Banana oatmeal bars are a one-bowl baked snack that holds together without flour or eggs. Mashed ripe bananas, nut butter, rolled oats, cinnamon, vanilla, maple syrup, chocolate chips, and salt combined and pressed into a nine by nine pan, baked eighteen to twenty minutes until the edges are golden and the bars are set. Sixteen bars from one pan at 173 calories each. The banana and nut butter are the binders that hold everything together; no additional binding agent is needed if the bananas are ripe enough and the mixture is pressed firmly and evenly.

Ripe bananas are the ingredient that makes this recipe work. Under-ripe bananas are starchy and don’t mash into the cohesive paste that binds the oats. Overripe bananas, the ones with a lot of brown spots or nearly black skins, are the ones to use here: they mash smoothly, release more natural sugar, and bind more effectively. One and a half cups of mashed banana is approximately three medium bananas.

One-bowl assembly

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Mash the bananas in a large bowl until smooth with very few lumps. Add the nut butter, rolled oats, cinnamon, vanilla, maple syrup, and salt and mix until everything is evenly combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. The mixture will be thick and sticky, closer to a very dense batter than a dough. Transfer to a parchment-lined nine by nine pan and press into a flat, even layer using your hands or a spatula. Scatter additional chocolate chips on top if desired before baking.

Any nut butter works: peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter for a nut-free version. Each has a slightly different flavor that comes through in the finished bar. Peanut butter produces the most pronounced flavor; almond butter is milder; sunflower seed butter is slightly earthier. The quantity stays the same regardless of which you use.

Baking and the cooling requirement

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for eighteen to twenty minutes until the edges are golden and the surface looks set rather than wet. The bars will feel soft when they come out of the oven; this is correct. They firm up significantly as they cool. Cutting them warm produces bars that fall apart rather than slicing cleanly, because the banana and nut butter binding hasn’t fully set. Cool completely to room temperature, or refrigerate for thirty minutes to speed this up, before cutting.

The parchment liner is what allows the cooled bars to be lifted cleanly from the pan before cutting. Without it, the bars stick to the pan and cutting them in the pan produces ragged pieces rather than clean squares.

A pantry snack that earns its place

Banana oatmeal bars occupy a category of recipe that’s genuinely useful rather than just theoretically healthy: they take ten minutes to assemble, use ingredients most people have on hand, provide real fiber and protein per bar from the oats and nut butter, and keep for several days without drying out the way most baked goods do because the banana moisture stabilizes them. The chocolate chips are what make them feel like a treat rather than a nutrition obligation. Serves 16. Nutrition per bar: 173 calories, 23g carbohydrates, 4g protein, 8g fat, 3g fiber.

Storage and variations

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, refrigerated for up to a week, or frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze, cut into bars, wrap individually, and freeze; thaw at room temperature for an hour or microwave for 30 seconds. Raisins, chopped walnuts, or dried cranberries can replace or supplement the chocolate chips. A tablespoon of chia seeds or ground flax adds fiber without changing the method.

Print Recipe

Quick

Banana Oatmeal Bars

Author: Yas Sine Cooking Method: Baking Cuisine: American Courses: Breakfast Recipes, Snack Recipe Keys: B Banana M Make-Ahead N No Flour S Snack Prep

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 10 mins Cook Time 20 mins Rest Time 30 mins Total Time 1 hr

Cooking Temp: 350  C Servings: 16 Calories: 173

Best Season: Available

Dietary:

G Gluten Free V Vegan V Vegetarian

Description

No-flour banana oatmeal bars with nut butter, rolled oats, and chocolate chips. One bowl, 28 minutes. Makes 16 bars at 173 calories each.

Ingredients

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Servings

• 1 ¹⁄₂ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas)
• ¹⁄₂ cup nut butter (peanut almond or sunflower seed butter)
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 cup chocolate chips (plus more for topping)
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Mash the bananas in a large bowl until smooth. Add the nut butter, rolled oats, cinnamon, vanilla, maple syrup, and salt. Mix until fully combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Transfer to the prepared pan and press firmly into a flat, even layer. Add extra chocolate chips on top if desired.
4. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until the edges are golden and the surface looks set.
5. Cool completely before cutting. Lift the parchment out of the pan and cut into 16 bars..

Equipment

• 9×9-inch baking pan

• Parchment paper

• Large mixing bowl

• Fork or potato masher

Note

Use very ripe bananas. Cool completely before cutting; warm bars fall apart. Lift parchment from pan before slicing. Nutrition per bar (serves 16): 173 calories, 23g carbohydrates, 4g protein, 8g fat, 2g saturated fat, 82mg sodium, 180mg potassium, 3g fiber, 12g sugar, 52mg calcium, 1mg iron.

Keywords: banana oatmeal bars, banana oat bars, no flour banana bars, healthy oatmeal bars

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