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    Home » Healthy Sweets

    Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars - Easy

    Published: Jan 4, 2020 · by Kim Lange · This post may contain affiliate links ·

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    Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars
    Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars
    Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars
    Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars - Easy

    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.

    We have to mention our Chunky Monkey Blondies, since we're all about chunky monkey!  These Healthy Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Cookies and our Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars are also loaded with oats!

    Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars

    How to Make Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bar Recipe

    All you need to make these scrumptious bars healthy 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, which is an awesome premium dark chocolate, and it's sooo good and it does add some sweetness to the bars as well!  I use them in everything possible whenever I can when I'm baking cookies or bars.  They are also awesome for melting chocolate.

    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.

    Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars

    About Oats

    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!

    Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars

    Ingredients You Need

    • old-fashioned rolled oats or for gluten free option, use gluten free rolled oats
    • peanut butter or any nut butter you prefer
    • ripe bananas, mashed
    • maple syrup or brown sugar or sugar of choice
    • walnuts, roughly chopped
    • Optional: cinnamon
    • chocolate chunks or chips of choice optional, for vegan option use vegan chocolate chunks or chips

    Baking Chunky Monkey Bars

    1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
    2. Line an 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
    3. In a med-large mixing bowl, mix together the oats, mashed banana, peanut butter, maple syrup and walnuts until fully incorporated.
    4. Transfer the batter in the prepared pan and spread out on an even layer.
    5. Top with chocolate chunks or chips, then bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.
    6. Allow the bars to cool in the pan, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

    Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars

    Other Options:

    If you want to add some fruit in these banana oatmeal bars, 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. 

    These homemade bars 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.  All you need is 20-25 minutes in the oven and you got yourself a winner!  

    Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars - Easy

    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.

    More Sweet Snacking!

    • Easy Fruit Granola Bars
    • Reese's Pieces Magic Bars
    • Homemade Energy Bars
    • Peanut Butter Banana Bars
    • Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars
    • How to Freeze Cookie Dough
    • Caramel Apple Monkey Bread
    • Super Healthy Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
    Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars

    Healthy Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Bars – Easy

    Kim Lange
    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 for breakfast and snacking!
    4.48 from 200 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 20 mins
    Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Snack
    Cuisine American
    Servings 9 Servings
    Calories 228 kcal

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats or for gluten free option, use gluten free rolled oats
    • ½ 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
    • ¼ cup walnuts roughly chopped
    • Optional ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
    • ¼ cup chocolate chunks or chips of choice optional for vegan option use vegan chunks or chips
    US Customary - Metric

    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.

    Video

    Notes

    If you wish these bars to be sweeter, add 2-4 tablespoons of brown sugar or sugar of choice. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 228kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 7gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 71mgPotassium: 271mgFiber: 4gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 28IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 28mgIron: 1mg
    Keyword banana, breakfast, chocolate, chunky monkey, chunky monkey bars, cookies, brownies, brookies, snack, gluten-free muffins, oats, vegan
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    « Top 10 Most Popular Baking ChocolaTess Recipes for 2019
    30 Delicious Healthy Oat Recipes »
    3.6K shares
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    About Kim Lange

    Hi! I'm Kim! As you may know, I'm cookie, brownie and chocolate obsessed! You'll find hundreds of decadent and healthy dessert recipes to choose from here! So, let's bake something easy and never forget the chocolate!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. sidd says

      February 05, 2022 at 6:07 pm

      best recipe

    2. Natasha says

      September 07, 2021 at 9:04 pm

      I have absolutely nothing to keep it from sticking to the pan. Will it still be ok?

      • Kim Lange says

        September 07, 2021 at 10:43 pm

        I don't know if it will or not? I would think it would some?

    3. Emily says

      July 20, 2021 at 3:06 pm

      This is REALLY good ! So I’m 10 and I cooked it all by myself! I thought I was going to do it wrong but hey it came perfect! This is really good for children too!

      • Kim Lange says

        July 20, 2021 at 4:43 pm

        Wow! Great job Emily and thank you so much! I'm glad it worked out for you!!

    4. Anonymous says

      March 14, 2021 at 7:30 pm

      Made these today, followed recipe, turned out great. Very good, not too sweet. I love the one bowl.

      • Kim Lange says

        March 15, 2021 at 9:07 am

        Thank you so much! That is wonderful you approved! xo

    5. Emily Pollington says

      March 03, 2021 at 9:59 am

      I love these. I have made them many times and I found that they turn out the best if you mix the ingredients in the blender, but leave out half the oats and the walnuts and chips then hand.mix those into the blended batter. You get a smoother bar that sticks together so well. Thanks!

