These soft, easy homemade Oatmeal Breakfast Bars are yummy, hearty, nutritious, and guaranteed to keep you powered for hours. They’re filling, kid-friendly, and packed with delicious ingredients like peanut butter, banana, and honey.
Email Me the Recipe!
From time to time, we'll send you Well Plated emails. You can unsubscribe anytime. Have an account? Log In.
These breakfast bars pack in serious satisfaction.
These oatmeal breakfast bars are one of those recipes I turn to consistently whenever I need to stock up on quick breakfast options for the week. It never lets me down!
- Go-To Recipe. These breakfast bars with oats are one of the very first recipes I ever posted on my site. Since then, many of you have told me how these bars (along with Healthy Oatmeal Cookies) have become a weekly staple in your homes (and your kids love them too!).
- Healthy and Hearty. Forget the cereal bars from the store! Just like my Healthy Granola Bars and Peanut Butter Protein Bars, these easy healthy oatmeal bars will help keep you full. With protein, fiber, and healthy fats, they satisfy for hours.
- Cozy Goodness. This soft-baked oatmeal breakfast bar recipe combines the three musketeers of breakfast flavors: peanut butter, banana, and oatmeal. It’s a trio that’s comforting, homey, and classic in the best possible way.
- EASY! This recipe is a one-bowl wonder and is so quick and easy, your littlest bakers can help.
5 Star Review
“I made these bars for breakfast every day last year!! They are amazing: keep me full all morning, lightly sweet.”
— Dawn —
Ingredients and Substitutions
You’ll find the full list of ingredients in the recipe card below, but here are some notes to keep in mind.
- Old Fashioned Oats. Makes these oatmeal breakfast bars wholesome, filling, and slightly chewy. For best results, do not swap for instant oats as this will impact the overall texture of the bars.
- Whole Wheat Flour. I will always take any opportunity to sneak in some whole grains into a recipe.
- Cinnamon. Warm, earthy cinnamon pairs perfectly with nutty oats, and creamy dreamy peanut butter.
- Banana. Adds moisture and naturally sweetens the bars (just like in Healthy Banana Bread).
- Honey. Helps bind the ingredients together, adds sweetness, and helps the bars caramelize and turn golden in the oven.
- Peanut Butter. Gives these oatmeal bars a subtle peanut butter flavor. Almond butter, sunflower seed butter (a nut-free option), or cashew butter may also be used.
- Applesauce. Another all-natural sweetener for these healthy oat bars that adds moisture and helps bind everything together. (It does the same thing for these Applesauce Muffins.)
- Milk. Helps bring everything together into a cohesive batter.
- Egg. Keeps these bars soft and tender.
- Vanilla. Just a kiss of pure vanilla extract to make the bars taste exquisite.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Combine the Dry Ingredients (photo 1). Don’t forget to preheat your oven.
Stir the Wet Ingredients Together (photo 2). Make sure this bowl is big enough for both the wet and dry ingredients.
Add the Dry Ingredients to the Wet (photo 3). Stir to combine. Fold in the banana.
Prepare for Baking (photo 4). Pour the batter into your baking pan.
Bake the Bars (photo 5). Bake oatmeal breakfast bars at 375 degrees F for 35 minutes. Cut into bars. ENJOY!
What to Serve with Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Sometimes a breakfast bar is enough for breakfast, and other days you need more! Here are some ideas of what pairs well with these bars:
- Fruit. Pair these oatmeal bars with your favorite fresh fruit or Fruit Salad.
- Smoothie. For a healthy breakfast, serve oatmeal bars with a Green Smoothie, Avocado Smoothie, or Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie.
- Chia Pudding. Chia Seed Pudding or Coconut Chia Pudding would be tasty with these bars.
Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Video
Email Me the Recipe!
From time to time, we’ll send you Well Plated emails. You can unsubscribe anytime. Have an account? Log In.
