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My Oatmeal Breakfast Bars is So Good!
This oatmeal breakfast bars recipe is basically like oatmeal in bar form for on-the-go breakfast and snacking. They are more substantial and healthier than a packaged breakfast bar, and can be easily customized with different add-ins based on preferences. Made with staple pantry items, these are easy-to-make and can be stored for a few days or frozen for months!
They remind me of Bobo’s Oat Bars so the texture of them is not as moist as my peanut butter banana baked oatmeal but I prefer them that way because they keep your fingers clean and dry and can be eaten just like a granola bar on-to-go for a more convenient snack. Once you make them, you’ll love meal prepping them and keeping them in your fridge.
Ingredient Notes
- Rolled oats: Use old-fashioned rolled oats for the recipe. Steel cut oats won’t cook fast enough and quick oats will result is a more dry texture. Make the recipe gluten-free by using certified gluten-free rolled oats.
- Sugar: To sweeten the oatmeal bars, I use granulated sugar or cane sugar. I haven’t tried it with liquid sweetener but if you use it, you may need to add ¼ cup extra oats. You can also make it sugar-free by using ½ a cup of mashed banana instead or you can reduce the sugar by ¼ cup if you’d like.
- Cinnamon, baking powder and salt: For taste and leavening, but feel free to switch out the cinnamon to nutmeg, ginger or cardamom.
- Eggs: Replace the egg with a flax egg to make the recipe vegan.
- Milk: I use almond milk to keep the oatmeal bars recipe dairy-free, but any milk works.
- Applesauce: I use applesauce to add more sweetness to the recipe and moisture. You can replace it with mashed banana or even use melted butter or avocado oil instead.
- Vanilla extract: To enhance the flavor and add moisture, but you can leave it out.
- Add-ins: I love the combination of cranberries and walnuts with oatmeal bars. You can swap with other nuts, chocolates or seeds.
Popular Additions
- Add frozen fruit: Frozen fruit like blueberries or cranberries work great in this recipe in addition to the dried fruit or to replace it. You can add an extra ¼ cup and there’s no need to thaw the fruit in advance.
- Drizzle melted chocolate on top: My kids will also vote for chocolate on top of oatmeal whether in chocolate chips form or drizzled on top. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons with a fork after the oatmeal breakfast bars are baked and completely cooled.
- Fold in protein powder: This will add a protein boost to the recipe. Add ¼ cup and add and extra 2 tablespoons of almond milk so they don’t come out too dry.
How to Make Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Recipe Video Tutorial
Note: I recently retested this in my new oven, and decided to shorten the cooking time to 25-30 minutes. Cooking until 35 minutes may result in a more dry oatmeal bar.
My Best Oatmeal Breakfast Bars Tips
- Let ingredients sit to absorb moisture. This is key to making the oatmeal bars recipe successfully and ensuring that it holds together without crumbling. The mixture needs to soak before baking, or it will be not stick together.
- Use a larger piece of parchment paper than necessary. This will allow some of the paper to hang on the sides, making it easier to lift the bars out of the pan and slice them neatly. Plus easier clean-up!
- Double the recipe for a bigger crowd. The recipe doubles just fine. But if you double the recipe, use a larger baking dish and add 10 minutes to the baking time, or bake in two separate dishes.
Recipe Help & FAQs
The oatmeal bars are great for meal prepping. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Then you can can enjoy them cold, at room temperature or warmed if you prefer.
Yes, the oatmeal bars freeze really well. Allow the baked dish to cool completely, then slice into 16 bars and store in individual portions in freezer-safe bags or containers. Thaw in the fridge overnight before enjoying.
It’s likely you may not have let the batter sit before baking. I recommend 20 minutes, but even 10 minutes will help so that the oats can absorb some liquid. Also, make sure you did not use quick oats, which are not the same as rolled oats and will result in a more dry texture.
More Oat Recipes:
- How to make oatmeal
- Baked Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal
- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cups
- Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal
- Baked Blueberry Oatmeal
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
- Pecan Date Bars
- Vegan Protein Bars
- Caramel Apple Granola Bars
- Healthy Honey Oat Granola Bars
If you try this Oatmeal Breakfast Bars recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!
Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup almond milk
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup walnuts finely chopped
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper hanging over the edge.
- In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients including the rolled oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
- In another large bowl, combine the wet ingredients including the eggs, milk, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Transfer the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and set aside until flavors blend, about 20 minutes.
- Fold in the walnuts and cranberries, and spread combined mixture into prepared square pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until edges are golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool on wire rack for 5 minutes before slicing. Cut into 16 bars.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
These were delicious! I “veganized” them with 1/2 cup of Just Egg for the eggs. We’re watching our sugars, so I subbed 2 tablespoons maple syrup for the sugar and used reduced-sugar cranberries. Just perfect and a big hit with the family, especially heated a few seconds in the microwave the next day. Thanks for a great recipe!
Aww, so glad to hear they were a hit with your family!! Love the tweaks you made. Thank you, Christine!
Where is the ingredients list with amounts?
Hi there! You can find the full list of ingredients with the amounts at the bottom of the page (above the comments section) in the recipe card. You can also click on ‘jump to recipe’ to get there quickly. Hope that helps!
I made these bars just before going into a surgery that would require a 10-14 day recovery time. It hit the spot in terms of a perfect high fiber delicious breakfast that I could pull out of the freezer each morning.
Have you ever made it with steel cut oats? And if so, do you have any tips or tweaks to the recipe?
So happy you like the recipe, Barbara! Unfortunately, steel cut oats don’t work well with this recipe because they don’t cook fast enough. I do have a Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal recipe you may enjoy, though. I hope your recovery is going well!!
I haven’t made this recipe yet, however, I prefer to use oat milk in my dishes. Will this be a good alternative for the almond milk?
Yes, oat milk will work. Enjoy!
This is exactly like baked oatmeal. I must say I picked this recipe because of the high ratings but I but was disappointed when they came out looking and tasting like baked oatmeal. They are fine just not what I was looking for.
So sorry the recipe didn’t turn out how you were expecting, Bonnie. These bars are very similar to my baked oatmeal recipes but are less moist and hold their shape better. Perhaps you would like my Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars better?
We love them. My husband is on a heart healthy diet due to heart disease. We have grown tired of regular bowl of oatmeal. And I mean sick of it! These breakfast bars are the perfect solution to my dilemma. Now, we look forward to having oatmeal everyday. I can add more or less of other goodies in the recipe. My children love them as well and ask for them! Thank you so much for posting the recipe.
Aww thank you so much, Joann! That makes me really happy to hear. Glad your family loves the recipe!!
Love these bars and they are great for our travel days! I have added the protein powder and a pinch of cardamon (I love to sneak it in wherever I can). I bake a double batch and freeze for an easy grab in the mornings! Thanks for this recipe!!
Love that you add cardamom and make your bars in bulk for days on the go! Thanks, Cynthia!!
It’s super delicious and easy to make with staple ingredients in the kitchen. All of my family members loved this recipe.
Yay, so glad you all loved the bars!! Thank you, Kitty!
Hmm these did not turn out very good. I followed the recipe and these came out very dry after baking, plus even after stored they turned even more dry. I think adding 2 eggs was overkill. They have such a bad texture after baking, I wouldn’t make these again tbh.
Oh no! Sorry to hear you didn’t like the recipe, but I appreciate the feedback. Confirming you followed the recipe exactly with no alterations? And how did you store the bars?
I just used bananas instead of the applesauce and stored the bars in an airtight container after leaving them out overnight. They just tasted awful after baking even. Too dry and very eggy.
Thanks so much for the feedback, Mary. I really appreciate you coming back to share more info!
Too much sugar
Sorry to hear you found them too sweet, Mel. You can omit the sugar entirely next time to adjust the sweetness to your liking.
Hello, I would love to try this recipe but I don’t have applesauce at hand. Can I replace it with anything else? Thank you in advance.
You can replace the applesauce with another pureed fruit like pumpkin puree, mashed banana, or pureed pear. Hope that helps!