s first adventure was with Carrots ‘n Cake’s Skinny Oatmeal Bars. [...]
on May 12th, 2009 at 8:31 am
tina, what do you think I could substitute wheat bran with? anything? i have all the rest of the ingredients but that.
on May 13th, 2009 at 2:22 am
[...] And started to make some Oatmeal Raisin Bars! [...]
on May 13th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Tina – I made a batch of these on Saturday and they were absolutely delicious. I used oat bran instead of wheat bran, because that’s what I had. Next time, I may mix some Craisins in with the raisins. I also think they would be good with a bit of simple confectioners sugar icing drizzled on top. I may try to drop these as cookies instead of bars and see what happens. Thanks for the recipe!
on May 13th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
[...] and a recipe I really wanted to try. I am a sucker for anything baked oatmeal, so Tina’s Skinny Oatmeal Raisin Bars seemed the way to go. I altered the recipe quite a bit, so they came out way different than they [...]
on May 14th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
[...] time I got home I WAS STARVING. I knew I was going to babysit soon, so I grabbed a quick snack: a Skinny Oatmeal Raisin Bar and a Dr.Kracker with a laughing cow wedge. After a lovely long distance phone chat with Hannah, it [...]
on May 16th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Thanks for this recipe, I’ve already made these twice! Before I tried them, I was worried they might taste “overly healthy” but I’m now officially addicted
on May 20th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
I made two batches of these this weekend…they are delicious and addicting.
on Jul 6th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
[...] Before my run, I snacked on this: 1/2 of Tina’s Skinny Oatmeal Raisin Bars [...]
on Jul 9th, 2009 at 11:43 am
[...] July 9, 2009 by Heather Today I made it out of bed only pushing the snooze button once (which for me is amazing). This gave me the time to run for 40 minutes and still not be rushed to get to work at a reasonable time. I started with my usual pre-run snack – a glass of water and 1/2 of a Tina’s Skinny Oatmeal Bar. [...]
on Jul 19th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
[...] July 19, 2009 Today was the most wonderful lazy Sunday. I woke up this morning and made Tina’s Skinny Oatmeal Raisin Bars . I cut the recipe in half because I knew if they were delicious I could probably eat the whole [...]
on Jul 28th, 2009 at 10:17 am
These are sooooo tasty! I made them in muffin tins so they would be more portable, and they turned out great! I altered the baking time to 18 minutes, and they had a yummy crunchy top. I also substituted PB2 for the wheat bran… mmmmmmmmmmm. =D
on Jul 29th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
These are so good! I actually like them better than the original version!
on Sep 7th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
[...] of a Skinny Oatmeal Raisin bar from my [...]
on Sep 8th, 2009 at 8:15 am
[...] minute tempo run. Before I left the apartment I had a glass of water and the other 1/2 of my Skinny Oatmeal Raisin Bar. After seeing everyone in the blog world eating with pumpkin, – pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin [...]
on Nov 2nd, 2009 at 8:42 am
[...] I saw this recipe on Carrots ‘n’ Cake, and decided to check it out as an alternative to my Nature Valley bars. Blogger Tina adapted her [...]