With nutritious yet accessible ingredients, these easy Oatmeal Bars are a yummy snack or breakfast to share with the kids. They have carrots and blueberries, plus whole grains and protein. They’re so yummy…and made without eggs or dairy for friends with allergies.
Oatmeal Bars
These healthy baked Oatmeal Bars are one of my favorite ways to serve up a lot of nutrients in an easy-to-eat format. The carrots blend into the batter so while you can see them, the aren’t an obvious texture distraction. The blueberries add some sweetness and vitamins. The combo of the two really adds such yummy flavor.
We love these for snack time and also breakfast. I like to pair them with a smoothie, yogurt, or a hard-cooked or scrambled egg. Or sometimes just water, depending on hunger levels.
I often put half of the batch into the freezer to save for a future week—they freeze really well—and that helps us to be excited about eating them since we don’t have to eat them all at once.
These are a yummy shortcut meal or preschool snack, too.
Your toddler won’t eat? Help is here!
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Ingredients You Need
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make these bars so you know what to pick up at the store—or get out from the pantry.
- Quick or instant oats: You can also use regular rolled oats ground up in the food processor or blender so they’re a finer texture that blends in nicely with the batter.
- Whole wheat flour: A little flour in the mix helps the batter hold together. You can use all-purpose flour if that’s what you have on hand.
- Baking powder: A little baking powder helps the batter from being too dense, so we use it here.
- Cinnamon: A little cinnamon adds nice flavor to the base of the bar.
- Melted coconut oil or butter: Melt this, then let it cool for a minute or two so it’s not piping hot when you add it to the batter.
- Creamy unsweetened almond butter: You can use sunflower seed butter as needed for a nut allergy or peanut butter would work, too.
- Maple syrup: Honey will also work here (though avoid it for kids under age 1.)
- Grated carrot: I prefer to grate a whole carrot on a box grater for the finer texture versus using shredded carrots from the store, but both would work.
- Blueberries: If the berries are very large, I recommend cutting them in half with kitchen scissors.
- Egg: This is totally optional but makes the bars a little more cake-like than the slightly crunchy texture they have without an egg.
TIP: You can use regular all-purpose flour, gluten-free cup for cup, sunflower seed butter instead of almond butter, and honey instead of maple syrup. Lots of options!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at the basic process of making this recipe so you know what to expect. Scroll down to the end of the recipe for the full information.
- Preheat the oven and line a pan with parchment paper. Add the ingredients to a bowl.
- Stir together gently, trying not to smash the berries.
- Press into the prepared pan, pressing evenly to the edges.
- Bake and remove from the oven. Let cool completely before slicing.
TIP: I like to line the pan with parchment paper so the edges hang over the sides. This makes it easy to lift out of the pan once the bars are baked, cooled, and ready to slice.
Frequently Asked Questions
This oatmeal bar recipe will last for about 5 days in the fridge or much longer in the freezer. You can also leave them at room temperature for a few days if you prefer.
Try serving oatmeal in all sorts of forms, including regular oatmeal in a bowl, in these oatmeal bars, in Breakfast Bars, Oatmeal Energy Bites, and in Banana Pancakes. You might find an option they prefer by trying a few different recipe ideas.
These oat bars have whole grains, healthy fats, produce, and protein and are a nutritious meal or snack option to share with the kids.
How to Store
Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. Freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer bag with as much air removed as possible.
Best Tips for Success
- Cool fully before slicing to prevent the bars from crumbling when slicing.
- Gluten-free: Use cup-for-cup gluten-free flour mix instead of whole wheat flour.
- Nut-free: Use sunflower seed butter instead of almond butter.
- Creamy unsweetened peanut butter (I like Teddies or Smuckers) should work in place of almond butter).
- You can use honey instead of maple syrup.
- I prefer the texture of carrots that are grated at home on a box grater as they are finer than those you can buy at the store.
- Fresh blueberries work best in this recipe (frozen ones can cause the batter to seize up and be hard to press into the pan).
Related Recipes
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Healthy Breakfast Bars with Jam
Breakfast
Easy Homemade Granola Bars
Snacks
3-Ingredient Cereal Bars
I’d love to hear your feedback if you try this recipe. Please comment below and rate the recipe!
Easy Oatmeal Bars (with Blueberry and Carrot)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup quick or instant oats (or rolled oats ground up in the food processor or blender)
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil (or butter)
- ¼ cup creamy unsweetened almond butter
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 egg (optional)
- ½ cup grated carrot
- ½ cup blueberries (cut in half if very large)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper so it overhangs on two sides so the bars are easy to lift out once baked and cooled.
- Mix together all of the ingredients in a medium bowl except the blueberries. (Add the egg if using.) Stir in the blueberries gently.
- Press into the prepared pan so the batter is even and pressed to the edges.
- Bake for 24-26 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown and set.
- Cool fully. (Really, please let it sit until it's cool to the touch! You can pop it into the fridge to speed this up if you'd like. It may crumble a bit if you slice when still warm.)
- Slice into bars and serve or store. I typically cut into 16 small squares, but you can cut them larger if desired.
