These Oatmeal Breakfast Bars are a great way to start your day! They are loaded with good-for-you ingredients and are chewy and delicious. Skip the store bought granola bars and make your own easy breakfast bars right at home.
If you love this recipe, you’ll be so excited to try my Easy Crepes, Oatmeal Cake with Vanilla Sauce, Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, and Iced Oatmeal Cookies.
Why This Recipe Works
Perfect for On the Go: These easy oatmeal breakfast bars are perfect for on the go breakfast or snacking! If you are in a hurry in the mornings and need something filling and healthy, then these bars are perfect for you. They are definitely my new go-to whenever I need something quick!
Good for You: Oatmeal breakfast bars use whole, good-for-you ingredients that will fill you up! It’s important for me and my family to have good snacks to go to when we are in between meals. I love oatmeal and these bars are like chewy oatmeal in bar form! Plus, these are gluten-free friendly if you get certified gluten-free oats!
So Simple: Luckily, the best thing about these breakfast bars is they are super easy to make! You’ll just mix together all of the ingredients and bake them to make sure they stick together. That’s it! Then you can wrap them individually for easy on the go access.
Ingredients
Oatmeal breakfast bars use whole ingredients for the best breakfast! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Ripe Bananas: You’ll want to use some ripe bananas here so that they are easy to smash. If your bananas are super ripe, pop them in the microwave for a few seconds after peeling them.
- Rolled Oats: Regular, rolled oats work well here. I would avoid using the quick oats since these are baked.
- Craisins: Your favorite kind of dried fruit will work here. Try raisins, craisins, blueberries, or any other berry!
- Pumpkin Seeds: I like adding pumpkin seeds but any seed or nut will work well!
- Maple Syrup: Maple syrup helps the mixture stick together. If you don’t have maple syrup, you can use honey instead!
- Coconut Oil: Coconut oil adds moisture and also helps the bars stick together.
- Vanilla: Vanilla is added for extra flavor!
- Orange Zest: Orange zest adds a punch of flavor!
- Cinnamon: Add some cinnamon for a classic oatmeal taste.
Here’s How to Make It
Step by Step Instructions
- Preheat & Prep: Preheat the oven to 320 degrees and line a 6 x 6 inch tin with baking parchment. (not pictured)
- Mix Ingredients: In a large bowl, mash the bananas until smooth before stirring in the rest of the ingredients and a generous pinch of sea salt until everything is combined. (photos 1-3)
- Bake: Spoon the mixture into the prepared tray and smooth the top. Bake for 30 minutes until the bars have set and the top is golden. (photo 4)
- Cool & Slice: Allow to cool before slicing into 9 breakfast bars. (photos 5)
Expert Tips
- Change up the mix-ins depending on what you have on hand! You can use any dried fruit and any nut or seed in these breakfast bars. You can try using lemon zest instead of orange zest and honey instead of maple syrup! For a sweeter oatmeal breakfast bar, throw in some mini chocolate chips!
- Double the recipe in order to have enough bars for the whole family for a few days!
- If your bananas are not ripe, peel them and pop them into the microwave for 20 seconds!
- Need more protein? Throw in some peanut butter or even some vanilla protein powder!
Frequently Asked Questions
Definitely! These bars are great for freezing. You can wrap each bar individually for easy access to bars, or you can freeze them in a ziplock back with parchment paper separating the bars. Thaw in the fridge overnight when you are ready for them!
Store the bars in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days. You can store them in the fridge for up to one week.
More Easy Breakfast Recipes
- Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
- Baked Croissant Breakfast Sandwiches
- No Bake Chewy Granola Bars
- Bran Muffins
- Banana Nut Smoothie Bowl
Did you make this recipe? FANTASTIC. Please rate the recipe below and be sure to tag me on social when you share a photo of your CDLC creation, I love to see what you’re up to in the kitchen!
Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Ingredients
- 3 ripe bananas - about 10 oz
- 2 cups rolled oats
- ¾ cups craisins
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds or almond slivers
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp orange zest - about 1/2 small orange
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- flaky sea salt - to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 320 and line a 6 x 6 inch tin with baking parchment.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas until smooth before stirring in the rest of the ingredients and a generous pinch of sea salt until everything is combined.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared tray and smooth the top. Bake for 30 minutes until the bars have set and the top is golden.
- Allow to cool before slicing into 9 breakfast bars.
Notes
- These will keep on the counter in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- The mix-ins can be changed depending on your mood and what you have on hand. Any dried, chopped fruit will work, as well as most nuts or seeds. Honey can be substituted for maple syrup in a pinch.
These look excellent. I’m wondering if they freeze well? Many thanks,
Definitely! These bars are great for freezing. You can wrap each bar individually for easy access to bars, or you can freeze them in a ziplock back with parchment paper separating the bars. Thaw in the fridge overnight when you are ready for them!
I dislike and won’t eat bananas. What else could be substituted in its place?
You can try pumpkin puree (or canned pumpkin) or applesauce
Just made these and they came out great! Thank you for sharing! I didn’t have pumpkin seeds so used chopped walnuts instead. Worked great.
Thank you for your feedback! I’m glad you were able to enjoy them 🙂
Where’s the Easy Taco Casserole? We keep being sent to the Oatmeal Bars.
I am so sorry about my first email, it had the wrong link. However, a second email was sent out with the correct link. If the link still isn’t working you can typ in Easy Taco Casserole in the search bar and it will come up.
I made this exactly as written with the exception of adding flax seeds, because, why not? My petitas were already salted so I didn’t add any salt to the batter. These were great! My children and husband finished them in a day. Next time I will double the recipe. This is a keeper.