With wholesome ingredients and not a lot of added sugar, you can quickly bake up Healthy Breakfast Bars to serve for breakfasts or snacks throughout the week. And they are SO good!
Healthy Breakfast Bars
Having easy breakfast options on hand can make mornings with kids so much easier. We love this easy recipe for kids to make ahead and have ready and waiting in the mornings. I like to pair these bars with a simple smoothie or a glass of milk for an easy and yummy breakfast to share with the kids.
This recipe is naturally egg-free and can be made nut- and gluten-free so it’s great for families with allergies in the mix.
The base of this breakfast bars recipe is rolled oats, which is a whole grain that is a great source of complex carbohydrates and fiber. It also has some protein from nut or seed butter, which makes the oatmeal breakfast bars extra satisfying.
They are soft and easy to chew, so not crunchy. You may want to cut them into bite-size pieces for a 1-year-old to make sure they don’t get too much in their mouths, but a 2-year-old should be able to bite and chew a bar.
Along with my Cereal Bars, Homemade Granola Bars, and Banana Oatmeal Bars, these are an all-time favorite recipe to share with the kids.
Ingredients You Need
To make this breakfast bars recipe, you’ll need:
- Rolled oats: These are sometimes called “old-fashioned” oats at the store.
- Nut or seed butter: I usually use peanut butter, but almond butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter work, too.
- Vanilla extract: This adds a nice base of flavor to the bar mixture. You can use pure vanilla extract or imitation.
- Cinnamon: I like to add a little cinnamon to the mix, too, for extra flavor.
- Baking powder: Baking powder helps the crust rise just a little and not be too dense.
- Honey: This helps the batter hold together well. You can use maple syrup if preferred.
- Jam: I usually use jam labeled “all-fruit,” but any kind you like will work, even this homemade Chia Jam.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at how to make this breakfast bars recipe. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full information.
- Stir together the wet ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix together the batter for the base of the bars.
- Make sure it holds together easily when you press a little between your fingers.
- Set aside ¾ cup of the dough. Press the rest into the bottom of the pan or baking dish.
- Spread the jam on top of the base dough. Crumble the remaining dough over the jam.
- Bake and let cool.
TIP: We love the combined flavors of peanut butter and jelly, and they come through in this recipe. You can use Sunbutter if you need the bars to be nut-free. I highly recommend serving these with milk—or your own tea or coffee!
Jam to Use in Breakfast Bars
I’ve made these with natural strawberry preserves, raspberry preserves, leftover cranberry sauce, fig jam, and lower-sugar Chia Jam, and they all work. As long as the jam or preserves aren’t too runny or liquidy, it should work well.
I suggest using a “natural” jam (fruit-juice sweetened or honey sweetened or something along those lines!) rather than a conventional one if you’d rather these not be super sweet.
How to Store
I tend to like these bars chilled so I recommend storing them in the fridge for 3-5 days, though there’s no reason that room temperature in an airtight container wouldn’t work just as well. You can also freeze them, once fully cooled, in a zip-top freezer bag for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temperature before eating.
Best Tips for Success
- Use “natural” or honey-sweetened jam or preserves for mellow sweetness. You can also use Blueberry Chia Jam if you prefer.
- Line the pan with parchment paper so the bars are easy to lift out of the pan and slice.
- To make these nut-free, omit the nut butter and use sunflower seed butter. To make gluten-free, use gluten-free oats.
- To make without a food processor, use instant oats instead of rolled oats and stir the batter together in a bowl. You may need to really press it to get it evenly mixed.
- If the mixture seems crumbly and isn’t holding together well, add a tablespoon or two of water and that should take care of it.
- To make these vegan, use maple syrup in place of honey.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear what you think of this recipe if you try it, so please comment below with feedback!
Healthy Breakfast Bars with Jam
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup peanut butter (or Sunbutter)
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (or gluten-free flour blend)
- 1/4 cup milk (dairy or nondairy)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 2/3 cup all-fruit jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8×8-inch baking sheet with parchment paper, leaving a few inches overhang on two sides so you can easily lift the bars out when they’re cooled.
- Place the oats into the bowl of a food processor or blender and blitz to grind into a coarse flour.