Video
Notes
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. Freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer bag with as much air removed as possible.
- Gluten-free: Use cup for cup flour instead of whole wheat flour.
- Nut-free: Use sunflower seed butter instead of almond butter.
- Adding an egg makes these bars slightly cakier than the slightly crisp texture (like a cookie bar) you get without an egg. It’s up to you.
- Creamy unsweetened peanut butter (I like Teddies or Smuckers) should work in place of almond butter).
- You can use honey instead of maple syrup.
- I prefer the texture of carrots that are grated at home on a box grater as they are finer than those you can buy at the store.
- Fresh blueberries work best in this recipe (frozen ones can cause the batter to seize up and be hard to press into the pan).
- Cool fully before slicing to prevent the bars from crumbling when slicing.
Nutrition
This post was first published August 2020.
Similar to others, I found these to be super tasty but super crumbly. I did reduce the maple syrup by maybe 1/3, if that had an effect? Even with the reduced sweetener, toddler and I both still found them to be super tasty!! I do have him eat them outside though, due to the crumbles. 🙂
Yes, reducing the liquid would change the consistency. Glad they’re still being enjoyed!
Would it work without honey or maple syrup? Is there any other substitute ?
I haven’t made them any other way but it’s possible that you could add 1 egg and 2-4 tbsp sugar.
I make them without added sweetener and just use a very ripe banana. I only mash up a half of a banana. I think applesauce may work too.
These taste sooo good! I made them today and I will definitely keep making these a lot! And they’re so healthy too! Thank you Amy for this wonderful recipe!
I’m so glad to hear that!
I made these yesterday and they turned out dry! Not sure what I did wrong. The flavor is yummy but the consistency is odd! I used gluten free flour – could that be the case?
It’s possible that the gf flour had a different mixture of flours and made them dry. Which one did you use?
Loved these! I didn’t have time to blend the rolled oats I had on hand so just used as is, and it worked great! I also had just used all of our blueberries on your recipe for chia seed blueberry jam and so mixed a spoonful of that in instead. Delicious! Thank you for all of the yummy recipes that kiddos (and adults) enjoy. 🙂
I’m so glad to hear that!
These are delicious! Is there anyway I can get them to be less crumbly though? My 1 year old and 3 year old walk around eating them and I find them to be super crumbly. Any ideas on what I can add/revise?
You could try increasing the almond butter a little? It’s possible adding an egg would help with the crumbliness, but it may also make them much more cake-like…
I tried making these today with 1/3 cup almond butter after reading the reviews. They turned out tasting dry and were hard to eat. I’m going to spread some jam on top and try them again for breakfast though!
i have a question if i have a pre-fab granola bar sheet with 12 granola bar “slots” can i use it or do they have to be baked brownie style? (kinda like making cupcakes instead of a cake)
I haven’t tried that but I see no reason why it wouldn’t work!
I’ve now made two batches of these because my 10 month old gobbles them up. I’m also a huge fan so I can see why he likes them so much. The blueberries add such a nice pop of fresh flavor! I actually subbed pumpkin puree for the almond butter b/c I already had a can open (from making another one of your recipes!), and it worked GREAT. A fun substitution for fall! Thanks as always for such healthy, delicious recipes.
I’m so glad to hear that!
Made this over the weekend and loved it! My child helped make them but didn’t want to eat them so I ended up consuming too many but didn’t feel guilt because the sugar is so low. Will have this in regular rotation.
We just made our second batch of these! I used peanut butter and pre-shredded carrots from the store. I tossed the carrots in the blender with my rolled oats and they ground up so finely that you can’t see them at all in the bars. I also used frozen blueberries the first time, but thawed and rinsed them first and it worked fine. Great recipe!
Awesome! And thanks for sharing that about the carrots!
These are SO good, thank you!! I love finding healthy and yummy recipes for my 18 month old and these did not disappoint, he loves them. Now I just have to freeze them quick before I eat the whole pan 🙂
I am so glad to hear that and you can always make another batch:)
Can you post the nutritional content? Excited to try these!
It’s at the bottom of the recipe! It will vary slightly according to how many slices you make.
Amy, these are amazing! I made them for my 2.5 year old son for breakfast tomorrow. He already had a piece for a bedtime snack and LOVES it. I’m going to have to make another batch because half is gone. I loved them too!
I also added 1 banana because I wanted to use it up and it still turned out great. You are amazing!!!
Awesome and I’m glad to know that adding banana works too, thank you!
I dont have almond butter, what can I use instead?
Any other nut or seed butter (peanut butter, sunflower seed butter) should work too. Or if you don’t have any, I bet an egg would work. (I haven’t tried that but it’s usually a good alternative!)
I just made these with my 18-month old and what a hit! I love that it includes healthy ingredients and it was easy to have her help me while I was making them. I replaced the whole wheat flour with a whole-grain gluten-free flour blend so that I could enjoy them as well. So easy and delicious! Thank you, Amy!
I’m so glad to hear that and thank you for letting me know—I appreciate it so much!