Healthy Oat and Banana Bars
The healthy baked oatmeal recipe that I posted a few weeks ago is by far the most popular recipe with readers. It’s also a regular at our house with a new batch regularly in the rotation. Below is another take on healthy oats, this one with no added sugars or fats. Ripe bananas provide moist sweetness. This is adapted from Joel Fuhrman of Eat to Live and is a great way to use up very ripe bananas. The crusty edges are my favorite part, so I like baking this like cookies instead of bars in a pan. Made without flour, the recipe is usually suitable for those eating gluten free.
Healthy Oat and Banana Bars or Cookies
2 cups of rolled oats
2 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 t cinnamon
1 t pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup applesauce
Mash the bananas in a large bowl, add the other ingredients and stir to thoroughly combine. There should be no large clumps of banana after mixing. Spread the mixture into a greased 9X9 pan and bake into a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Or spread into large cookie size rounds on a greased (or parchment lined) cookie sheet and bake for about 25 minutes.
posted at Tammy’s Recipes, Grocery Cart Challenge, and Ultimate Recipe Challenge.
These sound so good. I have some bananas I am waiting to finish turning brown for banana bread but they just might be turned into bars instead!
Great recipe! My husband is on a kick right now of making his own granola bars, so I sent him the recipe!
Hi Susan, hope you like these. I am surprised at how sweet they are without any added sugar or honey.
This looks awesome! I definitely want to try this. And so healthy! Thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing!
mom2my9, let me know how it turns out, hope you like it.
E-
Ooh – these look great! I’ll be adding these to my meal plan soon…
Hi Katie, thanks. I like that these don’t have added sugar. Thanks for visiting.
This is a great recipe. I eat gluten-free, so as long as the oats were gluten-free it would work perfectly.
I’m starting a new blog carnival on August 31 – Slightly Indulgent Mondays – fabulous food made a little bit healthier. Your submission doesn’t have to be gluten or sugar free, just a little healthier in some way. I’d love for you to participate!
Hi Amy, this is great for gluten free oat eaters. I’ll stop in and check out the carnival, thanks.
Sounds wonderful. Like the idea of the coconut, I like anything made with coconut.
Geri
Geri, interestingly, I am not a big coconut fan and dislike the candy bars with coconut; but I like it in this recipe and in ambrosia fruit salad.
[...] of my favorite standbys are the Healthy Oat and Banana Bars from the Modern Gal blog. These bars are great because the riper the bananas the better they taste. [...]