Rickety Uncle (extremely simple oat bars)

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Daizymae

Washing Up
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
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268
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Canada
Hi. Has anyone here ever made Rickety Uncle? I found this in an older cookbook today and made it. It is a socalled vintage or antique recipe. It has only 4 ingredients: 2 c. rolled oats/1 c. brown sugar/1/2 c. saturated fat; vanilla. I saw one version that called for Baking Soda.

You make these bars by mixing these 4 ingredients by hand, pressing the mixture into a shallow baking dish (I used 8X8 Pyrex), and baking at "high" temperature (they are not specific) for c. 15 minutes. You cut them while warm, as they harden quickly and stick to the pan. They are unbelievably tasty. :chef:

So, my question is: I KNOW the bars are supposed to fall apart to some degree - but they fall apart too much and I want to make them stick together better. Does anyone have any advice for me as to how I could accomplish this without getting too complicated or changing this into something it wasn't meant to be, like a flour-based bar?

Many thanx!!! :)
 
Maybe honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar instead of or in addition to sugar? Never heard of Rickety Uncle, but I love the name!
 
Indeed, I was thinking that egg white might do the trick. I do not know if the yolk would do anything except maybe change the flavour too much. Thanks
 
I would try whizzing a half cup of the oats in a blender or food processor. If that is not possible I would decrease the oats by half a cup and add a half cup of AP flour.

Good luck, they sound great!
 
Hello, Aunt Bea. Tks for your suggestions. I do suspect that at least some amt of wheat flour would be necessary to hold things together. That, or egg white. Dawg suggested a liquid sweetener. I am going to have to try these things, individually, to see what the main factor is, in making these bars a bit less rickety. But my goodness, once you serve them, do they disappear! :LOL:
 
Even if they crumble, use them as granola. The crumbles sound as if they would be yummy with milk as cereal, over ice cream or yogurt, eaten as is for a snack, baked into cookies or as the topping on fruit crumble!
 
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Indeed, all of the few Rickety Uncle recipes I've found say so. Hey, maybe this was originally an attempt to make granola? :LOL:
 
Hi. Has anyone here ever made Rickety Uncle?


Yes, I used to make it a lot. I got the recipe from my husband's cousin in Saskatchewan. I had never heard of "Rickety Uncle and assumed it was a Canadian treat like "Nanaimo Bars", or maybe a "prairie thing" like lunch at midnight!
I will dig my recipe out in the morning and see if there is anything different about it, I don't remember it being terribly crumbly. I do remember it being yummy!
 
Hi. Has anyone here ever made Rickety Uncle? I found this in an older cookbook today and made it. It is a socalled vintage or antique recipe. It has only 4 ingredients: 2 c. rolled oats/1 c. brown sugar/1/2 c. saturated fat; vanilla. I saw one version that called for Baking Soda.

You make these bars by mixing these 4 ingredients by hand, pressing the mixture into a shallow baking dish (I used 8X8 Pyrex), and baking at "high" temperature (they are not specific) for c. 15 minutes. You cut them while warm, as they harden quickly and stick to the pan. They are unbelievably tasty. :chef:

So, my question is: I KNOW the bars are supposed to fall apart to some degree - but they fall apart too much and I want to make them stick together better. Does anyone have any advice for me as to how I could accomplish this without getting too complicated or changing this into something it wasn't meant to be, like a flour-based bar?

Many thanx!!! :)
The recipe sounds a bit like what we call *flapjacks but our flapjacks have golden syrup in them as well as brown sugr. That must be what stops them falling a part. I wonder if the recipe has left the syrup out by mistake and no-one noticed in the proof-reading?

(*Am I right in thinking that your flapjacks are like pancakes?)
 
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Aha! Found it, it's a recipe from DH's cousin (same cousin that gave me the "overnight bun recipe).
I think the reason that these don't crumble badly is the addition of 1/4C flour.
Rickety Uncle

2C rolled oats
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C margarine (I likely used butter)
1tsp vanilla
1/4 C flour
Rub ingredients together with fingers,
Press into a 9X9 inch pan.
Bake 12-20 minutes at 350
Cut into squares.

I think I will bake some today! ?
 
Bingo! Someone had the brains to do something about the excessive crumblyness instead of just complaining (like I did). And passed it on. This is how cooking evolves!
 
Daizy, I think they must have thought of it a very long time ago, as my MIL born in 1908 also used this recipe according to DH. Perhaps when the recipe was put on the internet someone omitted the flour, who knows.?
 
Daizy, I think they must have thought of it a very long time ago, as my MIL born in 1908 also used this recipe according to DH. Perhaps when the recipe was put on the internet someone omitted the flour, who knows.��

Not necessarily. I found the recipe in an older amateur cookbook of mine (put together maybe 35 years ago by a church women's group) and it was worded almost the same as this photocopy on pinterest (scroll 1/2 way down). The only difference was that my cookbook recipe specified a longer baking time than 10 minutes. The ingredients were the same, tho.

Cookbook - Vintage Recipes on Pinterest

In any case, I presume when I make the recipe with a bit of flour, that will do the trick. I'll have to wait & see! :yum: Thanx to all here who responded to my request!

PS: So, did you bake some as you promised? Send it along by Air Mail!
 
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PS: So, did you bake some as you promised? Send it along by Air Mail!


Why yes I did! A word of caution here. Cut and remove from pan while warm (not hot). Do not allow to cool completely or you will need a jack hammer to get them out of the pan. This is experience talking. I had to use my small very sharp spatula to get them out. ImageUploadedByDiscuss Cooking1395595206.610195.jpgImageUploadedByDiscuss Cooking1395595227.686520.jpg
 
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So have you eaten them all yet? Heh, heh. Nice photos. Yes, I know, you must not wait too long to slice them and get them out of the cooking dish.
 
I was given the Rickety Uncle recipe by my aunt, who was closer to my age than to her sister's (who was my mother). I suspect that she got it from my grandmother, who probably got it from the United Farmers of Saskatchewan recipe book of 1940, which you can see here on page 47 (you will probably have to cut and paste):

http://www.culinaryhistorians.ca/resources/CanadianCookbooksOnline/United_Farmers_1940.pdf

I think the problem with crumbliness is a function of two things, the ratio of sugar to oats and the kinds of oats. The original recipe has a 2:1 ratio of oats to sugar, but the ones published recently have less sugar. I think the caramelized sugar is what holds the oats together, and so more sugar is helpful. As well, there is a question of which kinds of oats. I personally prefer the large-flake unprocessed oats, for flavor and texture, but it may be that quick oats will hold together better.

I personally have never found the need to use a binder like flower or eggs.

Ron
 
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