You guys, this recipe for Blueberry Date Bars is so good! It’s super moist and easy for little ones to chew, and it’s made with a handful of wholesome ingredients that taste good too. You can even make it ahead and serve it throughout the week!
Blueberry Date Bars
This bar recipe is a yummy toddler snack or dessert, yes, but it also makes a delicious toddler breakfast. It’s made with a base of rolled oats, eggs, and almond butter—and blueberries and dates—so you can feel good about serving a treat to the little ones. It’s gluten-free if you use GF oats and is packed with protein and good fats for the little ones.
Though I love it just as much for myself!
Ingredients in Blueberry Date Bars
To make this recipe you’ll need:
- medjool dates, pitted
- rolled oats
- baking powder
- salt
- flaxseed, ground
- sesame seeds
- eggs
- almond butter
- vanilla extract
- blueberries
TIP:Â You can use fresh or frozen blueberries.
How to Make Blueberry Date Snack Cake Step-by-Step
Here’s a look at what you need to do to bake this simple recipe for your family. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full recipe.
- Soak your medjool dates. Drain, pat dry, and remove the pits.
- Grind the oats into a coarse flour in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients except the berries and grind to blend.
- Transfer to a pan and sprinkle with blueberries. Bake!
- Once cool, you can slice into bars and serve or slice and wrap or place into an airtight container.
TIP: Pair this with milk or a smoothie for an easy toddler meal.
How long can I store this blueberry cake?
This simple cake (which I often think of as a bread!) stores in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can put the bars into an airtight container or wrap each bar individually and store in a zip top bag. Either way works! You can eat it cold, at room temp, or slightly warmed, depending on your preference.
Is there a substitution for almond butter?
You can use peanut butter or for a nut-free version, try Sunbutter. If you choose unsweetened versions, the final taste will be just slightly different but really similar.
What kind of dates are in this cake?
This cake calls for medjool dates which are big and moist. I call for soaking them for a bit before using them in this recipe so that they plump up even more and help the flourless batter hold together well. Look for them in the refrigerated section of your grocery store or you can find them here on Amazon.
Tips for Making the Best Blueberry Date Bars
- Soak the dates to be sure they soften up nicely and are easy to blend.
- Use fresh or frozen blueberries.
- Sub in peanut butter or sunflower seed butter for the almond butter if desired.
- Store the bars in an airtight container (or individually wrapped in plastic wrap) in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw to serve.
If you make this recipe, please let me know what you think below in the comments!
Blueberry Date Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup medjool dates (pitted)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 2 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup almond butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup blueberries
Instructions
- Place the dates in a bowl, cover with water, and soak for 1 hour. Drain, pat dry, and remove pits.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8x8-inch square baking pan.
- Place the oats into the bowl of a food processor and grind into a coarse flour, like the texture of instant oats. Add the baking powder, salt, flaxseeds, sesame seeds, eggs, almond butter, vanilla, and dates. Process until smooth, about 15-30 seconds.
- Pour into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula.
- Sprinkle the blueberries over the top and press gently into the batter.
- Bake for 32-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the pan comes out cleanly. Cover with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent the edges from browning too deeply.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
- Slice into bars, place into an air tight container or a zip top bag, and store in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Soak the dates to be sure they soften up nicely and are easy to blend.
- Use fresh or frozen blueberries.
- Sub in peanut butter or sunflower seed butter for the almond butter if desired.
- Store the bars in an airtight container (or individually wrapped in plastic wrap) in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw to serve.
Nutrition
Yummy! Both my little girl and husband loved these. They have a dense texture and a delicious flavor.
Hi Amy, want to try this recipe but Medjool dates are quite expensive. Would I be able to use Deglet dates?
Hi- Yes, I think that should be fine!
I actually made these for me, not children. They are a great snack during work. I do recommend folding the blueberries into the batter to get more berry flavor. I also used packets of instant oatmeal because that’s what I had on hand. They worked perfectly.
I am trying to add in more iron for my toddler and wanted to add hemp seeds. Should i just add them or sub them for something else?
You could add a small amount if you want!
Would I be able to sub hemp seeds since I don’t have flax?
I haven’t tried them that way but it should probably work similarly.
Great recipe! The first time I made this, I didn’t have sesame seeds so I just left them out and it was still great.thanks Amy! We love your recipes !!
I’m really anxious to try this recipe but I was just wondering if you have any suggestions for an egg substitute?? My daughter has an egg allergy but I know she would LOVE these…
I haven’t tested this with an egg replacer and I’m not sure that it would work well due to the other ingredients in this. I have a lot of other egg-free bar recipes though if you want to look and see if there’s something else that might work!
Hi there! My little is allergic to sesame seeds. Do you happen to have suggestions for substituting those? Or is it okay if I just omit? Thank you for all the delicious recipes and making it a whole lot easier to feed kiddos!
I think you can just omit them and/or add additional oats. And you’re very welcome!
Hi,
I was wondering if I could substitute dried figs for the dates.
Thank you,
Louise
I haven’t tried it that way so I can’t say for sure. Dates have an ability to be creamy when blended that isn’t like any other dried fruit so I am not sure the batter would turn out the same way.
Hi! If I don’t have flaxseed, ok to just leave out?
Love your recipes!! Thanks.
I’d use additional oats instead!
A general question / suggestion: is there a way to display amount of fiber in your recipes? I think that’s pretty important to know for toddlers. I imagine this is a function of the software you use to get the nutrition info estimates, but thanks in advance if you can provide it at least for this recipe.
Oops, sorry — I revisited the table and found the line for fiber! (It just wasn’t where I am used to seeing it, right under total carbs.) Feel free to delete my comments on this.
Can I make this in a muffin tin if I don’t have a cake pan? Couldn’t tell if they would be too thick or not. Thanks!
I haven’t tried it in a muffin tin so I can’t say for sure but I would think that would work okay!
Hi Amy,
I’m wondering if you could sub unsweetened shredded coconut for the rolled oats (you mention this as a sub in one of your other recipes) AND sub melted, cooled butter for the almond butter (you mention this also as a sub in another recipe) in this recipe??
Thanks in advance!
Hi Sarah! I don’t think you can sub coconut entirely for the oats (in some of my other recipes, you can sub additional oats for the coconut, but not the other way around) since I doubt they’d be absorbent or hold the batter together like the oats do. You may be able to use regular flour if you prefer? I would think that the butter would work okay though! Let me know if you have any other questions!
This one is such a keeper. Easy to make, healthy, different enough from my usual muffins–everyone loved it! Was dessert last night and breakfast this morning 🙂 Thanks for another awesome, doable recipe.
Thanks for letting me know that Brooke! I’m so glad you guys like this!
Hi Amy, great recipe. What nut free option could be used in place of almond butter?
Hi Kelly- You could try Sunbutter in place of the almond butter if that’s a doable ingredient. I have not made this recipe with it, so I cannot guarantee that it would work exactly the same way, but I have used it as a direct replacement before so I think you’d have a good result.