We’re in serious “April showers bring May flowers” mode over here. I was waiting to pick Lincoln up outside his classroom the other day and a fellow Mom who is new to the state asked me, “is it always like this here??” I could see the terror in her eyes. That said, soggy, grey, and blustery has been the weather du jour for the better part of the month and we’re all not so patiently waiting for the summer sun to start shining on the reg.
Until that day comes, the babies and I have been keeping busy with indoor projects like building pillow towers, digging our fingers into squishy kinetic sand (and trying to conceal my horror when more of it ends up on the floor than in the container,) plus lots of baking, including these Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal Breakfast Bars. If you like my Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bars, you’ll want to make this ultra cozy version pronto – we polished off an entire pan in less than 24 hours!
Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars
A few weeks ago Lincoln decided he no longer likes blueberries – mmkay! – so instead of watching him pick each individual berry out of the bars during breakfast or snack time, I made a version that swapped berries for chopped pecans, and honey for real maple syrup. Add a heavy dose of warming cinnamon, and I could have sworn it was October inside my kitchen while these super soft oatmeal bars were baking. The fall-like scent wafting from the oven was HEAVENLY!
The result is a perfectly sweet, refined-sugar-free breakfast or snack bar that’s chock full of healthy ingredients like oats, banana, coconut oil, and pecans, but so decadent tasting that it feels like you’re eating cake. It’s basically a bowl of oatmeal in bar form.
You know what we call that? An UPGRADE!
Keep these bars in the refrigerator all week for quick and easy breakfasts or snacks, or wrap them individually in saran wrap and freeze. Who’s ready to bake?!
How to Make Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars
To a large bowl add gluten free old fashioned oats, oat flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. I love the purity protocol oats from GF Harvest, though if you don’t need to eat GF you can use your favorite brand of old fashioned oats.
To make homemade oat flour, add old fashioned oats to a food processor or high powered blender like a Blendtec, Vitamix, or Ninja, then process until fine. Alternatively you could use store bought oat flour.
Next pour in a mixture of milk, egg, melted coconut oil, mashed banana, vanilla, and pure maple syrup (not pancake syrup,) then stir to combine.
Last step is to fold in roughly chopped pecans. I make this recipe both with and without the pecans so if you have an aversion to nuts, or are allergic, feel free to leave them out. I add them for texture and a little boost of protein and fat.
Pour the mixture into an 8×8″ baking dish then bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Slice then enjoy, or cool and refrigerate for later – but don’t forget to warm them in the microwave first! Pair the bars with yogurt or fruit for a well rounded breakfast, or slather with flavored peanut, almond butter, or coconut butter for a real treat. However you serve them – enjoy!
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Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Description
Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal Breakfast Bars are naturally sweetened and gluten free. Enjoy as a healthy snack or easy, on-the-go breakfast!
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 cups certified gluten-free old fashioned oats, divided
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk, any kind
- 1/2 cup mashed banana (~1 large banana)
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup (not pancake syrup)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees then spray an 8x8" baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
- Add 1 cup old fashioned oats to a food processor or high powered blender (like a Blendtec, Vitamix, or Ninja) then process until oats have turned into flour. Set aside. Alternatively you could use a scant cup store-bought oat flour.
- Add milk, mashed banana, maple syrup, coconut oil, egg, and vanilla to a large bowl then whisk to combine. It's ok if your coconut oil slightly clumps up - it will melt in the oven. Add remaining 1-1/2 cups oats, oat flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt then stir to combine. Fold in chopped pecans then pour batter into prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the center has set. Check on the bars at the 25 minute mark - if the edges are browning too quickly, place a piece of foil on top of the baking pan. Cool before slicing into bars then store in the refrigerator, or individually wrap bars in saran wrap and freeze.
Notes
- I like warming the bars up in the microwave for 15 seconds or so before eating.
- I recommend GF Harvest gluten free oats >
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
Video
update: i added maple extract, used browned butter in place of the coconut oil and they were fantastic!
Fabulous – thanks for the update, Katie!
i’m curious if i can be a rebel and use MELTED BUTTER instead of coconut oil because whenever i use coconut oil, it comes out dry and i miss butter.
now i’m thinking browned butter… i’ll try and post an update!
