Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
5 Ingredient Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
How to Make Homemade Breakfast Bars with Oats
These healthy oatmeal breakfast bars have all the comfort of a hearty bowl of oatmeal, but in a convenient, on-the-go form! Deliciously easy NO BAKE homemade breakfast bars with just 5 main ingredients, perfect for meal prep.
Unlike most homemade breakfast bars, this healthy oatmeal breakfast bars recipe requires no baking at all. Simply heat your wet ingredients over the stove, toss in your dry ingredients and mix ins, and press into a pan to refrigerate.
Just like that, with only 5 minutes of prep and an hour in the fridge, you’ve got a batch of healthy breakfast bars ready for the entire week! An easy gluten free meal prep breakfast idea that’s totally customizable to your tastes and preferences.
Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars Recipe Ingredients
The prep work for this healthy oatmeal breakfast bars recipe will only take you about 5 minutes or so. Better yet, you can make these homemade breakfast bars with just 5 main ingredients! Take this base recipe and run with it—customize it with your favorite seasonings and mix-ins.
Since these quick and easy oatmeal breakfast bars aren’t going to be baked, we don’t need any eggs or other leavening agents. Which keeps our healthy breakfast bars vegan friendly! Here are the ingredients you’ll need, and some substitution ideas depending on your lifestyle:
Almond Butter
This sticky, creamy, salty element is essential to our healthy oatmeal breakfast bars recipe. Not only does it add some tasty flavor and chewiness, but it also helps to hold all of the ingredients together.
But, you could really use any nut butter that you like here—peanut or cashew butter would work just fine! If you wanted to keep your homemade breakfast bars nut free, you could also try sunflower seed butter. Your bars might not hold together as well since it tends to be a bit runnier in texture, but they’ll still taste delicious.
Honey, or Sticky Sweetener of Choice
In addition to the almond butter, we need a sticky sweetener to hold these no bake breakfast bars together. And to add some sweetness, of course!
I prefer to make my healthy breakfast bars with a natural sticky sweetener like honey, which is nice and viscous and rich in micronutrients. Or, you could also use maple syrup or agave to keep this recipe vegan.
Coconut Oil
This is an essential, non-negotiable wet ingredient for this healthy oatmeal breakfast bars recipe. Coconut oil is a liquid when heated, but solidifies when cools—so it helps to “glue” all of the ingredients together!
You could omit the coconut oil and just rely on the almond butter and sticky sweetener, but I can’t say for sure how your homemade breakfast bars would turn out. The only viable substitute for coconut oil that I can recommend would be butter.
Rolled Oats
If we’re making healthy breakfast bars with oats, naturally, we need some oats! No need to cook them or make any oatmeal—simply stir them into your melted wet ingredients.
You can make this oatmeal breakfast bars recipe with rolled or quick oats, but I prefer rolled. I think the texture turns out chewier and the bars hold together a bit better!
Almond Flour
Finally, the last of our five main ingredients is almond flour. It adds a bit of nutrition to our homemade breakfast bars in the form of healthy fats and protein, making them more filling and satisfying. And it makes for a nicer, chewier texture!
You can find pre-made almond flour in the baking aisle of your local grocery store, or you can save some money by making your own at home. Simply add almonds to a food processor or high-powered blender and pulverize into a flour!
Optional Seasonings
You could stop here with this healthy oatmeal breakfast bars recipe for the simplest preparation. Or, you’ve got the option to add some seasonings and mix-ins for flavor. It doesn’t need to be complicated!
For seasonings, I’m sticking with simple cinnamon for some natural sweetness and comfort, along with salt to enhance all of the other flavors in these bars. You may or may not need to add salt, depending on the saltiness of your nut butter. Add any other flavorings that you like!
Optional Mix Ins: 1 cup
For mix-ins, I went with shredded coconut, pumpkin seeds, and dried blueberries. They add some wholesome nutrients to my healthy breakfast bars AND some fun texture and flavors!
Of course, you don’t have to add any mix-ins at all. But, adding about 1 cup of your favorite nuts, seeds and/or dried fruit can really take your homemade breakfast bars to a new level of delicious!
How to Make Healthy Breakfast Bars with Oatmeal
To make healthy breakfast bars with oats, start by lining an 8×8-inch pan with parchment or foil. Trust me, it’ll be much easier to remove your bars if you line the pan!
Then, add your nut butter, sticky sweetener, and coconut oil to a pot over medium heat. Allow this to melt down and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring until the mixture is thick and integrated.
Next, fold in the oats, almond flour, any optional seasonings, and the mix-ins of your choosing. Make sure to stir well so all of your ingredients are well coated! Finally, press that mixture into your prepared pan and transfer to the fridge for an hour or more.
Once your healthy oatmeal breakfast bars are set and firm, you can lift the foil or parchment out of the pan. All that’s left to do is slice into as many bars as you’d like! I divided mine into 12 servings, but you could cut bigger or smaller bars to suit your needs.
Storing Homemade Breakfast Bars for Meal Prep
Storing these healthy breakfast bars couldn’t be easier. Once they’re sliced, transfer to the airtight container(s) of your choosing. If you’re stacking bars on top of each other, you can place cut sheets of parchment between to prevent sticking but it’s not necessary.
Once stored, simply place your homemade breakfast bars in the fridge so they’re ready to enjoy throughout the week! These will last for about 5 days stored in the fridge.
But, if you need to store them longer or there are more servings than you’ll eat in a week, it’s an easy fix. Just place however many bars you like into a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months! When ready to eat, allow frozen bars to thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.
