Vegan Banana Oatmeal Bars
These baked vegan banana oatmeal bars are made with simple, wholesome ingredients and are easy to whip up in about 30 minutes.
If you’re looking for a simple baked oat bar that works for breakfast, snack time or dessert, these banana oat bars are perfect! They have the yummiest texture and flavour and are super easy to make with basic ingredients.
Skip the chocolate if you’d prefer to keep them on the healthier side, or add it for a nice little treat and to make them more dessert-like. Either way, they’re delicious!
Why Make this Recipe
- Quick and Easy! All you need is a few minutes of prep and 30 minutes of baking time
- Allergy-friendly. These bars are gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free (yep, vegan too!).
- Healthy or decadent. Skip the chocolate topping for a healthier, lower-sugar recipe or add it to make these a real treat.
- Low-calorie. Including the chocolate topping, each bar is just 120 calories.
What You’ll Need
- Oats. Use rolled oats, quick oats or large flake oats.
- Ground flaxseed. The flax helps hold everything together and acts somewhat like an egg, it also adds a little boost of nutrition.
- Coconut. Use fine or medium unsweetened shredded coconut, it may be labeled desiccated coconut (you can use sweetened but keep in mind it has added sugar).
- Plant-based milk. any kind of plant-based milk such as almond, oat or cashew works, just make sure you enjoy the flavor of it before using in the recipe
- Banana. Use ripe or slightly overripe, spotty bananas.
- Dates. The chopped dates are optional but add delicious sweet bites of caramel throughout the bars.
Looking for an even simpler version of baked oats? Try this easy baked banana oatmeal.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1. Mix the dry ingredients. Mix up the oats, flax, coconut, salt and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
Step 2. Add the wet ingredients. Add the vanilla, almond milk, mashed banana, and chopped dates to the oat mixture.
Quick Tip: Before adding the banana, mash it in a bowl with a fork or immersion blender until it forms a chunky paste.
Step 3. Bake the bars. Press the batter into a lined baking pan and pop them in the oven for 30 minutes.
Quick Tip: For easy removal, line the pan with two strips of parchment paper or give it a quick spritz of non-stick cooking spray.
Step 3. Add chocolate. This step is optional but if you really want to take this up a notch, melt dairy-free chocolate chips or dark chocolate then spread it over the baked bars.
Notes
- Serving size. You can cut the bars into 8 large bars or 16 squares depending on how large you want each serving to be. If you make 16 servings, they’ll be 129 calories each including the chocolate…double that for larger bars.
- Try add-ins. These bars make a great base for add-ins like chocolate chunks, walnuts, or raisins.
- Coconut alternatives. The coconut can be omitted or substituted with hemp seeds.
Can you freeze banana oat bars?
Yes! You can freeze these bars up to 3 months in a good, freezer-safe container or bag. Reheat them in the microwave or thaw in the fridge.
Related Recipes
- No-Bake Oatmeal Bars
- Apple Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal
- Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Bars
- Simple Banana Oatmeal
- Vegan Baked Oatmeal Cups
Did you try this recipe?
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Vegan Banana Oatmeal Bars
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 16
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These soft and delicious, nut-free banana oatmeal bars are a great breakfast option for busy mornings. Easy to make, nut-free and topped with chocolate for a treat!
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups (275 g) rolled oats
- 2 tbsp (14 g) ground flax
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup (30 g) unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup (240 mL) almond milk or other plant-based milk of choice
- 2 medium-sized ripe bananas (220 g), mashed
- 5 medjool dates (68 g without pits), finely chopped, optional (see notes)
- 1–2 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp stevia or stevia drops, optional, to taste
- 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips for topping, optional
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the oats, flax, coconut, salt and cinnamon to a bowl and stir to combine.
- Mash the banana in a bowl using a fork or immersion blender until it forms a thick, chunky paste.
- Add the almond milk, vanilla, banana and dates to the oat mixture and stir into a thick batter.
- Taste the batter and if you feel like you want it a little sweeter, add 1-2 tbsp maple syrup or sweeten to taste with stevia.
- Line an approximately 7-8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper or give it a light spritz of non-stick cooking spray. Add the oat mixture to the pan and flatten out until even.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- If adding the chocolate topping, melt the chocolate chips stovetop in a double boiler or in the microwave in 15-seconds increments, stirring often. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the bars using a spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Let cool before slicing into 16 squares or 8 large bars.
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1-week or freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
It’s not necessary to use additional sweetener, especially if you plan on topping these with chocolate. If you’re not using a chocolate topping, taste the batter add your choice of sweetener to taste, if you’d like to sweeten it up a bit. The bars aren’t super sweet on their own but dates and banana do add sweetness throughout.
The medjool dates are optional but add a really nice, caramel flavor to the bars. They can be replaced with raisins or another add-in of choice, such as chocolate chips, nuts or seeds.
The coconut can be omitted or replaced with hemp seeds.
Keywords: banana oatmeal bars, banana oat bars, vegan baked banana oatmeal bars
UPDATE NOTE: This recipe was originally published on March 8, 2017. It was updated on April 12, 2020 with new photos and text.
Hubbie and I LOVED these! I added a little more cinnamon (just a little left in the jar, so added the remaining, and, instead of melting the chocolate separately, I just took out the cooked bars and put chocolate chips on top and put back in oven for a couple of minutes – they melted and I just spread the chocolate across the bars. Delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
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Thanks, Beth! Great idea for the chocolate!
Healthy and delicious!
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I made these yesterday and added some chopped walnuts and stirred the chocolate chips in the batter (because I was lazy and didn’t want to melt and spread ;p). My bf loves them! He ate three in one go!
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So happy you guys enjoyed them! Thanks for the review, Kari!