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Banana Breakfast Bars are an easy breakfast or snack with real ingredients and flavor. They’re a copycat of the bars you buy, but homemade so they’re better for you and cheaper too! These are one of my favorite banana breakfast recipes!
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Homemade Banana Breakfast Bars
I don’t believe in the word “diet”. I’ve done so many diets and they all fail, which ultimately leads me to feeling bad about myself. For me it’s about lifestyle: exercise, portion control, making good choices, and satisfying cravings (within reason).
One thing I can’t limit? My after workout snack. And breakfast. I need breakfast, and after my workout I need to eat. That’s where these breakfast bars come in.
For a long time I bought breakfast bars at the grocery store. Then I realized that I was paying $4.50 for 5 bars or some ridiculous amount, and the bars weren’t even that good. Also? They’re filled with ingredients I don’t recognize. I’m much more satisfied if I eat something I like, that’s homemade, than something packaged.
So I decided to make my own.
One of the best Banana Breakfast Recipes
These bars are a cross between a granola bar and a banana bread/blondie. I actually combined my mom’s banana bread with my base blondie recipe to create something a little bit on the lighter side of both.
I reduced the amount of butter and used oil instead. You can also use vegetable or coconut oil. Combined with 2 overripe bananas and an egg, you get a good bar base. A little brown sugar goes in for sweetening, and the binding is done with whole wheat flour and old fashioned oats.
Yes, these have sugar and carbs. But even though my husband does whole 30/paleo, I don’t and I don’t think you come here expecting that. These bars are a great way to satisfy a little carb craving without breaking the bank. I mean…if I wasn’t trying to be good I’d reach for a doughnut or a scone. These are way better than that!
Expert Tips
- By substituting butter for oil, I’ve made these a bit heart healthier. Vegetable oil is recognized as a healthier fat than butter by the American Heart Association.
- Using whole wheat flour makes these better than anything with white flour.
- The old fashioned oats give a nice texture.
- The bars you buy have a peanut butter drizzle, so I added that to these. You can skip, of course, or add some peanut butter chips or mini chocolate chips to the bars for extra flavor.
- They last about 2 days on the counter, or you can freeze them for a quick snack. That’s what I like to do, after my workout, with a cup of coffee and some apple slices. It gets me to lunch, where I’m not so hungry I eat the kitchen.
Banana Breakfast Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 medium bananas spotted ones that are a little past their prime
- ¼ cup vegetable or coconut oil
- ¼ cup (50g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup (62g) whole wheat flour
- 1 cup (80g) old fashioned oats
- ¼ cup (43g) white chocolate chips optional
- 1 tablespoon (17g) peanut butter optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8×8” or 9×9” pan with nonstick cooking spray. (Line it with foil first for easy removal, if desired.)
- Place bananas in a large bowl. Mash them with a fork or potato masher until just small chunks remain. Stir in oil and brown sugar with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. Add egg, vanilla, and salt, and stir until combined. Stir in baking soda. Add flour and oats and stir until mixed, some lumps will remain. Spread in prepared pan.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes until browned around the edges and not jiggly in the center. Cool completely. Slice into bars.
- Optional drizzle: melt white chocolate chips and peanut butter in a small microwave safe bowl (on 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring between each). Place melted chocolate in a small ziploc bag with the tip cut off and drizzle over bars.
- Enjoy within 2 days or freeze for up to one month. I like to freeze them and then reheat as needed, since they don’t last very long on the counter.
Recipe Notes
- By substituting butter for oil, I’ve made these a bit heart healthier. Vegetable oil is recognized as a healthier fat than butter by the American Heart Association.
- Using whole wheat flour makes these better than anything with white flour.
- The old fashioned oats give a nice texture.
- The bars you buy have a peanut butter drizzle, so I added that to these. You can skip, of course, or add some peanut butter chips or mini chocolate chips to the bars for extra flavor.
- They last about 2 days on the counter, or you can freeze them for a quick snack. That’s what I like to do, after my workout, with a cup of coffee and some apple slices. It gets me to lunch, where I’m not so hungry I eat the kitchen.
It was more like an unleavened banana bread than a granola+blondie. I thought there would be a granolaey crunch or something granolaey but there wasn’t any. It did taste really good though and I’m happy with how mine turned out.
We made a gluten free version of your recipe and it was THE BOMB. I’m a busy mom of two toddlers so I thought we make some to last through the week for all of our breakfasts. It didn’t even last 24 hours over here mainly because I ate it all, lol. But the kids loved it too! We made a gluten free double batch of this recipe in a half sheet disposable pan, so the cook time was a bit longer but it was oh so moist and delicious and did not burn at all. I used the King Arthur 1:1 GF flour which was my first time using it in a baked good and it was amazing you really couldn’t tell it was GF. Drizzled just plain old creamy peanut butter on top because we were refrigerating it so I knew the PB would stiffen up more like a frosting.
I agree with you about the dieting. Each time I would say the word diet , I crave more food I want to eat .
Your recipes are to good , to just eat one cookie.
I used natural peanut butter instead of the oil and the turned out wonderful! Also added mini chocolate chips.
These are great, I doubled the recipe and cooked In a 13×9 for 20 minutes and it was perfect. I made a peanut butter glaze with powdered sugar that I just googled, and ohmigosh, it took these bars to the next level (dessert)! They’re delicious, and they’re not too bad for ya! Win win in my book! 😉
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