Description
Craving a healthy snack? Try these delicious Irresistible Banana Oatmeal Bars for Healthy Snacking today!
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 medium ripe bananas (about 1½ cups mashed)
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup quick oats (for texture variation)
- ⅓ cup honey or maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted (or butter)
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips or chunks (optional)
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed (for added nutrition)
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Step 1: Prepare Your Kitchen Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line an 8×8 or 9×9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the sides for easy removal. Lightly spray the parchment with cooking oil to prevent any sticking.
- Step 2: Mash Your Bananas In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mash your ripe bananas with a fork until mostly smooth with just a few small chunks remaining. This texture variation will ensure your **Banana Oatmeal Bars** have pockets of intense banana flavor throughout.
- Step 3: Add Wet Ingredients To your mashed bananas, add the melted coconut oil, honey or maple syrup, egg, and vanilla extract. Whisk everything together until well combined and smooth. The mixture should look somewhat glossy and well-incorporated.
- Step 4: Incorporate Dry Ingredients Add both types of oats, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, ground flaxseed, and chia seeds (if using) to the wet mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until everything is evenly moistened. The mixture will be thick but still somewhat wet.
- Step 5: Add Mix-ins Gently fold in your optional ingredients like chopped walnuts and chocolate chips, distributing them evenly throughout the mixture. Reserve a small handful to sprinkle on top if desired.
- Step 6: Bake to Perfection Transfer the mixture to your prepared baking pan, spreading it evenly with a spatula and pressing it lightly to compact. Sprinkle any reserved mix-ins on top. Bake for 25-30 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 completely in the pan set on a wire rack before lifting them out using the parchment paper overhang. For clean cuts, refrigerate for 30 minutes before slicing into 12-16 squares, 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