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If you’re looking for breakfast on the go, we’ve got you covered with these oatmeal breakfast bars. They are easy to make, gluten-free, require just 9-ingredients, and are perfect to meal prep at the start of the week to keep you fueled in the morning!
Over the last few weeks, it seems like we’ve been so busy that I don’t even have time for breakfast. I used to be really good about prepping my breakfast the night before but let’s be real, overnight oats ain’t gonna cut it for me forever haha. I wanted to find a replacement for oatmeal but I never made time to do so and instead, I’ve been just grabbing protein bars in the morning. They honestly work well for me as I feel full and I love the flavor of some brands on the market, but these bars are also filled with more ingredients and sugar than I would prefer to start my day with. I decided that I would attempt to make a breakfast bar that Chris and I can grab in the morning for an on-to-go meal and, well, that is how these oatmeal breakfast bars were born.
We knew that we couldn’t be the only ones struggling with breakfast, so we hope that this recipe helps you out as much as it has helped us!
Lately, we have been trying to make recipes for you that require simple and easy-to-approach ingredients. We have noticed that this is something that you, our audience, gravitate towards and we want to do what makes you happy and create things you will try, so we hope this is up your alley!
This recipe is also a part of our brand-new meal prep video on YouTube! In the video, we show you how to meal prep 4 dishes for the week breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert/snack. We worked hard on it and are so happy with the result, so we hope you like it!
A few tips and notes for this recipe
- Quick oats work better than rolled oats as rolled oats will result in a chewier bar that we don’t prefer. If you only have rolled oats, you can place them into the food processor and pulse 4-5 times until they are coarsely chopped, similar to quick oats.
- Oat flour can be made by placing oats into a high speed blender (or a food processor fitted with the S blade) and running it until a fine flour consistency is reached. We prefer a blender as it works better than a food processor for this.
- The spottier bananas the better as it will yield in a tastier and sweeter bar.
- We used creamy peanut butter but you could use any other creamy nut or seed butter as desired.
- Adjust the sweetener to your taste. We have found that between 1/4-1/3 cup of coconut sugar (or any other granulated sugar) works well. We have made these bars without any coconut sugar and they were fine as well!
- Add-ins are optional but recommended! Our favorite is vegan chocolate chips.
If you are looking for more vegan breakfast recipes, check these out:
- Freezer-Friendly Buckwheat Waffles & Pancakes (Vegan & Gluten-free)
- Vegan Eggs Benedict with Homemade Hollandaise
- Easy Vegan Spinach & Artichoke Quiche
- Oven Roasted Breakfast Potatoes (Oil-free + 6-Ingredients)
- Pumpkin Spice Moringa Energy Bars (Easy & Gluten-free)
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes, we love to see your photos!
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Oatmeal Breakfast Bars (Gluten-free + 9-Ingredients)
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 9 bars
Description
If you’re looking for breakfast on the go, we’ve got you covered with these oatmeal breakfast bars. They are easy to make, gluten-free, require just 9-ingredients, and are perfect to meal prep at the start of the week to keep you fueled in the morning!
Ingredients
- 3 chia eggs (3 tablespoons chia seeds + 9 tablespoons water)* (see notes)
- 2 cups gluten-free quick oats
- 1/2 cup gluten-free oat flour
- 1/4–1/3 cup coconut sugar (adjust sweetness to taste)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 medium ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Add-ins, such as (optional)
- 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips or 1/3 cup chopped nuts or 1/3 cup dried fruit
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line an 8×8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, prepare the chia eggs. Combine 3 tablespoons of chia seeds with 9 tablespoons of water and set it aside for 10 minutes to thicken.
- In another small bowl, combine the quick oats, oat flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon and salt. Mix well and set aside.
- In medium bowl, add in the two ripe bananas. With a fork, mash them well until the are completely broken down. Mix in the peanut butter and vanilla. Once the chia eggs are is ready, add them to the mixture along with the dry ingredients. Mix everything together until they are well combined and uniform. Add in any optional ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
- Transfer the mixture into the lined baking dish and using a spoon or a spatula, spread the mixture out until it fills the pan. Flatten out the top as best you can. Place the pan into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until firm and golden browned.
