Looking for a healthy sweet snack you can feel good about? These Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars are so simple and easy to make, you’ll be amazed how good they taste.
All you need to make these scrumptious Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars are oats, peanut butter, bananas, a little maple syrup, chocolate chunks and walnuts. Save the chocolate chunks for the top of the bars to make ’em look pretty.
The bananas are the natural sweetener in these bars for a healthier choice. If you want more sweetness, make sure you add maple syrup or some sugar sweetener of your choice to give them a little more sweetness. If you don’t want the sweetness, leave it out for a healthier choice.
I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks
These bars are actually vegan (no egg needed) and you can make them gluten-free if you want to use gluten-free oats, which I did with this batch.
I love using oats, because they are among one of the healthiest grains on earth. They include important vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants.
Studies show that oats and oatmeal have many health benefits. These include weight loss, lower blood sugar levels and a reduced risk of heart disease. They are a great source of carbs and fiber, promotes healthy gut bacteria and increases feelings of fullness.
Oats can be a great addition to a healthy diet. They can be eaten as oatmeal for breakfast, added to baked goods and more. So yummy!
If you want to add some fruit in these, blueberries or strawberries would be great options. These are great for breakfast, snacking and packing in lunches. Even if you don’t bake, these are so easy to make, you don’t even need a mixer.
They are better than anything you would get at the grocery, in my opinion as far as a granola bar or soft oatmeal bar, especially if you want something without all the preservatives and loaded sugars, but still want something satisfying to curb your appetite. 20-25 minutes in the oven and you got yourself a winner!
Besides these Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars, these Best Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, OMG Honey Chex Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars and these No Bake Chewy Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Granola Bars are also great, if you want other ideas for yummy bars.
Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars – Easy
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats or for gluten free option, use gluten free rolled oats
- 1/2 cup peanut butter or any nut butter you prefer
- 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
- 1-3 tablespoons maple syrup or brown sugar or sugar of choice
- 1/4 cup walnuts roughly chopped
- Optional 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup chocolate chunks or chips of choice optional for vegan option use vegan chunks or chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Line an 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a med-large mixing bowl, mix together the oats, mashed banana, peanut butter, maple syrup and walnuts until fully incorporated.
- Transfer the batter in the prepared pan and spread out on an even layer.
- Top with chocolate chunks or chips, then bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.
- Allow the bars to cool in the pan, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
I subbed unsweetened applesauce for the bananas- we will see how it turns out!
These are delicious. I blended the oats to give it a more smooth texture before hand. The kids loved them as well. Thank you
I’m so happy to hear Venessa! It’s always a win when the kids love them! 🙂 Thank you so much for letting me know! Very cool!
I don’t know if this is a silly question, but the calories listed. Is that for the whole dish or per serving? Looking for healthy alternatives and just trying to keep track. Thank you
It is per serving. These are good for filling you up and a good size. Thank you Mike!
these were so good and weren’t full of sugar, also great topped with coconut flakes
Coconut would be a great addition to these bars! I love they aren’t full of sugar too but just enough! Thank you so much Liza!!
My first time baking EVER, and these are amazing! I wound up adding cinnamon because ya know, it’s awesome and I also added coconut flakes, they came out soooooo good, thanks for the recipe!!
I love the addition of coconut flakes! More texture and yumminess! Thank you so much Christina for your review and since it was your first baking experience, that makes this email even more special! xo Happy Baking on!