Berry Baked Oatmeal Bars
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Last updated on Apr 24, 2023
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These baked oatmeal bars are such an easy and convenient way to enjoy oatmeal for breakfast or as a snack. They’re easily customizable and great for kids and adults!
Everyone has been going wild over my baked oatmeal recipes so I thought I would create a new variation to get you hooked on… baked oatmeal bars! I love these bars because they’re perfect for meal prepping, portable and who doesn’t love bars?! The best part? They’re super similar to my regular baked oatmeal recipes or my baked oatmeal cups… I just modified the ingredients a little bit so you get bars that hold their shape better and are easier to package up and take on the go. They’re basically a mix between a bowl of oatmeal and a soft granola bar.
Like most of my baked oatmeal recipes, these oatmeal bars are vegan and gluten-free. Prep them ahead of time and take them for on-the-go breakfasts and snacks!
This is a great recipe to get your kids involved with! If they’re old enough, they can help measure out the ingredients otherwise you can measure and the kids can dump everything into a large bowl! Stir it all up and pour into a pan.
What You Need + Common Substitutions
- oats – make sure you grab gluten-free oats if needed!
- maple syrup – you can also use honey.
- baking powder – to help the bars rise.
- cinnamon – for a little spice.
- salt – just a pinch.
- almond milk – I like using unsweetened vanilla almond milk, but any milk will work. Use whatever you have on hand.
- applesauce – I prefer using unsweetened applesauce. If you don’t have any applesauce on hand or simply not a fan you can use 1/4 cup mashed banana instead of the applesauce.
- coconut oil – butter will work too.
- vanilla – the perfect flavor enhancer.
- ground flaxseed – if you don’t have flaxseed, you can use 1 egg instead.
- berries – both fresh and frozen work for this recipe, but I prefer fresh because they don’t release as much liquid as frozen berries do. I used a blend of fresh blueberries and strawberries for this recipe, but any berries will work.
I love berries in this recipe, but feel free to experiment with different mix-ins… most fruits should work and chocolate chips would be delicious as well.
Storing & Serving
I’ve tried so many different ways of storing and serving these bars. Here’s what I recommend:
- Let the bars cool completely. They can cool in the pan or on a wire rack if you want to speed up the process. I can’t stress enough… be patient and make sure they are 100% cool!
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. Place your cooled bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week or the freezer for 2-3 months. I don’t recommend storing these at room temperature.
- Pop them in the toaster oven! You can absolutely eat these bars cold, but I prefer to reheat them in a toaster oven before eating. The bars get a little crispy around the outside and perfectly heated throughout! You can also heat them up in the microwave. Just wrap in a damp paper towel and cook for 20-30 seconds or until warm.
More Fun Oatmeal Recipes to Try
More Bar Recipes to Try
- Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Tahini Fig Bars
- Oatmeal Raisin Protein Bars
- Banana Power Bars
- No Bake High Fiber Bars
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Berry Baked Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk, or your fave milk
- ½ cup applesauce
- ¼ cup maple syrup, or honey
- 2 Tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 2 teaspoons melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh berries + ½ cup more for topping, I used blueberries and chopped strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Combine all ingredients except for the berries in a large bowl. Stir until combined and gently fold in 1 cup of berries.
- Pour into a 8×8 square baking pan lined with parchment. Evenly spread batter in pan and top with remaining berries. I think it looks really pretty with sliced strawberries on top.
- Cook for 40-45 minutes or until bars are cooked through and hold their shape.
- Remove from the oven, cool and then cut into 6 bars and enjoy.
- Store leftover bars in the fridge for up to 1 week. Enjoy cold or reheat in a toaster oven.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These taste lovely, but are not a firm bar. I even used a rectangular dish to spread the batter thiner and cooked for 45 minutes to no avail. It’s a baked oat recipe, not bars. I won’t be wasting the ingredients again on this.
Sorry these didn’t turn out the way you were hoping. These bars are definitely softer than a traditional granola bar, but I appreciate you giving them a try and sharing your feedback.
Very happy with how these turned out the first time. I followed the measurements in the recipe (doubled) but used dairy milk, made up for only having half the honey I needed with light brown sugar, and used mostly blueberries with a few strawberries.
Thoughts for next time:
*I might let the batter rest for a while or bake it for longer at a lower temperature, to try to get the oats a little less chewy while baking out more of the moisture. I got some nice crispy edges in my glass dish but the bars in the middle need careful handling to hold together.
*This morning I packed a bar in the same container as a sliced orange for breakfast, and a little of the orange flavor soaked in. Now I want to try adding orange zest to my next batch!
*Next time I’ll probably cut the sugar down, because I’m sure they’ll still be good if they’re less sweet.
Thanks for this great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Dawn! Love all the tweaks you made, and orange zest sounds like such a fun idea for next time. Let me know how it goes when you make it again—thanks for sharing and for leaving a review. I really appreciate it!
This was so delicious and so easy to make!! To make it a little more high protein, I added 1/2 cup of vanilla protein powder to the recipe. I’m definitely going to be making this weekly as a grab-and-go option for breakfast!
Amazing! This sounds so great, Rachele and I love that they turned out with the protein powder too. Thanks for sharing your review & star rating, I really appreciate it!
Flavor was very good. However it was not hardened very dough like. I followed with all the same ingredients. Wondering what the final consistency should be?
Hi Jan – These should have a softer, but not crumbly, bar consistency, not to doughy. It might also be a bit more moist depending on whether you used fresh or frozen berries. How did it taste?
Can these be made with banana slices?
Absolutely! Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Absolutely delicious 😋😋😋
Ah yay! I am so excited to hear that you are loving this recipe, Fazia. Thank you so much for your review + star rating, I really appreciate it!
Hi, can we use instant oats instead of rolled oats?
Hi Divya – Typically you can’t sub instant oats for rolled oats, but I did have a reader use quick oats and they said it turned out great for them. If you give this recipe a try, let me know how it turns out for you!