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Get It NowThis healthy oatmeal bars recipe features rolled oats, chewy dried fruit, and a decadent chocolate drizzle. My girls love oatmeal breakfast bars anytime of day because they make the perfect quick and healthy snack (like healthy rice krispie treats or oatmeal chocolate chip cookies) with no mystery additives, corn syrup, or gluten… and they’re so easy to prepare!
If you need a low carb version, make my keto granola bars instead.
Why You’ll Love This Healthy Oatmeal Bars Recipe
- Natural fruit flavors with dark chocolate
- Chewy and crunchy
- No blender or food processor needed
- Gluten-free and egg-free, with dairy-free and nut-free options
- Portable treat that’s easy to make ahead
Ingredients & Substitutions
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for baked oatmeal bars, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Rolled Oats – Oatmeal bar recipes work best with rolled oats rather than whole or quick oats. If you are sensitive to gluten, get gluten-free oats.
- Almond Flour – I use Wholesome Yum Almond Flour because of its ultra-fine texture. If you need to avoid nuts, sunflower seed flour should work as well.
- Sea Salt – Balances the sweet flavor.
- Raisins – Add natural sweetness and chewy texture to breakfast oatmeal bars. You can use any variety of dried fruit as long as large pieces get chopped finely.
- Dried Cranberries – I make my own sugar-free dried cranberries, but store-bought ones will work as well.
- Almonds – For extra crunch! Swap with your favorite nuts or seeds if you prefer (use seeds for a nut-free option).
- Honey – I’ve made these with both regular honey and sugar-free honey at different times, and both work great. Pure maple syrup should also work (for a vegan option), but I have not tested it to confirm.
- Brown Sugar Or Sweetener – I use Besti Brown Monk Fruit Allulose Blend for the same flavor and moisture of brown sugar, without the sugar! However, you can also use a conventional brown sugar or coconut sugar.
- Unsalted Butter – I prefer grass-fed butter, but any kind will do. Coconut oil and ghee can also work for dairy-free baked oatmeal bars.
- Chocolate Chips – This sugar-free variety variety tastes great and is all natural, but use any kind you like. I melt them and drizzle on top of the bars, but you can also make oatmeal chocolate chip bars by folding them into the mixture instead.
VARIATION: Optional add-ins!
Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract or cinnamon if you enjoy those flavors.
How To Make Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
This section shows how to make oatmeal bars healthy, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Prep. Line a square baking dish with parchment paper and grease well.
- Stir dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oats, almond flour, salt, raisins, cranberries, and almonds.
- Heat wet ingredients. Heat butter, Besti Brown, and honey in a saucepan over low heat, until melted.
- Combine. Pour the butter honey mixture into the dry ingredients and stir well.
- Press. Transfer mixture into the prepared pan and press down with the back of the spatula.
- Bake. Place in the preheated oven and bake until the edges are golden brown. Cool 10 minutes.
- Cool. Transfer baked oatmeal bars from the pan by lifting from the parchment paper edges to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Drizzle with chocolate. Place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and melt in 30 second intervals. Use a spoon to drizzle melted chocolate over the baked oatmeal bars. Let the chocolate cool to fully set.
- Slice. Once the chocolate is set, cut into bars or squares.
Variations On Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Want to switch up your bars? Let’s take your breakfast oatmeal bars to the next level with these flavor ideas:
- Peanut Butter – To make peanut butter oatmeal bars, add 1/4 cup of thick creamy peanut butter (don’t use the runny kind!) and 1/3 cup of sugar-free peanut butter chips to the original recipe.
- Maple Pecan – Substitute the honey with either regular or natural sugar-free maple syrup, and use chopped pecans instead of almonds for a rich, maple-flavored bar. You could also drizzle with sugar-free caramel sauce instead of melted chocolate for a decadent treat.
- Pumpkin Spice – For pumpkin oatmeal breakfast bars, add 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and 1/4 cup of canned pumpkin puree, and increase the amount of oats to 2 1/4 cups.
