The Quest for Nutri Grain Perfecto

I love Nutri Grain bars.  Nutri Grain Bars are a tender, flaky crust type pastry with a fruit filling in the center. (Shhhh, I just want to tell you a secret, there is not that much filling in them as the package would have you believe).

I know that if you read my blog you will know that I try not to use many processed or pre packaged things.  I avoid it whenever I can for a multitude of reasons.  But there are a few things that I will go back to and buy on occasion and I have to say that these are one of the things that beckon me.  As you might guess I decided I needed to come up with a version of my own.  After doing a pretty thorough search, the following is the only recipe that I can find.  It's not a bad one - it is very delicious and quite easy but it uses a box of cake mix.  Again, a prepackaged thing.  I do buy these occasionally too.  This is the recipe that keeps coming up after many searches.  I did tweak it a bit to suit my taste.

This is not the last time you will see Nutri Grain Bars on my site.  I am going to try and develop a recipe that is more spot on. (These were just a bit too sweet for me, of course that didn't stop me from eating them.  Really the kids loved them and they of course did a disappearing act).

Crumb Bars
They really taste like Nutri Grain bars but I have to say they are a bit better than Nutri Grain bars.

1 (18.25 ounce) box butter flavor yellow cake mix
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 1/2 cups quick oats
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
12 ounces preserves or jam, I used raspberry
1 tablespoon water

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt butter. Combine cake mix and oats in a large bowl; stir in the melted butter until the mixture is crumbly. Measure half of this mixture into a greased 13 x 9-inch pan. Try to save as much as you can for the top as you want to cover the top as completely as possible. Press firmly into pan to cover the bottom.

Combine preserves and water; spoon over crumb mixture in pan, and spread evenly. Cover with remaining crumb mixture. Pat firmly to make top even. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The top should be very light brown. Cool completely before cutting into bars.