Is it mandatory to use coconut oil? I need to re-stock. I have good organic avocado oil and would like to use it. I have also recently purchased organic high-grade canola oil; I understand the organic canola oil avoids the negatives related to mass-produced canola oil. Please advise.
Either of those should be just fine!
I made these today and loved them. I was out of bananas so I subbed in canned pumpkin and they were great. I did add a couple tablespoons of brown sugar since pumpkin doesn’t have the natural sweetness of bananas. I’d definitely make these again.
I’m so glad you loved them, Heather! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
I love your recipe
comes out great I use applesauce instead of Bananas
I was wondering if you could provide the nutritional information on this recipe
I’m so glad you loved them, Lisa! I recommend MyFitnessPal if you need nutritional information!
Can you freeze these?
Absolutely – they freeze beautifully! Individually wrap the cooled squares in saran wrap then freeze.
You make recipe look simple. Thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad you love them! :)
This turned out tasty but very soft and mushy even when baking an extra 20 minutes. Should the pan size be 8×12″ instead of 8×8″?
Hi Tannis! The pan size in the post is correct (though I have baked these bars in all different sizes of pans – it’s a super flexible recipe.) Just keep baking until they’re set!
So I found this recepie to make for my son who loves those oatmeal squares in the box that sell in the grocery store. I use recipes as suggestions and go with what feels right and what I have on hand. I don’t recommend this if your not an experienced baker. I substituted the banana for avocado because that was what I had. applesauce would be fine but I would use unsweetened or even a cooked mashed sweet potato would sub fine. I wouldn’t sub oil for the banana it would be dense and why would you want extra oil? I substituted some of the coconut oil with unsweetened applesauce because I only had a small amount left. Also I added ground flax, nutritional yeast and chia seeds because why not. With the texture of the nuts and oatmeal it’s won’t be noticed by my kids and I slip healthy stuff in where I can.
The bars turned out really good, they were light and fluffy with a nice texture. I did a little powder sugar and cinnamon sprinkle on the top of the cooled bars.
So glad you were able to make these bars work with what you had on hand, Sam!
Pretty good. The coconut and banana are a bit strong (they really don’t taste like maple or cinnamon) but I still like them! I used a scant cup of AP flour instead of grinding the oats (mostly because the blender was dirty and I didn’t feel like washing it ?) and they still turned out ok. Make sure to pay attention to the part where it says to melt the coconut oil though! I missed that until too late and ended up with a blob of coconut oil on the bottom of the bowl I had to try to stir in. Which didn’t work too well and I had some melted coconut oil on the top when I pulled them out of the oven ?). So read the directions carefully! I also mixed in some dried blueberries (same amount as the pecans) and that turned out ok as well. And yes, it will be a loose batter – that’s ok! It’s what gives them their cake-like texture ?
What can I use in place of banana in recipes such as the maple cinnamon breakfast bars.
Can you substitute the banana with more oil? looking to avoid all the added sugar of applesauce. or something else?
Maybe shred an apple and use that? I’ve substituted shredded apple for applesauce before with decent results
Where is the nutrition information on this recipe ?
250 calories per bar. I imported the recipe into My Fitness Pal
Can’t even browse your site because of all of the OBNOXIOUS ads and pop-up commercials everywhere. I actually love your recipe for Baked Oatmeal but I copy and paste it into an email to myself so I can read it in peace. Monetizing is one thing, driving away traffic is the exact opposite of what you’re hoping to accomplish. The recipe is a 5 star, the website is a half a star.
I’m sorry to hear you are unhappy with the site, Andrea. Monetizing the site is the only way I can keep creating free content for you and other readers. Are you viewing the site on mobile, desktop, tablet, etc? Happy to receive specific examples of what exactly is most troubling. Thanks for your feedback.
I have to agree with the amount of advertisements, they are over abundant. But I like the suggestion of copying and pasting.
Could I substitute applesauce for the coconut oil??
These bars are great! Any idea of the calories?
Wow! Quick, easy and so delicious!