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.
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?
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.
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.
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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Easy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bars
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 bars 1x
- Category: breakfast, snacks
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
An easy breakfast or snack on the go. Only ten minutes of prep time and 8 basic ingredients needed. These breakfast bars are sweetened only with maple syrup and banana.
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats (can substitute quick oats, see notes)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup very ripe mashed banana (about 2 medium bananas)
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a 9 x 9 inch square baking pan, set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, kosher salt, baking powder and cinnamon.
- Add the mashed banana and maple syrup to the oat mixture and stir until combined.
- Stir in the raisins, breaking up any chunks of raisins that have stuck together.
- Scoop the oatmeal raisin mixture into the greased pan. Use your hands or the back of a spoon to compress the mixture into the pan evenly, smoothing out the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes, or until the top of the bars are firm and golden brown, with a deeper brown color around the edges.
- Let cool and then cut into squares. Store in the fridge or freezer.
Notes
I prefer making these with old-fashioned rolled oats, but quick oats (not instant) can also be used. For a discussion of the texture differences between using rolled oats versus quick oats, see the blog post section "What type of oats should I use?"
Keywords: breakfast bars, oatmeal breakfast bars, oatmeal raisin breakfast bars, easy breakfast bars
Bernice Hill
Yep. I have such a hard time talking the time to eat breakfast in the morning. I just want to get going and get my day started! I will have to pin these and give them a try.
Kate
Glad to know I'm not the only one! Thanks Bernice I hope you like the recipe!
Tara
I always love a make ahead breakfast or a grab n go snack! These bars are healthy, moist, and tasty all in one. Thanks for the freezer tip too!
Kate
Thank you Tara I'm glad you like the recipe! 🙂
veenaazmanov
Delicious and healthy and a yummy breakfast too. I just want to check this out for breakfast today.Love the combinations too.
Kate
Thank you I'm happy you like the recipe 🙂
Amy Liu Dong
I am looking forward to try this breakfast recipe, it's delicious and it's healthy. YUM!
Kate
Thanks Amy! 🙂
LINDSEY PINE
Love how simple this recipe is! These bars would be great to take with on a road trip!
Kate
Yes that's a great idea Lindsey, so glad you like the recipe 🙂
Jacqui DeBono
These are perfect for when I want to eat and dash out of the door to get in the garden! I can eat this with my cup of tea as I work, the kids can have it as their snack and husband loves them for his evening treat with his coffee! I will be making these soon!
Kate
So glad you like the recipe Jacqui, thank you!
Mikayla
You had me laughing at 'handfuls of cheese', that's my morning for sure. These are great, my toddler is NEVER patient enough to let me actually cook breakfast, we're not a fan of raisins but dried cherries make a great sub! Thanks!
Kate
Haha that is not even an exaggeration I have to say! And glad to hear I'm not the only one. I think dried cherries are a great idea! I bet the little bit of sour would add a really nice element. Thank you for sharing Mikayla!
Melanie
So much better than store bought! I love how this recipe is quickly put together!
Kate
Thank you Melanie I'm so glad you liked the recipe 🙂
Sara
I just made these for the 3rd time. Except I used pumpkin puree instead of banana, pumpkin spice & chocolate chips instead of raisins.... omg... pumpkin pie in a bar! Thank you!
Kate
Wow Sara your version sounds amazing, I need to try it that way! Yum 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Robbin Johnston
I need to make for (40) people, needs to be easy, what is the best way? Really need your help, greatly appreciate
Kate
Hi Robbin, thank you for your question! The original recipe makes 12 servings, so you would need to make 4x the recipe to get 48 servings. Or, if you want to cut each batch into 16 pieces for slightly smaller serving sizes, you would only need to make 3x the recipe (again for 48 pieces).
Since I've never tested it before, I can't say for sure whether you could bake a double batch in a larger pan, the cook time would need to be adjusted and the edges may get too dark before the middle is finished. Therefore, the safest and easiest thing to do in my opinion would be to just mix up a triple (or quadruple) batch of the batter, but then divide it up evenly between 3 (or 4) 9 x 9 inch pans. You could easily cook 2 pans at once at a time in a standard sized oven. For extra convenience, you could even buy disposable foil pans so you have enough. There is a convenient "Scale" button on the recipe card (on the right hand side next to the "Ingredients" heading). You can use this to convert the measurements to double or triple the recipe.
I hope this helps and please let me know how it goes!
Elizabeth
Can you substitute applesauce for the bananas?
Kate
Hi Elizabeth! Thank you for your question! I haven't made that substitution before, but I have heard from another reader that they did that and it worked out well for them. If you try it will you please let me know how it goes?