I've been making these 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars for years, and they are one of those recipes my family asks for on repeat. The hardest part about making healthy breakfast bars is getting the texture right without a long list of ingredients, and these nail it every time with just 3 simple ingredients. The key is using brown, spotty bananas because that natural sweetness is what holds everything together and keeps you from needing any added sugar. Meal prep them on Sunday and you have a grab-and-go breakfast or afternoon snack ready all week long.
If you love these bars, make sure you check out these raspberry oatmeal bars, Peanut Butter Banana Bars and Apple Cinnamon breakfast bars!
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Why You'll Love These Easy Banana Peanut Butter Oat Bars
- It's a super versatile recipe! You can add lots of delicious ingredients to these healthy oatmeal bars. More on that later!
- It's easy to make! Add all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and then bake it up! You can't beat how easy that is!
- It's a great way to get healthy ingredients in your kids! Since these taste delicious, the kids will eat them up! Plus these is no added sugar! The natural sweetness of the bananas is enough to give these bars a touch of sweetness.
Banana Oatmeal Bars Ingredients
You only need a few basic ingredients for these bars!
- 3 Medium Bananas. You will need three overripe, spotty bananas.
- Oats. Old-fashioned oats or quick oats would work in this recipe. Do not use steel cut oats in these bars. The steel cut oats won't cook properly.
- Natural Peanut Butter. Your favorite variety of creamy, natural peanut butter.
See printable recipe card for full recipe information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Oatmeal Banana Bars
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees f. Grab an 8x8 baking dish and line baking pan with parchment paper. Mash the bananas well in a large bowl.
Step 2: Add the oatmeal to the large bowl with the mashed banana and mix well.
Step 3: Add the peanut butter to the bowl. Mix well.
Step 4: Add the batter to the prepared baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top of the bars are golden brown. Let them cool before cutting.
How to Meal Prep Banana Oatmeal Bars
These bars are perfect for meal prepping because they store so well! Bake a batch on the weekend and you have a grab-and-go breakfast or snack ready for the whole week.
Once the bars have cooled completely, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. One important note to remember, do not refrigerate these bars, as they will go stale quickly.
To freeze, place the cooled bars in a single layer in a freezer-safe container or gallon zip-top bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Pull one out the night before and let it thaw at room temperature, and breakfast is already done.
Oatmeal Banana Bars Recipe Tips
- Use brown, spotty bananas. The riper the banana, the sweeter your bars will be. If your bananas are still yellow, give them a few more days on the counter.
- Don't use steel cut oats. Old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats both work great here, but steel cut oats won't cook through properly and will leave you with a gummy texture.
- Mash the bananas really well. The smoother your mashed banana, the better the bars will hold together when you cut them.
- Let them cool completely before cutting. I know it's tempting, but cutting them too soon will cause them to fall apart. Give them time to set up and you'll get clean, beautiful bars.
- Drizzle melted peanut butter on top. This is optional but highly recommended. Just melt about a quarter cup and drizzle it over the cooled bars for a little extra richness.
Variations
- Change the nut butter! Almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter, or a combination of peanut butter and other nut butters would be great!
- Add some nuts and seeds! Feel free to add a few tablespoons of chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, or your favorite healthy nut!
- Make this easy recipe into 3 ingredient banana oatmeal cookies! To do that, simply line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat, with a cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the baking sheet. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes and let them cool to room temperature and serve!
- Add some sweetness! Add ¼ cup of maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla extract, or a few tablespoons of honey to the batter.
Storage Tips
Allow the bars to cool to room temperature and then place them in an even layer in an airtight container. Keep the sealed container on the counter for up to 4 days.
You can also freeze these bars! Place them in an even layer in a gallon sized Ziploc bag or a freezer safe container and freeze these 3 ingredient bars for up to 3 months.
Banana Oatmeal Bars FAQs
As long as the oats you are using are certified gluten-free oats, then they will be gluten free!
These are soft granola bars instead of a hard, crunchy granola bar.
Yes! These bars are completely vegan! If you want to add a little bit of sweetness, just make sure to use maple syrup or another vegan sweetener.
More Recipes To Try!
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📖 Recipe
Easy Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars
Equipment
- Baking Dish 8x8 inch
Ingredients
- 3 Bananas Brown and spotty
- 1 cup Natural Peanut Butter
- 2 ½ cups Rolled Oats or Quick Oats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper. Let that aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas well.
- Add the peanut butter and oatmeal to the bowl. Mix well until fully combined.
- Place the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Allow the bars to cool to room temperature before cutting.
- OPTIONAL- Melt ¼ cup of peanut butter and drizzle the melted peanut butter over the top of the bars.
Notes
- The bananas should be brown and spotty. That will give you the most sweetness from the fruit.
- Natural peanut butter works best, but if you don't have natural peanut butter, regular peanut butter will work too.
- Keep the bars in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Do not refrigerate the bars as they will go stale quickly.
- You can also freeze the bars. Allow the bars to cool to room temperature and then place them in a freezer safe container. Freeze them for up to 3 months.
Elizabeth Niquette says
I like to add a flax egg with the other recommended mix-ins. These squares are super easy to pull from freezer, throw on some frozen fruit, nuke a few until warm and then top with Greek Yoghurt. Very sustaining and delicious meal.