These Oatmeal Breakfast Bars are great for breakfast or as a snack any time of the day. Our whole family loves them!
Happy weekend friend! I hope yours is off to a lovely start. I’m headed to Pure Barre this morning and then going to a friend’s pool paarrtay! Last night I baked up a batch of this Sriracha Chex Mix to share with everyone. Can’t wait!
I’m also super excited because one of my favorite cookbook authors, Dreena Burton, recently released a new cookbook — Plant-Powered Families: Over 100 Kid-Tested, Whole Foods Vegan Recipes!
You may recognize Dreena from her popular cookbooks — Vive le Vegan!, Eat, Drink & Be Vegan and Let Them Eat Vegan. 🙂
She’s a mom and I feel like most of her past cookbooks were quite kid-friendly, but this new cookbook takes it one step further and is really catered to families.
She offers over 100 kid-approved recipes, sample family meal plans, and tips for handling challenges that come with every age and stage — from toddler to teen years.
As always, all the recipes are vegan, but I truly think any family can appreciate these recipes — they’re inventive, wholesome, easy to prepare and delicious! Over the years I’ve made a plethora of Dreena’s recipes and have never once been disappointed. (A couple examples: Almond Roasted Cauliflower + Kale Slaw with Curried Almond Dressing.)
Dreena’s publisher sent Plant-Powered Families to me for review and I have already made a few of the recipes and bookmarked many more to try. This cookbook (and the recipes included) are definitely more kid-focused, but they’re great for adults as well. Isaac and I both throughly enjoyed the Chickpea Salad (pictured below) and the Pumpkin Seed and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Breakfast Bars I’m sharing today.
The oatmeal breakfast bars are an awesome on-the-go healthy breakfast or snack option. I know many of you have kiddos headed back to school and having an easy, make-ahead recipe like this is perfect! Heck, even if you don’t have kids headed back to school, these bars can come in handy! I sent Isaac out the door with one yesterday morning. <— He’s always trying to skip breakfast so I do my best to make sure he eats!
I love the pumpkin seed and chocolate chip flavor combo, the way these bars hold together really well and how easy they are to make! The texture reminds me of the Heart Thrive Bars I used to be obsessed with. Do you all remember those? I used to get them at our local organic market — way before Richmond had a Whole Foods and before the bar market exploded.
Pumpkin Seed and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Breakfast Bars from Plant-Powered Families
Ingredients
- 11/2 cups rolled oats
- 11/4 cups oat flour
- 3–4 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
- 2–3 tablespoons nondairy chocolate chips or mini chips (can also substitute raisins or dried cranberries)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8–1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain unsweetened nondairy milk
- 1/3 cup brown rice syrup
- 1–2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8" × 8" baking dish with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, oat flour, pumpkin seeds, chocolate chips, cinnamon, sea salt, and nutmeg.
- In a smaller bowl, combine the milk, brown rice syrup, and maple syrup.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture, stirring until well combined.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan, and press it down until evenly distributed. Using a sharp knife, cut to mark out the bars before you bake them to make it easier to fully cut and remove the bars once baked. (I usually mark out 16 bars, but you can make whatever size you like.) Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven and let bars cool in pan. Once cool, use a sharp knife to fully cut the bars, then remove with a spatula.
by Brittany Mullins
Recipe Notes
Idea: I first made these bars with just raisins, and they were delicious. Then, I tried a combination of pumpkin seeds and chocolate chips. Something about that duo really hit the mark for me, so I switched up the recipe with these as the default! You can always try other add-ins to replace the pumpkin seeds and
chocolate chips, such as sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, unsweetened coconut, and other dried fruit (chopped, if needed).
Definitely give this recipe a try and be sure to check out Dreena’s new cookbook for more recipes! I already have plans to make the Seasoned Polenta Croutons, Tofu Feta and Pumpkin Snackles. 🙂
These look great! Can I sub something else for the brown rice syrup? Have all the other ingredients on hand to make these today except that :). Thanks!
I bet maple syrup would work in place of the brown rice syrup! If you have (and eat) honey you could probably use that too!
These look great!! Do you think they would freeze well?
I think so! I actually froze a bunch of them myself. I haven’t tried them after being frozen (yet), but I think they’ll be fine! 🙂
Thanks Brittany!