There are many times I will see a recipe and then change it to make it gluten, dairy, and egg-free to suit our needs.

That is what I did with this recipe, which I originally saw on The Pioneer Woman’s Instagram feed. It is a super cute video!

I knew these bars would be very easy to change. Gluten-free oats, gluten-free flours, and dairy-free butter are easy substitutes! Eggs are just a little bit trickier, but this recipe does not have eggs in it.

The kids love these squares, and I LOVE, love to bake – so they are a win, win!!

Oatmeal Squares

1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch (also called flour)
1 1/2 cups gluten-free regular rolled oats
1 cup (scant) coconut palm sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt
1 3/4 sticks of earth balance dairy and soy free butter
strawberry, raspberry or apple preserves (could use pumpkin butter too!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9×13 baking dish. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and add to dry ingredients. With a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut the butter into the batter until the batter is in small crumbs. This takes a minute or two – don’t skip this step or the bars will not stay together once baked! Place half of the batter in the 9×13 pan and press down with your hands. Spread the preserves of choice over the “crust”, being sure to carefully get preserves in every bite! Cover the preserves with the other half of the batter. Press it down with your hands. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

I dare ya to let them cool before digging in! But you should if you want them to cut nicely and come out of the pan in the shape of a bar. Just saying.

Enjoy!