      • Kim Lange says

        March 04, 2021 at 7:33 am

        I'll have to try your method Emily! Thank you so much for trying them and your feedback! xo

    6. Carolina says

      December 08, 2020 at 10:57 pm

      Was ready to make these tomorrow morning and my husband came home late and hangry — he ate one of my overripe bananas!! Now I only have one (sigh) how can I sub for the other missing banana?!?! Any help/tips would be immensely appreciated!

      • Kim Lange says

        December 10, 2020 at 9:42 am

        You could try pumpkin puree or applesauce as an option. 1/2 cup per banana replacement. Hope that helps Carolina! 🙂 Happy Holidays! Yikes on the eating the overripe banana!

    7. Anonymous says

      December 08, 2020 at 6:09 pm

      These are delicious, although mine came out way too soft and a little rubbery. Should I sub in steel cut oats and, if so, do I need to soak them first like another commenter mentioned?

      • Kim Lange says

        December 08, 2020 at 7:28 pm

        I would just add some extra steel cut oats in with the other oats to give it a little texture. You can soak them if you want, I don't know what it would do to the texture of the bars, so if someone else has tried them and had good luck, there ya go. If there aren't enough oats, it could make your bars rubbery. These are healthy, so another option is you could add in a tablespoon of melted butter or coconut oil to your mixture to help with the texture. Also after you took them out of the oven, did quickly put them in a storage container? Sometimes cookies and bars need a little longer to cool down naturally before being made airtight. Hopefully maybe one of these will help you out. Thanks for making them and I'm glad they were delicious!

    8. Mary says

      November 18, 2020 at 11:39 pm

      I added some strawberries and coconut and oh my god this was so good! Definitely recommend 🙂

    9. Tanya says

      November 16, 2020 at 11:12 pm

      YUMMO!!!!
      I had a lot of steel cut oats so used 1 cup of old fashioned oats and 1 cup of steel cut oats that I soaked with equal parts of almond milk and the recipe turned out delish. The steel cut oats made the bars chewier, which I liked. I think next time I will add a little bit of coconut because I love chocolate. I like the simplicity of this recipe. Thanks!

      • Kim Lange says

        November 18, 2020 at 8:41 am

        I love the idea of adding coconut Tonya! I love the idea of steel cut oats in them for sure! Thank you so much Tanya, I'm so happy you enjoyed them! 😉

    10. Tanya says

      November 13, 2020 at 9:24 pm

      Can you substitute the oats for steel cut oats? If so, how does the recipe change? Thank you

      • Kim Lange says

        November 16, 2020 at 9:19 am

        Yes you can, it will just have more texture and be healthier.

    11. Shelly McElligott says

      September 11, 2020 at 3:11 pm

      I subbed unsweetened applesauce for the bananas- we will see how it turns out!

    12. VeNessa says

      August 10, 2020 at 2:17 am

      These are delicious. I blended the oats to give it a more smooth texture before hand. The kids loved them as well. Thank you

      • Kim Lange says

        August 11, 2020 at 3:07 pm

        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!

    13. Mike P says

      August 04, 2020 at 10:55 am

      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

      • Kim Lange says

        August 04, 2020 at 5:19 pm

        It is per serving. These are good for filling you up and a good size. Thank you Mike!

    14. liza says

      June 08, 2020 at 11:07 pm

      these were so good and weren’t full of sugar, also great topped with coconut flakes

      • Kim Lange says

        June 09, 2020 at 7:24 am

        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!!

    15. Christina says

      May 19, 2020 at 1:31 pm

      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!!

      • Kim Lange says

        May 21, 2020 at 10:46 am

        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!

    16. Kim says

      May 10, 2020 at 2:13 pm

      Whats the calories per peice ?

      • Kim Lange says

        May 11, 2020 at 8:54 am

        Updated Kim per your request. Hope you enjoy! xo

    17. Katie says

      April 01, 2020 at 3:16 pm

      So tasty! Just made these and the kids have already eaten half of them!

      • Kim Lange says

        April 01, 2020 at 3:17 pm

        That is wonderful to hear! Thank you so much Katie and so happy the kids are loving them too! Woohoo!

    18. Valentina says

      January 11, 2020 at 11:40 pm

      Banana, chocolate and peanut butter is the best!! Those choc chunks on top look amazing and are calling to me. YUM! 🙂 ~Valentina

      • Kim Lange says

        January 12, 2020 at 11:54 am

        Thank you so much Valentina! xo

    19. Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen says

      January 05, 2020 at 4:37 pm

      These sound delicious! I loooove oats, especially in cookies and bars!

    20. Justin from dailyveganmeal says

      January 05, 2020 at 1:33 pm

      Wow! I love this recipe. Super easy and easily made Vegan with the use of non-dairy chocolate chips. I can't wait to make this one!

      • Kim Lange says

        January 05, 2020 at 1:48 pm

        I'm loving vegan and this one is super easy to make it that way! Thanks Justin! xo

    Trackbacks

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