Description
Looking for a healthy snack? Try these delicious Banana Oatmeal Bars recipe today! Discover a guilt-free treat for your cravings.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 medium very ripe bananas (approximately 1½ cups mashed)
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (180g)
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup or honey (60ml)
- ½ cup creamy almond or peanut butter (125g)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips or chopped nuts (optional) (80g)
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed (optional, for added nutrition)
- Cooking spray or parchment paper for the baking dish
Instructions
- Step 1: Prepare Your Equipment Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line an 8×8-inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the sides for easy removal, or spray with cooking spray. This preparation ensures your Banana Oatmeal Bars won’t stick to the pan and makes cleanup significantly easier.
- Step 2: Mash Those Bananas In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mash your ripe bananas using a fork or potato masher until mostly smooth with just a few small chunks remaining. The riper your bananas, the sweeter your bars will be without needing additional sweeteners. This should yield approximately 1½ cups of mashed banana.
- Step 3: Combine Wet Ingredients Add the maple syrup (or honey), almond butter, egg, and vanilla extract to the mashed bananas. Whisk everything together until the mixture is smooth and well-combined. Don’t worry if your almond butter is a little clumpy at first – continued mixing will incorporate it fully.
- Step 4: Add Dry Ingredients Sprinkle the oats, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and ground flaxseed (if using) over the wet mixture. Gently fold everything together until just combined. Remember that overmixing can make your bars tough, so use a light hand here.
- Step 5: Add Mix-ins If you’re using chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or other add-ins, fold them in now. For an interesting variation, reserve a small handful to sprinkle on top of the bars before baking for a more attractive presentation.
- Step 6: Bake to Perfection Transfer the mixture to your prepared baking dish and use a spatula to spread it evenly into the corners, smoothing the top. Bake for 22-25 minutes until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs.
- Step 7: Cool and Cut Allow the Banana Oatmeal Bars to cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes, then use the parchment paper overhang to lift them out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. For the cleanest cuts, wait until completely cool before slicing into 16 squares or 12 bars, depending on your preferred serving size.
Notes
Fresh ingredients will always yield the best flavor results.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 300
- Sugar: 5g
- Sodium: 400mg
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 40g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 15g
- Cholesterol: 50mg