These soft and chewy Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars are loaded with wholesome ingredients and are naturally sweetened with maple syrup and bananas. They're packed with fiber and perfect for a quick breakfast or snack.
Raise your hand if when it gets to the end of the week, you always end up with a bunch of ripe bananas sitting on your kitchen counter? I don't know about you but I absolutely hate wasting food! So instead of using them in a banana bread recipe, I decided to make some delicious peanut butter banana oatmeal bars!
There's only nine wholesome ingredients in this bar recipe. They're almost as good as these strawberry banana oatmeal bars or my chai spiced vegan oatmeal bars and unlike the packaged bars from the store, these bars don't have any preservatives or junk in them.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Treat yourself to a batch of these homemade oatmeal banana peanut butter bars. You'll love these bars because they're made with wholesome, healthy ingredients and packed with potassium. These bars are perfect for breakfast, as a snack or you can have one as a post-workout recovery snack.
Benefits of Oatmeal
Oats have numerous health benefits and have become a popular breakfast option for many people. Some may argue that eating oatmeal is just as bad as eating cereal in that it lacks nutritional value to be considered a healthy breakfast.
Oatmeal can provide many benefits including lowering cholesterol and improving blood sugar regulation. Also, since oats are high in fiber it helps keep you full between meals and provides plenty of whole grains, protein, antioxidants and more.
Equipment You'll Need
Here is some equipment suggestions to help you make the
- Baking Dish - 8x8 square, prepared with parchment paper
- Mixing Bowl - to mix all of the ingredients in
- Large Spoon - or spatula to mix all of the ingredients with
- Measuring Equipment - teaspoon, tablespoon, 1 measuring cup
Ingredients You'll Need
There's only nine wholesome ingredients in these oatmeal banana peanut butter bars. Here is what you need:
- Bananas - Duh!! This recipe uses 3 ripe bananas. The good news is they are not required to be super ripe for this recipe. I used bananas that were soft and had some brown spots on them and they still worked just fine.
- Rolled Oats - use rolled oats for oatmeal banana peanut butter bars. Instant oatmeal or steel cut oats will not work for this recipe. If you prefer, you can also use gluten-free oatmeal.
- Peanut Butter - If you're not a fan of peanut butter or are allergic or sensitive to it, another nut butter would probably work but I've only tested peanut butter.
- Maple Syrup - this makes the perfect sweetener in the oat bars. You can substitute with honey, agave syrup or date syrup.
- Egg - you only need 1 egg to help bind the ingredients all together
- Baking Soda - only ½ teaspoon is used in these peanut butter banana oat bars
- Vanilla - make sure to use real vanilla extract to help enhance all the flavors in the recipe, not imitation vanilla.
- Cinnamon - Cinnamon and peanut butter is just a combo I love.
- Chocolate Chips - and of course we can't forget the chocolate chips! You can use semi-chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips.
How to Make the Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars
The great thing about these banana granola bars is everything is mixed all in one-bowl and then transferred to a baking dish to bake. In minutes, you can pop the pan and into the oven and then into your mouth!
- Mash the bananas in a large bowl.
- Stir in the rolled oats, peanut butter, maple syrup and egg until it is well combined.
- Add in the baking soda, vanilla extract, and ground cinnamon.
- Pour in the chocolate chips and mix it all together.
- Transfer the batter into the parchment lined baking dish and bake the bars for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick or knife is inserted in the middle and comes out clean.
- Let cool for 10 - 15 minutes before cutting them into bars.
How to Store the Oat Bars
To store the peanut butter oatmeal bars, layer them between waxed paper in an airtight container. They can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 - 5 days. You can eat them straight from the fridge or let them sit at room temperature before serving.
Substitutes and Variations
Here are a few substitutes and variations for the chocolate peanut butter oat bars in case you need or want to use alternative ingredients.
- Nuts - Want to add in a little added protein, you can substitute the chocolate chips with some walnuts or pecans or whatever nuts you prefer. Or you can add ½ nuts and ½ chocolate chips and mix them together.
- Chocolates - Adding chocolate chips to these bars is optional. You can also skip the chocolate chips all together or substitute them with raisins or chopped nuts. But let me say, once you try them with the chocolate chips, it's hard to go back! You can use semi-chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips.
- Nut Butters - If you're not a fan of peanut butter or are allergic or sensitive to it, other nut butter would probably work although I've never tried it. You can try using almond butter, cashew butter or your favorite nut butter.
Recipe FAQ
If you use gluten-free rolled oats, these banana oatmeal bars can be gluten-free.
Oatmeal can provide many benefits including lowering cholesterol and improving blood sugar regulation. Also, since oats are high in fiber it helps keep you full between meals and provides plenty of whole grains, protein, antioxidants and more.
Oats have numerous health benefits and have become a popular breakfast option for many people. The oat bars eaten in moderation can make the perfect breakfast, snack or post-workout recovery snack.
Using a lunch size paper bag, place the banana(s) in the paper bag and roll it closed. You can keep the banana(s) in the bag for 1 to 2 days. After day 2 you can remove the banana(s) from the bag and they should be nice and ripe with brown spots.
You can use a toothpick or a knife and insert it in the middle of the pan to check to see if the bars are fully baked. If it comes out clean, then they are fully baked and ready to be removed from the oven.. If there is batter on the toothpick or knife, let the bars bake for about 5-10 more minutes.
More Recipes You May Like:
Blueberry Muffin Overnight Oats
Chai Spiced Vegan Oatmeal Bars
Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Bars
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
- 3 bananas ripe
- 1 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 375 degrees and line a 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper.
- Mash the bananas in a large bowl.
- Stir in the rolled oats, peanut butter, maple syrup and egg until it is well combined.
- Add in the baking soda, vanilla extract, and ground cinnamon.
- Pour in the chocolate chips and mix it all together.
- Transfer the batter into the parchment lined baking dish and bake the bars for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick or knife is inserted in the middle and comes out clean.
- Let cool for 10 - 15 minutes before cutting them into bars.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Although HalfPastHungry.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on which products you use, the brand that was purchased, or in other unforeseeable ways. HalfPastHungry.com will not be held liable for any reliance on given nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your physician first.
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