- Apple Cinnamon – Make apple oatmeal breakfast bars by adding 1/2 cup of finely diced apples (or crumbled apple chips) and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon into the oat mixture.
- Blueberry – Simply switch the raisins and dried cranberries with dried blueberries.
Storage Instructions
- Store: Keep oatmeal raisin bars in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Freeze: Wrap cooled bars in plastic wrap and store them in the freezer up to 3 months.
More Healthy Snack Recipes
Just like breakfast oatmeal bar recipes, these snacks are perfect for fueling up without weighing you down.
Tools To Make Oatmeal Bars
- Square Baking Pan – Just the right size for chocolate cranberry oatmeal bars. Non-stick and made in the USA!
- Saucepan – Non-stick ceramic with a cool-touch wooden handle.
Oatmeal Breakfast Bars (Healthy & Easy!)
This healthy oatmeal bars recipe is loaded with chewy raisins, oats, and chocolate! Make oatmeal breakfast bars for snacking all week long.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper and grease well. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).
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In a large bowl, stir together the oats, almond flour, salt, raisins, cranberries, and almonds.
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Add the butter, Besti Brown, and honey to a saucepan and stir over a low heat until just melted.
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Pour the butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir together until well combined.
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Transfer the mixture to your prepared baking pan, pushing it with the back of a spoon or spatula to compact it down into an even layer. (However, avoid packing too tightly which will make the bars too hard.)
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Bake for 20-25 minutes, until going golden around the edges.
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Leave in the pan for about 10 minutes, then lift using the edges of the parchment paper and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
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Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second bursts.
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Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the breakfast bar slab. Cool completely until the chocolate is set.
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Slice into bars or squares.
Did You Like It?
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Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 oatmeal bar
Nutrition info uses sugar-free honey substitute, Besti Brown sweetener, and sugar-free dried cranberries. You can use regular honey, brown sugar, and dried cranberries if you like — the calories will be a little higher and sugar would be notably higher.
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
16 Comments
Charlene
0My Oatmeal breakfast bars crumble and don’t stay together. Suggestions?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Charlene, I recommend waiting until the bars are completely cool before cutting.
Ann
0These were AMAZING! I’ve been trying out healthy dessert alternatives for my grandkids who think desserts are suckers and other assorted candies. I’ll be taking these to their house this weekend. I have no doubts these will be a winner!
One question…they didn’t hold together well when cutting them. Any suggestions?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Ann, I suggest waiting until the bars are completely cool before cutting.
Ann
0Hey, my grandkids liked it! They said I should make it again!
Lisa Esposito
0I love making these! Thank you so much for the recipe! My best friend loves them too but just not the fat content. Do you know if I swap out the butter for applesauce if that would work?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Lisa, I have never tried that, but if you do, please let me know the results.
Gayle
0I just made this recipe, hoping to have breakfast bars, but I find this far too sweet and hard. If you want a candy-like product, this is great; it just wasn’t the consistency or flavor I was looking for.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you for the feedback, Gayle! I actually reduced the amount of sweetener in this recipe recently because I decided it was a bit too sweet before. However, they shouldn’t be hard… this may be a sign of over-baking or packing too tightly.
Rick
0This looks good. But can’t find the recipe for it.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Rick, The recipe card is right above where you left this comment. Or you can use the ‘jump to recipe’ button at the top of the page.
Allyson Zea
0I love making these for breakfast! They taste so decadent, but I love that they’re healthy!
Gina F
0We loved these, especially my kids. I used dried cranberries and they were amazing!
Kara
0I didn’t have raisins on hand, so I used all craisins. Delish, and a perfect on the go snack!
Charlcie
0Craisins have a TON of added sugar (26 g per 1/4 cup), so you might not want to substitute them for raisins, which have 0 g of added sugar.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Charlcie, Feel free to use raisins if you wish.