See how these oatmeal breakfast bars are made in my Easy 1 Hour Meal Prep video!
Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Ingredients
Oatmeal Breakfast Bars Base
- ⅔ cup almond butter
- ½ cup honey, or maple syrup, or agave
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil
- 2 cup rolled oats
- ½ cup almond flour
Optional Seasonings
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt, depending on almond butter
Optional Mix Ins: 1 cup
- ⅓ cup shredded coconut
- ⅓ cup pumpkin seeds
- ⅓ cup dried blueberries
- whatever you like—dried fruit, nuts, etc.
Instructions
- Line an 8×8” pan with parchment or foil.
- In a pot over medium heat, add almond butter, honey and coconut oil. Simmer until thickened and integrated, 2-3 minutes.
- Fold in oats, almond flour, cinnamon, salt, and mix-ins of choice. (I used shredded coconut, pumpkin seeds, and dried blueberries!)
- Transfer to prepared pan and press down. Refrigerate or freeze 1 hour.
- When set, slice into bars. Store in fridge or freezer until ready to eat.
- Yields 12 breakfast bars.
14 Comments on “Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars”
I heated up the ingredients in the microwave and used a non-stick baking dish without parchment paper. Excellent results. Oatmeal and almonds promote better sleep, so I have a bar near bedtime…sleep score has improved.
Hi Cornelia, thanks for trying out these healthy breakfast bars! It’s helpful to know you were able to make your oatmeal bars in the microwave instead of over the stove. We appreciate you testing that out and sharing it here! Wonderful that they’re helping you with your sleep as well 🙂
I made a half portion of the recipe last week. Using up the quick oats I had, I found that these were delicious, but a bit crumbly. I had also subbed in olive oil for the coconut oil. I used maple syrup.
This time, I bought the recommended rolled oats. I skipped any oil. I used up the Ceylon cinnamon I have, and tapped the regular cinnamon. The Ceylonese is sweeter and milder and I prefer it. Also, I’d chopped up some dark chocolate bar, hoping to use it in a GF brownie recipe, but it wasn’t going to be enough.
When I’d pressed the warm mixture into a parchment lined pan, I topped half withe chopped chocolate. It melted on as I pressed that in.
Wow, what a difference the rolled oats make! This batch holds together so well. The chocolate-topped bars taste amazing, so do the regular bars. I try to eat oatmeal for the health benefits, but just don’t have the enthusiasm for it as a hot cereal. These are beyond amazing. Thank you so much!
Hi there, thanks so much for trying out our oatmeal breakfast bars recipe! What a deliciously genius idea to use Ceylon cinnamon and to add some chopped chocolate on top while the batch was still warm. We need to give that a try! We appreciate you sharing your experience – especially about the difference you noticed using rolled oats instead of quick cooking. So glad that you enjoyed! 🙂
Have made these twice now as an alternative to the plastic-heavy option of eating a cereal bar on the way to class. These are great! The first time I made them I just followed the recipe but subbed in butter since that’s what I had on hand.
The second week I figured if I was going to use butter I might as well spice it up a little, so I doubled the amount of butter and browned it. (Some of the water evaporates in the browning process, so it needed a bit more to compensate). I also threw the oats under the broiler for a few mins just for the heck of it. It’s a bit more effort but for me it was worth it, very tasty! Grape Nuts as one of the add-ins gives it a really nice crunch and adds some iron.
In my experience so far, this recipe is the perfect amount for a solid breakfast for one person for a week. I pour mine into an 8-inch cake tin and then slice it into 8 pieces, if I know I’m gonna have to skip or delay lunch significantly I’ll take two, and it works out perfectly.
Wow Molly, thank you for sharing your delicious adaptations to this oatmeal breakfast bars recipe! Using butter and broiling your oats are both genius ideas and we’ve got to give them a try. We’re so glad that you enjoy these bars and that they fit into your lifestyle 🙂 We appreciate you sharing your feedback and your experience here – it’s sure to be helpful to others in this community!
These oatmeal breakfast bars are a staple in my house now, literally we’re having them for breakfast every week. Super easy & my kids really love them
That’s amazing, Vicky! It’s hard to beat homemade breakfast bars, so convenient and satisfying. Thanks for giving the recipe a try 🙂
These are perfect for me. I want something sweet but healthy. This is what I have been looking for ! Thank you so much!!!
Mary Smith
Hi Mary, so glad you enjoy the recipe! Thank you so much for giving it a try 🙂
Hi Alyssia, all your recipes look delicious and easy… last week I made this bars: amazing!!!
I wanna know if you use special software or how can I calculate the macros from recipes because sometimes I add or change ingredients like protein or hemp seeds or others and I don’t know the macros.
I’m trying to sell the black bean brownies for my friends and help them to start a healthy plan, but I don’t have a nutrition chart. Any suggestion? Please
Thank you Alyssia
Greetings from México
Hi Ivonne, thanks so much for trying out the recipe! We’re glad to hear you enjoy them 🙂 When we calculate nutrition for recipes, we use myfitnesspal.com – they allow you to create recipes by adding ingredients from their database of foods. It’s not always perfect, sometimes it requires some adjusting and double-checking to make sure the nutrition of certain ingredients is correct, but overall it’s works well!
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/
Can you use coconut flour instead of almond flour ?
Hi Joana, we haven’t personally tried this recipe with coconut flour so I can’t say for sure, but I think it’d work just fine! 🙂