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups milk I used unsweetened vanilla almond, but any kind will do nicely
- 3 tablespoons honey (or more if a sweeter bar is preferred)
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter creamy or crunchy—I used natural creamy
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 medium banana quartered and diced
Instructions
- Place rack in the center preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly coat an 8×8 inch square pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the oats, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, combine the milk, applesauce, egg, honey, peanut butter, and vanilla.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and stir to combine. The batter will be very wet.
- Fold in the diced banana, then pour into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until thickened and golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool, cut into bars, and serve.
Notes
- TO STORE: Once cooled, bars can be wrapped individually in plastic and kept in the refrigerator for 5 days.
- TO FREEZE: Freeze the bars in a freezer-safe ziptop bag for up to 4 months. Let thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
- BIGGER BATCH: You may increase the ingredient quantities by 1.5 and bake in a 9×13 inch pan for 25-30 minutes to yield more bars.
Respectfully, these have absolutely 0 flavor whatsoever. They are plenty moist but with no flavor it’s like eating damp cardboard.
I’m sorry to hear the recipe wasn’t to your taste. I know it’s disappointing to try a new recipe and not enjoy it. I (and many other readers) have enjoyed it, so I really wish they would’ve been a hit for you too!
It does not have a recipe.
Hi Archie, I’m so confused, because I see it on my end! The recipe is in the recipe card, right above the area where you commented. You can also click the “jump to recipe” button at the top of the screen to help get you there faster. Could you please check again!
Peanut butter, bananas and honey! I’ve always loved that combination, these bars are delicious.
I added some mini dark chocolate chips (my guilty pleasure). I have been having them as a kid day snack and they really hit the spot.
So good! Thanks Jessica!
Hello Erin,
These breakfast bars sound delicious. If I wanted to add mini chocolate chips and dried cranberries, how much is a good amount? Also, have you tried date sugar? I’m not sure if this type of sweetener will be a healthier option to try in desserts. Thank you for your recipes I have tried a couple and they’re very good.
Hi Lupe, maybe 1/4 cup each. I’ve never tried date sugar, and I’m not sure it would be sticky enough. You could try a mix of half maple syrup and half date sugar. If they don’t hold together, try adding more peanut butter. I’d love to hear how your experiment goes!
I was looking for a quick, portable, healthy, low sugar breakfast and this is it. They are quite filling! I made it as written with mix ins of 1/4 c chopped walnuts (because banana nut!) The flavor improves the next day, as you said, but it was hard to wait till they cooled to sample one! I think next time (and there will definitely be one!) I will add a handful of raisins. IMHO that would make them absolutely perfect. Love your recipes and am also a big fan of the banana nut and blueberry muffins! Thanks for a tasty recipe for exactly what I was looking for!!
So glad you enjoyed them, Patricia!
Oh man I was hoping these would be good but texturally they were just not ok for me. I used to eat commercially produced soft baked breakfast bars many years ago and was hoping this would be a healthier alternative but I could not get past the texture. The flavor seemed lacking as well but I imagine I could’ve played with that a bit to better suit my taste. Wanted to share for others with a texture aversion because I hadn’t seen it mentioned yet.
I’m sorry to hear the recipe wasn’t to your taste, Rachel. I know it’s disappointing to try a new recipe and not enjoy it. I (and many other readers) have enjoyed it, so I really wish they would’ve been a hit for you too!
My daughter and I love these! I add pecans, toasted coconut, mini chocolate chips and a scoop of protein powder in the batter. Then I bake them in mini muffin pans. 3 mini muffins warmed up with a smear of peanut butter can keep me full for hours! Also love that I can freeze some for later. Great recipe!!
So glad to hear that it worked well for you, Liz! Thank you!
These turned out great even though I didn’t check that I had all the ingredients and had to substitute a couple of ingredients. I had to add 1/2 of coconut milk because I by that much of soy milk, maple syrup instead of honey and flax seeds for the egg. With all these substitutions and it still came out tasty, it’s a win. Thank you for the recipe ❤️
Great to hear! Thank you!