- Place the honey and peanut butter into a medium bowl and warm in the microwave for about 15 seconds.
- Add the oats and the remaining ingredients except the jam to the bowl with the peanut butter and honey and stir together. Use clean hands to bring the dough together as needed to form a thick, cookie dough-like texture. It will hold together when pressed between your fingers.
- Set aside ¾ cup of the batter.
- Place the remaining batter into the bottom of the prepared baking pan and press down evenly to cover.
- Spread the jam on top.
- Crumble the remaining dough over the jam and press down slightly.
- Bake for 22-24 minutes, remove from oven, and let cool completely in the pan. (You can speed this up by sticking the pan into the fridge.
- Lift the bars out using the parchment paper and slice into bars.
Video
Notes
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. Or freeze in a zip-top freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or in the fridge. (They freeze really well!)
- If you want them a little softer, serve them at room temperature rather than chilled.
- Use “natural” or honey-sweetened jam or preserves so these don’t wind up with a lot of added sugar. (I find them to be too sweet when made with super sweet jam.)
- You can use chia jam if you prefer a less sweet option.
- Line the pan with parchment paper so the bars are easy to lift out of the pan and slice.
- You can also use almond instead of peanut butter.
- If the mixture seems crumbly and isn’t holding together well, add a tablespoon or two of water and that should take care of it!
- Nut-free: Use Sunbutter.
- Gluten-free: Use a gluten-free flour blend and certified gluten-free rolled oats.
- To make without a food processor: Use instant oats instead of rolled oats and stir the batter together in a bowl. You may need to really press it to get it evenly mixed.
Nutrition
The post was first published April 2018.
These were easy to make and so delicious. I love that they use natural and healthy ingredients. Definitely keeping these in the regular rotation.
Kids love these every time!
Do you think it would work to use whole grain oat baby cereal instead of ground oats? I haven’t baked with baby cereal yet so I’m not sure if it would come out the same.
The texture would be different and I am not sure that they would hold together well enough to slice and pick up as a bar. Baby cereal is really fluffy and doesn’t make through easily in my experience substituting it for regular oats.
Ok thanks! I will try it with regular ground oats.
We love these! I wrap pieces up individually and freeze them and they thaw perfectly for the next morning. Yummy!
So yummy and so simple! My little gal and I are loving them! We used blueberry all fruit. Yum!
These are super easy to make and are delicious! I may have eaten way more than anyone else, LOL! 🙂 I actually made these at my parents’ house while we were visiting them, and my mom had a strawberry “european fruit spread” – pectin vs. geletin, I think – and it reminded me so much of the freezer jam she used to make when I was growing up. 🙂
I just made these, they are in the oven. But I realized I forgot the flour 😱🙈.
That’s so funny as I did the same thing!
I made these in my Pampered Chef snack bar maker so they turned out like individual granola bars. Reduced the bake time to 16 minutes. Will be making them again! Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that!
Can you use regular flour instead of wheat flour?
Yes
These are easy and delicious! I used sunflower butter so they can go to daycare with my 16 month old. I also used an apple that I steamed and mashed instead of jam, the jam I had was too sweet. The apple worked perfectly!
Awesome, I will have to try them that way—thanks for sharing!
These were really tasty! We ate ours still warm because they smelled so good. Both my 2yr old and I loved them. These will go in the recipe box. I did add a TBS of ground flaxseed for a little extra nutrients.
Great!
The 3/4 of the batter you set aside…is that what you use for the bottom layer or is that what you use to crumble on the top?? The directions are a little confusing to me
That’s the amount you set aside to crumble on top.
can this be given to children under 1 year? Just asking because of the honey in it.
You can use maple syrup instead for kids under age 1.
Made these last night for a quick on the go breakfast this morning and they were AMAZING! Even my husband asked me to make more! Excited to experiment with all the flavours!! Thanks
Hi is this okay to ship as a care package? I would like to make it for my daughter but she live in MI so I have to mail it from CA.
I’d think so. Wrap them as tightly as possible and try to make sure they don’t move around in the package so they don’t all break. Hopefully the mail won’t take too long to get there!
I don’t have whole wheat flour. Would regular flour work? What about tapioca flour? I really want to whip these up today with what I have on hand.
All purpose flour should work!