The thing I miss most about back to school time is back to school shopping with my mom. We would go to Kmart for new shoes and clothes, and Staples for new notebooks and pencils. In elementary school, the shoes were sneakers, the clothes were cartoon T-shirts, the notebooks were composition, and the pencils were #2.

My mom is such a dedicated parent that she actually used to label my siblings’ names and my name onto our No. 2 pencils. We didn’t have a label maker at the time, so she wrote our names out by hand on white pieces of paper, cut them to fit around our pencils, and used tape to attach each of them to our pencils. I can only hope to be as dedicated a parent when I do become one.

With the surge of food allergies in recent years, I wanted to make a back to school treat that is free of top 8 allergens. I had been wanting to try sunflower seed butter for a while, and luckily found an organic brand at my grocery store. The taste was different than I had expected. It is actually quite bitter, and I can’t see myself eating it in a sandwich by itself. To cut the bitterness, I added salt and *voila* it tasted like most other nut butters I’ve had.

My favorite vegan frosting uses cashews. Because I wanted this recipe to be nut-free, I decided to use just coconut oil, rather than a combination of both. Instead of powdered sugar, I used maple syrup as the sweetener. The frosting kind of felt oily and tasted very coconut-y, so I added some sunflower butter to give it more of a bite. Sunflower butter is dark, and will affect the frosting color, but you can add more of it to cut the oiliness of the coconut oil if you don’t mind the color change. The decoration could not be easier, just two rectangles for the pencil body and eraser, and a small triangle for the pencil tip. Just in time for back to school!

Pencil Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

By Tiffany Makes

Here is a “back to school” food idea that teachers and students will love. This recipe is for allergy-friendly raspberry oatmeal bars shaped like pencils. The oatmeal bars are made with oats, dates, sunflower seed butter, and raspberry jam. The frosting is made with coconut oil and maple syrup, then dyed yellow and pink using mango puree and strawberry puree, respectively.

Yield: 12 pencil bars

Prep time:

30 mins

Cook time:

0 mins

Idle time:

15 mins

Total time:

45 mins

Ingredients

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

• 1½ cup rolled oats
• 1 cup or 15 Medjool dates – pitted
• ½ cup sunflower seed butter
• 1 or 2 pinches of salt
• ½ cup raspberry jam

Coconut Frosting

• ½ cup coconut oil – softened
• 6 tsp (2 US tbsp) maple syrup
• 1 tsp sunflower seed butter
• ¼ tsp vanilla

Pencil Decoration

• 6 tsp (2 US tbsp) mango puree
• 6 tsp (2 US tbsp) strawberry puree
• 3 tsp chocolate chips – melted

Instructions

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

Pulse oats in a high speed blender or food processor into oat flour. Remove the oat flour from the blender.
Put the dates, sunflower seed butter, and salt into blender/food processor and pulse until combined.
Add the oat flour back into the blender/food processor and pulse until combined.
Press and flatten the oatmeal bar mix onto a 13 x 9 inch (32 x 22 cm) baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Spread the jam on top of the oatmeal bar.
Refrigerate the raspberry oatmeal bar for 15 minutes or until the jam is no longer sticky.
Cut the bar in half lengthwise using a serrated knife. Place one half on top of the other so that the raspberry is sandwiched between the oatmeal bars.
Trim off the edges to make a perfect rectangle, then cut into desired shapes. For pencils, cut bars 1 inch (2.5 cm) in width. Cut off two adjacent corners to make the pencil point.
Store the raspberry oatmeal bars in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Coconut Frosting

Place all ingredients into a large bowl.
Use an electric mixer to whip until creamy.
Store the frosting in the refrigerator until ready to use. When ready to use, let the frosting soften slightly at room temperature and re-whip.

Pencil Decoration

Pencil Body

Filter the mango puree through a fine mesh sieve.
Mix the mango puree with ¼ cup of frosting using an electric mixer. (Optional: Add 1 or 2 pinches of turmeric for a more vibrant yellow).
Put the mango frosting into a piping bag. Pipe a long rectangle onto the raspberry oatmeal bar for the pencil body.
Use the back of a warmed spoon or the warmth from your finger to smooth the frosting.

Pencil Eraser

Filter the strawberry puree through a fine mesh sieve.
Mix the strawberry puree with ¼ cup of frosting using an electric mixer.
Put the strawberry frosting into a piping bag. Pipe a short rectangle onto the raspberry oatmeal bar for the pencil eraser.
Use the back of a warmed spoon or the warmth from your finger to smooth the frosting.

Pencil Lead

Spread the tiniest amount of melted chocolate at the tip for a pencil point.
Enjoy immediately or store the raspberry oatmeal bars in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Notes

1. Total recipe time includes 10 minute prep time for decorating the pencil bars.
2. The salt is used to cut the bitterness of the sunflower seed butter. If the mix is still bitter, add another pinch of salt.
3. If coconut oil is melted due to warm weather, place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or freezer for 10 to partially solidify.
4. The coconut frosting is temperature sensitive. Store the coconut frosting in the refrigerator until ready to use. Refrigerate the frosting for a few minutes if it starts to turn “liquidy” when piping. If cashew allergies aren’t a concern, try my vegan frosting made from cashews, coconut oil, and maple syrup.