Vegan Banana Chocolate Oat Bars
I made these vegan banana chocolate oat bars to stop me eating banana bread for breakfast for the next week. Eating dessert in the morning is one of many habits I picked up during this food blogging endeavor, and quarantine for that matter.
Naturally, my first instinct when faced with a bunch of very ripe bananas was to make banana bread. But, alas, that only used up so many bananas. So I decided to make something healthy with the rest so I could eat that in the morning instead. Quite the concept for me.
are these banana oat bars healthy?
Now, i use the word “healthy” somewhat loosely here since these do contain a bit of sugar and some chocolate chips, because duh. But the sugar can be replaced with coconut sugar, date sugar or even maple syrup if you take the water out of the recipe. And you can obviously replace the chocolate chips with more nuts or dried fruits if you prefer.
So, really, these vegan banana chocolate oat bars are actually pretty healthy when you factor in those changes. Bananas, oats, nuts, practically a complete breakfast! And the flour is just to bind everything and can easily be replaced with oat flour or a gluten-free flour.
They’re a simple grab-and-go breakfast to make at the beginning of the week and to have as an easy snack anytime. As far as bars go, these are balanced, delicious and customizable!
Allergic to nuts? Replace the nuts with pumpkin seeds, sunflowers and dried fruit. Want them gluten-free? Make sure to use gluten-free oats and replace the flour with another GF flour of your choice. Oil-free? Opt for any nut butter you like instead of coconut oil. So many options!
This variation of the bars is just one I like and always have the ingredients for. The almonds add a nice crunch, you get some chew from the shredded coconut and if you put them in the microwave a few seconds, you get little pockets of melted chocolate.
If you make this recipe please let me know in the comments! All feedback is very much appreciated and I would love to hear from you! You can also tag me on instagram @the.quaint.kitchen or use the hashtag #thequaintkitchen to share your creations!
Vegan Banana Chocolate Oat Bars
Ingredients
- 270 g old fashioned rolled oats
- 70 g walnuts, roughly chopped
- 30 g almonds, roughly chopped
- 45 g fine shredded coconut
- 105 g brown sugar
- 45 g water
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 75 g coconut oil
- 300 g very ripe bananas (about 3), mashed
- 75 g all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ + ⅛ tsp baking soda
- 45 g chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F and grease and line a 9×9 pan with parchment leaving some overhang to easily pull it out after.
- Combine the oats, chopped walnuts and almonds and the coconut on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, then set aside to cool a bit.
- While those are toasting, in a saucepan combine the brown sugar, water, salt and coconut oil. Heat up just until the sugar has dissolved and the coconut oil has melted then set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda and set aside as well.
- Stir the mashed bananas into the saucepan of sugar and coconut oil.
- Add the toasted oats, nuts and coconut and stir until everything is evenly coated. Then add the flour mixture and stir just until incorporated.
- Carefully stir in the chocolate chips to avoid them melting too much and transfer the mixture to your lined pan.
- Spread it out evenly (no need to press it in) and bake for 25-30 minutes (still at 180°C/350°F).
- Let it cool for a few minutes before pulling it out using the parchment and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- *Disclaimer: I have a tiny not-so-great oven, so your bake time may vary from mine.
- I strongly suggest making recipes by weight, if you make them by cups I can’t guarantee that you’ll get the same results.
- For a gluten-free version, use certified gluten-free oats and replace the flour with oat flour or your preferred gluten-free flour.
- For a nut-free version, replace the nuts with pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
- For an oil-free version, replace the coconut oil with a nut butter of your choice.
- You can use another sugar instead of brown sugar, like date sugar, coconut sugar, etc. or you could also replace it with maple syrup and leave out the water in the recipe.