- Remove the bars from the oven and cool completely, or even better overnight. Cut into 9 bars and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to enjoy.
Notes
- This recipe was adapted from Joy Food Sunshine.
- 3 tablespoons of flaxseed meal can be used in place of the chia seeds.
- Quick oats work better than rolled oats as rolled oats will result in a chewier bar that we don’t prefer. If you only have rolled oats, you can place them into the food processor and pulse 4-5 times until they are coarsely chopped, similar to quick oats.
- Oat flour can be made by placing oats into a high speed blender (or a food processor fitted with the S blade) and running it until a fine flour consistency is reached. We prefer a blender as it works better than a food processor for this.
- The spottier bananas the better as it will yield in a tastier and sweeter bar.
- We used creamy peanut butter but you could use any other creamy nut or seed butter as desired.
- Adjust the sweetener to your taste. We have found that between 1/4-1/3 cup of coconut sugar (or any other granulated sugar) works well. We have made these bars without any coconut sugar and they were fine as well!
- Add ins are optional but recommended! Our favorite is vegan chocolate chips.
- Store these bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Breakfast, Snack
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-free
Nutrition facts label provided by Nutri Fox.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!
Hey Jasmine, I made these bars this morning and they turned out incredible! Since the ingredients & amounts seemed perfect (according to my preferences, of course), I didn’t change anything! The only thing maybe, is that I used rolled oats instead of quick but just bc I prefer chewy oatmeal bars. I used 1/3 cup of brown sugar and added chopped walnuts in the mix. Thank you for this recipe, loved it! <3
Really great and toddler approved! I used brown sugar, and one banana and 1/2 C applesauce because I only had one. So happy I found this recipe, finally bars that actually hold together!! Thanks so much
Can I use regular chicken eggs instead of chia or flax?
We haven’t tried it!
Hi Jasmine !
I made this recipe yesterday and it was seriously the best breakfast I had for a very long time ! The texture and taste were mindblowing !!! I love those bars and my friends are found of them too 🙂
Thank you so much for all the amazing work and recipe <3
Take care (and sorry for my bad English :))
I apologize if you’ve mentioned this in your post and I may have missed it! But, do you think I could replace the chocolate with blueberries and maybe lower the amount of liquid ingredients?
I’m sorry I have not tried that so I am not sure how it will turn out!
has anyone tried to freeze these? can’t wait to try!
Hi Hethir! We have not tested this, but based on the ingredients of the bars, we are certain that freezing them in an airtight container after baking would work! We would just thaw them onvernight and/or heat them in an oven.
Can we buy the bars already made somewhere?
Unfortunately these are not for sale :/ Bobo’s Oat Bars are of a similar consistency but they taste different.
Can you use flax in place of the chia seeds
Yes! I will add that to the recipe notes, too! 🙂
Oats are not gluten free.
I am not sure where you are located, but in the US you can buy gluten-free oats. Our favorite brand is Bob’s Red Mill 🙂
Natural oats are actually gluten free! But many oats are processed in facilities with wheat, barley, and rye so there is a possibility of contamination. That is why its best to buy oats that have the gluten free label on them if you have a bad allergy. 🙂
can the peanut nut butter replaced with anything else….alternative needs to be gf df 🙂
Hi Zara! You can replace the peanut butter with any smooth nut or seed butter! 🙂
Hello,nice, sounds good,but what do you mean when you said 3 chia eggs?
Do you mean 3 eggs?
Hi Elia! A chia egg is made from 1 tablespoon of chia seeds + 3 tablespoons of water, and in this recipe we are using the equivalent of 3 🙂
A typo in step 2 of the instructions: you have 1 tbsp chia and 9 tbsp water, which should of course be 3 tbsp chia (recipe is right, just instructions need fixing).
I’m looking forward to trying these for my daughter.
Thanks so much!! I will fix it 🙂
When you scale the recipe 3x, should you scale up the quick oats to 6 cups or just leave it at the same 2 cup amount that is in the original recipe as written before tripling the recipe? Or… is that a mistake & is supposed to be tripled to 6 cups?
Hi! Thanks for pointing that out. It should go to 6, there is an issue on the back end with our application and we are getting it fixed asap!
What size baking pan ?
We used an 8-inch square baking dish 🙂