Easy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bars

Name: Easy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bars
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (can substitute quick oats, see notes); 1/2 cup all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 cup very ripe mashed banana (about 2 medium bananas); 1/2 cup maple syrup; 1 cup raisins

Published: May 20, 2020 by Kate · This post may contain affiliate links

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This recipe for Easy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bars only needs about 10 minutes to prep with 8 simple ingredients. These healthy(ish!) bars are so easy to grab and go, for breakfast or a quick snack.

Easy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bars on Cutting board

I don't know about you, but many days, I don't have time to sit down to a full breakfast (as much as I wish I could eat Fried Bologna and Egg Sandwiches every morning!). So, I end up either skipping breakfast or grabbing a random assortment of whatever is in the fridge (handful of shredded cheese?).

Well, this gets old as you can imagine. So, I came up with this easy recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bars. Hooray for an easy breakfast that is literally "grab and go!"

Why these oatmeal raisin bars are great

These bars are so easy to make - like, 10 minutes or less of prep time easy. There's only 8 basic (mostly pantry!) ingredients, and they are sweetened with maple syrup and mashed bananas, not refined sugar. (And raisins of course, tons of raisins!)

These oatmeal raisin bars don't taste overly sweet, so they are definitely not an analog to a more traditional granola-type bar. But, they are just sweet enough that they are enjoyable but I still feel good about eating them for breakfast. They have a firm, slightly chewy texture as opposed to a crispy texture. So, even my toddler and preschooler love these. I call that a big win!

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need for this Easy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bar recipe:

Oats: I prefer using old-fashioned rolled oats for this recipe, but quick oats will also work. I talk more about the different results from each oat in the next section.
All purpose flour
Kosher salt
Baking powder
Cinnamon
Maple syrup
Ripe bananas
Raisins

What type of oats should I use?

Bowl of quick oats next to hand holding old-fashioned rolled oats — *Quick oats on the left, old-fashioned rolled oats on the right*

As I mentioned above, you can use either quick oats or old-fashioned rolled oats for this oatmeal raisin bar recipe. Either will work, but you will get slightly different results.

My preference is the rolled oats - the texture is firmer and just...heartier I would say. With the quick oats, the bars are softer and the oats blend in more with the banana, so you don't get as much texture from the individual pieces of oat within the bar.

So, the choice is up to you depending on what you think you would prefer texture-wise, and also what you have in your cabinet I guess! That being said, definitely do not use steel cut oats! These have a totally different texture and won't work in a bar like this one.

Also, I would stay away from instant oats (this is the kind that usually come in little packets with flavorings). I haven't tested this recipe with instant oats, so I just can't say what the results will be like.

Plate with oatmeal bar made with old fashioned oats and one made with quick oats — *Here's a comparison - bar made with old-fashioned rolled oats on the left, and one made with quick oats on the right*

Substitutions and Additions

You have some options when it comes to making some substitutions and additions to this recipe. Besides choosing between old-fashioned and instant oats, you can also substitute honey for the maple syrup for similar results. (Although, just as an FYI - honey should not be given to children under 1 year old.)

And like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, these oatmeal bars are not super sweet, so here would be a good opportunity to add in some extra sweetness if that's something you're into. Try sweetened dried cranberries instead of raisins, or throw in a few chocolate chips!

Really, you can also sub almost any dried fruit that's soft and chewy for the raisins - chopped dates, prunes, or even dried figs or apricots would be delicious!

(If you like dried apricots like me, please check out my recipe for Apricot Orange Energy Balls - this is another great easy breakfast or snack recipe with only 5 ingredients!)

How to serve and store Easy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bars

Serving ideas

My favorite way to eat these oatmeal bars is warm, either fresh out of the oven (with some reasonable time to cool!) or microwaved for 10 - 20 seconds. You can also toast them using a toaster oven.

These bars are great on their own, or you can spread some peanut butter on top, maybe add a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of sea salt? Yum!

Storage

I store these oatmeal bars in the fridge rather than at room temperature. They have less sugar than a cookie and are pretty moist from the banana, so by keeping them cold, there are no worries about them spoiling. I just cut them into squares and wrap them up tightly in stacks of 3 or 4 (or, whatever I'm likely to eat in 3 - 4 days' time).

For the rest, I like to keep them in the freezer, also wrapped up tightly in the same way. I haven't had any issues with them sticking together in the freezer, but if you're worried about that, you can place pieces of parchment paper in between each one, or wrap them individually.

Easy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bars in a stack with raisins on the side

If you’ve tried this recipe for Easy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bars, please let me know what you thought about it in the comments down below, I would love to hear from you! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more delicious recipes from Nibble and Dine!

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